To her, living with Kato Dan is awkward.
On one hand, he is Tsunade's husband. She sure as hell won't be forgetting what the Slug Sannin had done to Haku for a very long while. On the other, Dan is a genuinely nice person. He is an S Rank shinobi (albeit retired) and despite now being the interim Hokage while most of the village is out there fighting a war, he still takes time out of his busy schedule to train both her and Naruto.
"That's it, you two. Keep it up!"
Working alongside Naruto can be frustrating at first because unlike Haku and Sai who always think before they act, Naruto is the very exact opposite. Naruto's fighting style is almost entirely instinct with a knack of thinking up ingenious ways to fight on the spot. Hanabi is used to being the sole frontliner on the team due to her expertise in taijutsu but working alongside another frontliner like Naruto had forced her to adjust her fighting style to accommodate Naruto's. Most of the time, fighting alongside her is more of trying not to accidentally hit each other more than trying to hit their opponent.
To make matters worse, Kato Dan is extremely hard to land a hit on even with Naruto's Shadow Clones and her byakugan.
She's no fool, she knows why they are ordered to live and train with Kato Dan during this period of time. As jinchurikis whose powers have not yet matured, they need to be protected until the day comes when they could use this power for the village's sake. There is no one better than protecting and training them than an S Rank shinobi as experienced as Kato Dan. Given the current state of the world it is likely that there will be a day where Naruto and her will be sent out on the frontlines to fight against other jinchurikis together. Getting used to each other's fighting styles is necessary.
"RASENGAN!"
Naruto's clones had begun to bombard Dan with Rasengans, something which Hanabi took advantage of to quickly close the distance and end the match with a strike to Dan's tenketsu points. It would have worked if Dan didn't use an Earth Release jutsu to move the earth beneath them and destroyed all of Naruto's clones in one go before throwing an explosive tag her way, forcing her to abort her attack.
This back and forth continued until Dan called for a stop. Despite how many tricks she and Naruto had pulled, nothing worked. Dan saw through everything and his Spirit Transformation is one tricky jutsu to face despite that meant leaving his body temporarily defenceless. Hanabi cannot help but wonder what Haku would do when faced with such a technique but she quickly got her answer.
Probably seals. Lots and lots of seals.
"Both of you still need to work more on having some long range options. You both excel in close quarters but always struggle with ranged combat. Either you find a way around it by acquiring more long range options, or make sure that you two can always be within striking range somehow."
She nodded alongside Naruto. Her dislike for anything and anyone Senju-related aside, Dan does bring up a point that she had known for a long while. Hyugas always have problems with ranged combat. The only known exception right now is her cousin, Neji, because he's the only one who managed to understand the true ways of the Gentle Fist.
Dan had to leave for the Hokage Tower to settle whatever their new Godaime Hokage had left him to help manage in his absence, leaving her and Naruto alone with their hidden ANBU guards in the secret training field that they are using. Being the stamina freak that she is, Naruto immediately went back to her Shadow Clone training method to continue to try and replicate the "Complete Rasengan" her father had recently managed to achieve. She had heard that Haku had a hand in helping their new Hokage make the Complete Rasengan a reality even if she doesn't really know how or why, but she isn't surprised. Haku had always been scarily brilliant. It's like he doesn't see things the way other people do, he sees the world through a very different set of lenses. Even for her, sometimes it is difficult to understand what he actually sees.
And to think she's supposed to be the one with the superior eyesight.
She made a few Shadow Clones and went back to training her Fire Release Chakra Mode. She had only just learnt how this training method truly worked but unlike Naruto, she's unable to produce as many Shadow Clones because she is still a novice at this jutsu. When her expertise in this jutsu has gotten better than can she increase the number of clones she is using. For now, about twenty clones will do.
She reached deep into her core where that unholy blue flames rested. She mentally tugged on it and her body is now alight in those blue flames. Matatabi is a peculiar character. The demon cat is not only lazy, but does everything on a whim. If it's feeling generous it will allow her to go into the One-tailed state without problems. If it's feeling especially petty, just drawing on the cat's chakra will make her body feel extreme pain. When it's feeling talkative the cat can talk non-stop and there's no way to shut the cat up because the cat is now living in her head.
Still, she tried. The cat didn't ask for being caged inside her and a part of her felt a little guilty for being the reason why the cat was forcefully sealed within her body. She tries to be nice and civil to the cat but the cat's blase attitude to pretty much everything can sometimes really test the limits of her patience. Then again, if she were a chakra beast that had been around for thousands of years she would probably act like the cat too.
Right now, she is working on using Matatabi's flames without entering the One-tailed state. Going into the One-tailed state gives her a lot of raw power but it comes at the cost of reduced mental faculty to think logically. The kickback after the end of every transformation is also not something she enjoys experiencing. Furthermore, unlike Naruto, her body is not naturally suited to withstand Matatabi's corrosive chakra for long periods of time. Thus, the best compromise would be to use Matatabi's flames without going into the tailed state. She already has a powerful jutsu in her arsenal thanks to Haku and her sensei, the Fire Release Chakra Mode. Now, all she has to do is to properly control and use Matatabi's flames instead of her normal ones.
The good thing about using Matatabi's flames is that she can produce flames without a need for hand seals because Matatabi is the incarnation of fire itself. When she's cloaked in Matatabi's flames just a mere thought can send the flames to anywhere she wishes to see cremated. Of course, she's still working on the output because the last time she tried that out, she ended up burning way more than she intended to. She needs to learn how to control these flames because it can be dangerous to any allies near her.
'Nya, you are at it again?'
'Yes,' She idly replied while trying to maintain her concentration in controlling the output of her flames. Hyugas are all about control and balance. Learning how to control Tailed Beast chakra is no different; control and balance.
'You have any wise words to impart while I'm at it?' She asked while going through her usual katas in this state. The longer she can maintain her control in this volatile state, the better it will be for her. The Gentle Fist would just be any other regular taijutsu style if there is no control. She will need to be able to fight normally in this state under any circumstances.
'Hmmm, why not? I'm feeling generous today, nya,' She heard the cat giving a lazy yawn and she can already imagine the cat stretching itself. 'Alright, lemme start by teaching you the basics of what I taught every jinchuriki of mine. You know what the Chakra Flow technique is, nya?'
'All Hyugas know how to do that. It's the very basis of our techniques.'
'Of course you would know, Hamura oji-san had always preferred the Chakra Flow technique. Should have guessed he would have passed it down.'
'You keep mentioning this Hamura guy,' Hanabi continued with her katas faster and faster while maintaining her control over those blue flames. 'I've checked my clan's archives. There's no such person as far as I could track.'
'WHAT?!' The cat's loud voice nearly broke her concentration when it shouted loudly in her head. 'He's your ancestor, nya! The first Hyuga!'
'It is what it is, okay? I have no idea why this is the case too!' She shouted back mentally, a little annoyed at the cat's sudden increase in volume.
'Argh whatever.' She heard the cat growling in annoyance. 'Let's get you started with the Claw Creation Technique. I won't accept any jinchuriki of mine to not know this technique, nya! Yugito got it in a week, let's see if you can beat her record, and then you are going to beat Kurama's jinchuriki into the dirt, nya! That will show the fox not to disrespect us, nya!'
'You sound like you hold a grudge against the Kyubi.'
'He's an ass, that's what!'
"COOOOOL! Do it again, Hanabi-chan!"
"It's nothing special. Just elongating my nails, that's all," Hanabi deadpanned as she demonstrated the new jutsu she had just learnt from Matatabi. She held up her hands and elongated her nails by at least 10 cm and Naruto started to go all crazy about it once more. She could do the same for her toenails as well and not only that, they can be strengthened to be harder than steel using the version of Chakra Flow Technique that Matatabi had taught her. At least with this new jutsu, there's no longer a need to cut her nails any longer. She could elongate and shorten them at will now that she knows how to use this Claw Creation Technique that Matatabi had taught her. Pretty nifty.
"TEACH ME!"
"Matatabi says no," She replied after asking for consent from her tenant. "Says that it is the job reserved for your furry friend inside you to teach you something useful."
"ARGH! DAMMIT FURBALL! WHY CAN'T YOU BE AS USEFUL AS MATATABI-CHAN!" Hanabi watched in amusement as Naruto practically screamed at her belly. Naruto went silent for a short while, presumably hearing what the fox had to say, then the screaming continued.
Matatabi said that Yugito only managed to learn the Claw Creation Technique after a week, but she learnt it within an hour. She cannot help but be a little smug about it. Let's see if any future jinchuriki could beat that record.
An ANBU appeared in a body flicker before them. It's Bird, which Hanabi heavily suspects is one of her clansmen. She cannot see past the mask due to the seals placed on it, but the way the chakra flows in Bird's body was what led her to believe that Bird has to be a Hyuga. She personally thinks Bird is Hyuga Tokuma. Tokuma is said to possess the best byakugan in the clan when it comes to tracking, she just didn't know he's in ANBU. If it wasn't for her byakugan she wouldn't have been able to even guess that this is her fellow clansman.
"Hanabi-san, Naruto-san, we have to go," Bird politely reminded them that their time here is up. Naruto continues to cuss up a storm because "How am I going to be Hokage if there's even a curfew for training, dattebayo!" Personally, Hanabi could care less. All of her loved ones are out there on the battlefield right now and her entire mind is thinking about whether they can come back safe and sound.
Bird led them through a series of twists and turns within the Hokage Mountain and they were soon out of it. Hanabi briefly activated her byakugan, easily spotting Bird's ANBU team and the other ANBU team responsible for guarding Naruto. Crow is not present and in his place is Dragon, the ANBU Commander himself. Nobody breathed a word when she asked about Crow but it does not take a genius to figure out that Crow must have been sent to the frontlines. She does wonder who Dragon might be but seeing as Dragon has the same type of chakra Crow has, it's likely that he's an Uchiha as well.
Hanabi and Naruto quickly changed their appearance with a Transformation technique to hide their true appearance and began to hop across Konoha's rooftops to their place of residence tonight. During this period they will not have a fixed place of residence. This is so that in the case where there are any possible enemy spies that had somehow infiltrated the village, it will make it harder for them to get a lock on their location. The same goes for Dan. They will switch locations once every few days. Today, they will be living in the Uchiha District. Naruto is especially excited because they will be temporarily staying with Uchiha Mikoto, Sasuke's mother and the Lady of the Clan.
They were halfway through their journey when Bird gave a shout of warning.
"Incoming! Attack from nine o'clock! Dodge!"
Everyone scattered at the warning, including their hidden ANBU guards. Sure enough, a powerful lightning bolt would have fried them all if it wasn't for Bird keeping a constant lookout. Her transformation had dropped when her concentration over the technique was broken and so did Naruto. Hanabi activated her own byakugan and immediately spotted five Kumo shinobis, making her seethe. They want her so badly? Well, she will give them some.
"Team B, take our targets to Safehouse E! Team D will handle this!"
Dragon had immediately engaged the Kumo team in battle even before she and Naruto could do so. Bird had grabbed them both by the back of their shirts and pulled them away, a few ANBU members following after him.
"Let me go 'ttebayo! There's no way I am going to sit out-"
"You will listen to our orders," Bird insisted in a stern voice. "Until the time comes when the both of you are strong enough to command the power sealed within your bodies, you will remain protected by us. For now, we will run. Commander Dragon is more than enough to handle those intruders."
"How did they even get past our Barrier Corps?" Hanabi furrowed her brows in thought and tapped Bird's arm a few times, signalling for him to let her go because she can move on her own just fine. Thankfully, he relented. Naruto remains in Bird's grasp because she is still kicking and screaming, wanting to join the fray.
"That, we don't know," Bird admitted. "It shouldn't have happened."
"Well, it happened during the invasion too 'ttebayo!" Naruto yelled out. "How else did Kumo, Oto, and Suna's armies manage to even reach the village undetected in the first place?!"
For once, the knucklehead has a valid point.
'Kitten! Below you!'
She didn't hesitate to jump high up into the air upon Matatabi's warning. It was just as the ground exploded beneath her and forced everyone to scatter once more, the smoke and dust that was thrown up obscuring her vision. She gritted her teeth. This is bad, everyone had been forcefully scattered from just that one attack alone.
'Thanks for the warning.'
'You are lucky I like you as a host, nya! Look sharp, they don't feel like Kumo shinobis to me!'
A massive earth dragon came crashing towards her the moment she activated her byakugan. A midair twist did the trick as she evaded that surprise attack before her flames roared to life.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm!"
She immediately blasted a strong wave of compressed chakra from both her palms at where the earth dragon came from, dispersing the smoke in the meantime. In the fraction of a second, two different shinobis flanked her sides, fists covered with hardened earth. Her eyes widened when she spotted the symbol etched on their forehead protector.
Iwa shinobis?
She immediately used a flame-covered Kaiten, the flames that are protecting her giving her attackers a nasty burn in the process. She landed on a nearby rooftop and spotted more shinobis converging on her location. Each of her fellow ANBU guards already have their hands full by having to fight against a few shinobis all on their own. Help won't be coming her way soon.
Might as well. She's a little pissed off today and she wants to vent some steam too. She could even use this chance to practise the main family's secret techniques that her father taught her before he left for the frontlines.
"Eight Trigrams Grid Palm!"
She slammed her hands on the floor beneath her the moment those Iwa shinobis landed on the rooftop where she was at. A network of grids and symbols immediately spread out with her as the epicenter and her attackers fell with a cry of pain. It might not be obvious to anyone outside the clan, but the Hyuga clan isn't that bad in the art of Fuinjutsu. After all, they were the ones to create something as complex as the Caged Bird Seal. This is the closest to an offensive Fuinjutsu technique that her clan has. Whoever steps into the network of grids and symbols without her permission will feel an intense sense of pain. Perfect jutsu if you want to keep a healthy distance away from somebody else.
She heard a yell before a sea of orange came into view. Naruto is on a rampage, it seems. Unfortunately, she is in no condition to go and help her fellow jinchuriki. Already, other Iwa shinobis are trying to hit her by throwing heavy boulders from outside her jutsu's range, wary of what it had done to their comrades. Hanabi simply dashed straight at it, fire still burning and chakra concentrated at her fingertips.
Claw Creation Technique
She easily sliced the boulder into two with the new jutsu Matatabi had taught her and carried on ahead. She started to sink into the ground the moment her feet touched the earth but she easily propelled herself out of there by using her control over fire to blast a stream of flames from the bottom of her feet, continuing her charge. She mentally thanked her jonin sensei for showing her this trick when she was learning the Fire Release from him. Goofy he may be, but he is a capable teacher.
Her Gentle Fist easily shattered the earth armour her assailants were coating themselves with. In front of her, such defenses are useless because her eyes can easily spot the weaknesses and her Gentle Fist can easily destroy any chakra construct. Destroying and negating chakra is the very purpose of the Gentle Fist. It is what made her clan so formidable because only they have the eyes needed to possibly use such a taijutsu technique.
With a few swift strikes, her fingers jabbed at the tenketsu points at her assailants' hearts, killing them in an instant. The earth threatened to swallow her once more but another flaming Kaiten blew it all away, buying her enough time to close the distance towards where she spotted the next enemy closest to her. Still, she cannot help but wonder just where did these Iwa shinobis come from? They keep coming out one after the other within their village. Even if they did burrow their way in, there should be a limit to how many shinobis they could have brought with them without getting discovered.
A flurry of shurikens flew and swerved in unexpected angles and herded the Iwa shinobis towards her. Hanabi's eyes caught sight of the female ANBU in Bird's team trying to get to her while fending off her opponents. She must have been the one to throw those shurikens.
'Matatabi.'
'Take all you want, nya. Consider it as a gift for mastering the Claw Creation Technique so soon.'
Her blue flames bloomed around her as she charged in. With a few palm strikes, she easily cremated any jutsu and anyone who stood in her way. Matatabi had said that her flames are unnaturally hot and it can burn, physically and spiritually. She still doesn't understand what Matatabi meant by 'spiritually' because the cat didn't bother to explain when she asked, but there is probably more to what Matatabi's flames can do.
Another of her ANBU guards had managed to box them in using some sort of weird weapon with chains, gathering a few of those Iwa shinobis into a single spot. Hanabi skidded to a stop and sucked in a breath before releasing a steady stream of flames from her mouth just like how her sensei had taught her. The smell of charred flesh told her enough of their fate.
"Hanabi! Behind!"
She ducked on instinct when one of her ANBU guards yelled the warning. An Iwa shinobi would have managed to fatally wound her from behind if it wasn't for the warning. It's nothing Matatabi cannot heal her from, but it will definitely disable her long enough for those Iwa shinobis to restrain her. However, that is not her main concern right now.
The angle of that attack is just right at her byakugan's blind spot. How did Iwa shinobi know about it? Through sheer luck, or something else?
She spit another ball of fire at that Iwa shinobi before jabbing his arm with a few of her strikes, disabling and crippling his arm for life. She purposely leapt over him and landed with her back facing him, intending to get the answers she seeked. Sure enough, the Iwa shinobi immediately fired another Earth release jutsu at her, aiming for her blind spot once more. She managed to easily deflect it with a Kaiten but now her suspicions have been confirmed. Something happening only once can be attributed to a coincidence, but not twice.
Somehow, Iwa knows about the secret of her clan's dojutsu. This is bad, really bad.
She created a Shadow Clone among the chaos and the Shadow Clone ignited itself in a ball of fire before exploding itself right next to that Iwa shinobi, taking him out. Hanabi quickly tried to regroup with her ANBU guards. It is no longer safe to fight alone if the Iwa shinobis somehow knew about the byakugan's weakness because very likely, they are assembled for the sole purpose of exploiting this weakness to capture her.
"Don't let her regroup!"
Earthen walls rose to block her way and boxed her in. Her eyes spotted seals lining those walls and she really doesn't want to know what it is supposed to do. She immediately expelled a huge amount of chakra outwards and blasted her way out of her confinement through sheer force. Are they aiming for her thinking that it will be easier to capture the jinchuriki of the Nibi rather than the Kyubi? The power of the Tailed Beasts are ranked based on the number of tails they possess after all. Going by that logic, she would be the second weakest jinchuuriki currently in existence.
'Hanabi-chan. Go into one-tailed state, nya.'
'If I run out of juice prematurely I will be defenceless,' She argued as she continued to dodge incoming projectiles while launching streams of flames from her palms in return through the Vacuum Palm technique. Her body cannot sustain the one-tailed mode for long right now. She'll be lucky if she could even last a minute in her current state.
'Hmph, like you will ever run out of juice with me around, nya! This is the best time to actualise the fruits of your training! How many more encounters with real enemies will you have after this, nya? Not with how this village is coddling you! I will not have my jinchuriki coddled, nya!'
Fair enough.
'I'm counting on you.'
She leapt back to gain distance and backflipped away from another hail of shurikens shooting down on her location. She landed on all fours, took in a breath, and called upon Matatabi's raw chakra.
It was instantaneous. The moment she entered the one-tailed mode she leapt forward and killed three of her enemies with a single swipe, all of it just within a second. In the next second, she had reached Naruto and helped to quickly clear the enemies around her. By the time the third second had ended her chakra shroud had elongated its right arm and punched a hole through each of Bird's enemies as if having a separate mind of its own.
Her eyes widened at the sight. No wonder people fear jinchurikis, if the power of a single tail allows her to do this much against veteran shinobis when she had minimal training in using this power, it is no wonder why people fear Tailed Beasts and jinchurikis so much. The power these chakra beasts have is really no laughing matter.
How did Haku even face Matatabi's full power and emerge alive? How did he even manage to seal Matatabi in her?
Her sudden transformation had obviously thrown a wrench in their enemies' plans. Her ANBU guards had quickly cooperated with her as she easily dispatched each of the shinobis that were holding them down. Naruto's army of Shadow Clones were useful too as they quickly rounded up the remaining assailants. It is obvious by now that Kumo and Iwa have to be working together since the first wave that separated them from Dragon's team was from Kumo. This is overall bad news.
"Catch a few alive!"
Bird had quickly barked out an order and the rest of the ANBU team quickly moved to carry it out. Naruto's Shadow Clones did a great job in overwhelming the Iwa shinobis through sheer numbers alone. Hanabi paused in her actions as she watched. She will leave the capturing to the ANBU and Naruto, she is not suited for such a task in her one-tailed state anyway.
What she worries about is what is going to happen on the frontlines now that they have confirmation on a few things. One, Kumo and Iwa have ways to bypass their village's securities. Two, Kumo and Iwa are now working together. Three, they knew about the byakugan's blind spot.
Just the thought of it gives her a very bad premonition.
"Are you sure, Hanabi?"
"Yes, I am," She half-groaned, half-snapped at her interim Hokage while holding a pack of ice Bird had kindly found for her and she pressed it to the side of her head. This is what she hates the most, the splitting headache that comes with the end of every Tailed Beast transformation. It's not just her head either, her entire body is aching but the headache is the worst. She is barely able to stand on her feet at this point and is leaning on Naruto for support.
At least she could still somewhat stand on her feet. This was already a lot better when she first tried the transformation.
Bird's body language told her enough that he was also alarmed when she dropped the news on Dan in the Hokage's office. The secret of the byakugan is not something their clan will publicise to anyone outside the clan. Even Haku wasn't allowed to know but he found out about it somehow during their spars when they were still young. Haku lived with them so him finding that secret out eventually wasn't all that surprising, but it is a different story when it is Iwa and Kumo they are talking about right now.
Naruto led her to a nearby couch at the side of the Hokage's office and Hanabi simply lay herself down on the couch and closed her eyes, more than happy to knock herself out for the next couple of hours now that she had finally relayed what she had found out to their interim Hokage. Goddammit, she still feels like utter shit after doing that transformation. She admits that her transformation was what allowed for a swift victory against the ambush sprung on them but the kickback is really something she doesn't want to experience unless absolutely necessary.
She lets her exhaustion take her to sleep, ignoring Naruto's loud voice and the conversation that is taking place within the room.
She's beat, dammit.
When she woke up it was to the sight of an unfamiliar room.
Hanabi let out a soft groan and slowly sat up, spotting a sleeping Naruto straightaway. They are both lying on a futon but Naruto has her limbs sprawled wide open like a starfish, blankets kicked away, and there is some drool leaking from the sides of her mouth. Ew.
It's obviously late at night. She stood up and quietly left the room, and she noticed the change in clothes that she is currently wearing, so somebody must have changed her out of her clothes while she was unconscious. She still doesn't recognise just where the hell she is but she sure hopes that there is a kitchen or sorts in here. She's extremely thirsty right now.
"Ah, you are awake!"
Hanabi blinked her eyes twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things before she bowed in greeting.
"Uchiha-san."
"Just Mikoto will do, Hanabi-chan," Sasuke's mother greeted her with a smile from where she sits in what she presumes is the living room and polishing her weapons. "Feeling okay?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah. I'm just thirsty so I came out to find myself a drink," Hanabi replied as she finally found the kitchen and quickly poured herself a big glass of water before downing it in one gulp. Satisfied that her thirst is now quenched, she turns back to face the matron of the Uchiha clan.
"Forgive me for asking, but are we in the Uchiha District?"
"No, Dan-san changed the location of where you two will be resting tonight," Mikoto shook her head as she neatly pocketed her weapons back into her weapons pouch. "I'm just here for you and Naruto's protection. There are also ANBU standing guard outside, so relax and have a good rest. You did well in defeating those Kumo and Iwa shinobis."
"At the cost of a nasty headache that knocked me out for hours every time I did that," Hanabi grimaced, which earned a laugh from the lady of the Uchiha clan.
"But your progress is remarkable! At least, I don't think Naruto managed to harness the power of the Kyubi as fast as you did. Granted, the Kyubi has nine tails while the Nibi only has two, but it is still not easy to do what you have managed to do. Give yourself some credit," Uchiha Mikoto said good naturedly as she took out a bento box from the fridge. "Are you hungry? I have a feeling you might be when you wake up so I made some onigiris just in case you woke up with an empty stomach. The onigiris are a little cold since I have to put them in the fridge, but if you want I can heat them-"
"It's fine," Hanabi quickly said as she received the bento box from Mikoto's hands. "I don't want to trouble you more than I already did. Besides, I don't really mind the cold."
That still didn't stop Mikoto from making a cup of hot tea for her, something which Hanabi accepted with gratitude. The onigiris are really nice too. Maybe she could learn from Mikoto how she made those? Her siblings and Haku would probably love it. Her father and uncle might too, it's hard to tell with the two of them because of their stoic faces.
"So… any updates on the situation?"
"Dan is working on it, that is all I can tell you," Mikoto answered with a smile. "While it is alarming that Iwa and Kumo can slip past our security defenses like that, I have faith in Dan's capabilities. He was once a Hokage candidate too."
"He was?" She asked through mouthfuls of food, a little surprised at this tidbit of information even though it is supposedly bad manners and very unladylike to talk with food in her mouth but hey, she never had a mother to teach her manners in the first place.
"Not a lot of people in your generation would know about it, even most of Obito's generation had forgotten about it too."
"So he ran for Hokage when the Sandaime stepped down?"
"Alongside Kizashi and Minato, among others," Mikoto affirmed. "Both of them often joked that if I were to run for Hokage too, then everyone from our team would have at least tried running for the Hokage position."
"... You guys were on the same team?" She asked, knowing very well just which team Minato belonged to but she never knew that the Uchiha Matriarch was from there as well.
Mikoto laughed.
"It's not surprising that you wouldn't know about it, I haven't been active ever since I was pregnant with Itachi. I was the oldest among the three, if you want to know. My original genin team had all perished on a mission gone wrong, my sensei included, and so I had to be drafted into another team. It was just at the moment when Sandaime-sama needed Jiraiya-sensei to take on a genin team himself and from what sensei told me, he happened to see my name on a list lying on the Hokage's desk, pointed at it, and simply told Sandaime-sama that I want this genin."
"And the Hokage agreed? Just like that?"
"If you had worked with the Sandaime before you would have known that he was very doting on each and every of his students. Orochimaru took advantage of this and it was how he managed to escape Konoha in the first place when he defected. I wasn't surprised that Sandaime-sama allowed Jiraiya to choose which students he wanted to teach."
"So your sensei also picked Minato-san and…"
"From what I was told, yes. Minato was an early graduate, so he was the youngest, but he is also by far the brightest. Kizashi is very formidable as a close combat fighter and he has a will that is harder than steel. With me rounding the team up as a long range specialist, we became a very effective heavy assault team."
Hanabi paused in her meal as a sudden thought struck her. The Sandaime trained the Sannin, who were also famed for being an incredibly powerful heavy assault team. Then Jiraiya of the Sannin trained two future Hokages and the current Uchiha Clan Matriarch, which is also a heavy assault team and Minato then train Obito-sensei, Kakashi, and Rin, who is also a heavy assault team and then Kakashi is now the sensei of the current Team 7, which is also… another heavy assault team.
"Is every generation of Team 7 supposed to be a heavy assault team, or is it tradition for a Hokage to train a heavy assault team?"
"Who knows?" Mikoto answered with a coy smile, and Hanabi felt that she knows a lot more than she lets on.
"But Obito-sensei wants to be Hokage and our team is not a heavy assault team…" Hanabi thought out loud as she pondered about the issue. Even if she's just nitpicking at details here, does that mean he is not fated to be the next Hokage? Or will he be the first Hokage to break tradition?
"Oh, speaking of which, do you have any ideas on what we should do for Obito's wedding?" Mikoto asked cheerily and Hanabi found herself truly stumped. What did she just hear?
"Obito-sensei's… wedding?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"He told us nothing of the sort."
"Oh dear, that child, forgetful as always," Mikoto released a drawn out sigh and Hanabi still found herself having some difficulty in processing the information. Obito-sensei… and wedding.
"So, he and Rin are getting married when this war is over?"
Oh, she is going to tear her sensei a new one for forgetting to tell them about something as important as this.
"That's the plan," Mikoto chirped happily. "About time too. Ah, makes me wonder when Itachi and Izumi will finally tie the knot and when I will be having grandchildren. I hope I won't have to wait for too long."
She doesn't know Itachi all that well, only enough to know that he is Sasuke's older brother and supposedly very powerful and that he may or may not be the ANBU Crow that watched over her and Naruto from time to time. How does one get into ANBU anyway? It's not a job that you can apply for, so... recommendations from superiors or the people around you?
"Sensei always had a tendency to be flashy, so he probably prefers something more…flamboyant?" Hanabi struggled to find the right word to describe what she had in mind, but it seems that Mikoto understood her perfectly even without it.
"As far as Uchiha traditions go, a wedding wouldn't be a wedding without some fire. It is what we are recognised for, after all. I'm just not too sure about Rin's preferences, maybe I should ask Minato or Kakashi? Maybe Kushina would know too."
"Haku and Rin seemed to be close, you can try asking him too," Hanabi added, remembering that whenever they visited Naruto's house when they were still students in the academy, sometimes Minato's students would be there as well. Whenever that happens, the only person which Haku seems to be more willing to open up to was Rin. It may be because she was the doctor who treated him when he first arrived in Konoha or it may be for other reasons, but in any case, Rin was the one among the three that was able to get Haku to talk when he first arrived in Konoha.
"Oh really? Come to think about it, you've never been into the Uchiha Compound before, even when you are Sasuke's classmates. You should visit us after this war! I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't mind his friends coming over for a visit!"
No, he totally would, was what Hanabi was thinking. They weren't even remotely close to begin with, but it would be impolite to just dismiss an offer from the matriarch of the clan. Besides, it may do wonders to improve relations between the two supposedly "rival" clans. Politics, it's all always about politics.
"Thank you. I will take up on the offer-"
She sensed it right at the moment her words were about to leave her mouth. It was a sudden and enormous build up of chakra, inflating itself within a single second in a manner that was all too familiar with her during all the jinchuriki training that she had been through under Kushina's supervision. An explosion rocked the entire safehouse thereafter, cutting her sentence prematurely. If she wanted to be more accurate, the whole village would have felt that shockwave.
The veins around her eyes bulged almost immediately as she activated her dojutsu and Mikoto had already done the same as well with her sharingan. She saw a scene that she never hoped to see again within the village's walls.
"Gobi… It's the Gobi! It breached the village walls!"
Her mind is racing at a mile a minute. How had nobody detected the Gobi until it was too late? Why is it even here? What are their objectives? And most importantly, who is capable of stopping a rampaging tailed beast when all of Konoha's seal masters are out of the village?
The ANBU guards that were around the perimeter flickered in and made their presence known immediately, bodies tense and weapons drawn as they formed a defensive circle around her. Naruto had woken up from the commotion too, making her entrance loud and clear as per usual as Mikoto immediately summarised the situation for her.
"Leave the Gobi to Dan, we need to leave now. Our positions may have already been compromised," Mikoto ordered and Hanabi is inclined to agree despite her own worries.
"Only a tailed beast can fight another tailed beast, and all of our seal masters…"
"Don't worry, there is more than one way to tame them," Mikoto subtly pointed to her red glowing eyes and Hanabi understood. Like many other children, she had heard stories of how Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama tamed these forces of nature during the warring states period. There are probably Uchiha shinobis purposefully left behind to guard the village in the Hokage's absence that are also powerful and well-equipped enough to stop a rampaging tailed beast, even if that begged the question on who that may be.
If the Uchiha Clan matriarch is so confident, then who is she to doubt her?