"..."
"But, don't worry. We will abolish this cruel system of the Main and Branch Houses soon enough."
Natsuki confidently dispelled the two sisters' concerns.
If someone else had said this, they might have scoffed.
The Hyūga clan's ancient traditions had existed for so long, no one had ever broken them. How could an outsider possibly interfere?
However the word were coming from Natsuki. The man clad in the Hokage's robes, the most powerful person in Konoha at such a young age, and someone who possessed a myriad of incredible abilities.
His words were utterly convincing.
"That's wonderful! You can definitely do it!
"We'll help too, when the time comes."
Hanabi cried tears of joy and threw herself at Natsuki.
Natsuki was the Hokage, and one of the two sisters was bound to become the head of the Hyūga clan in the future.
If they worked from the inside and out, abolishing this outdated tradition would be much easier.
"Right, sister?" Hanabi nuzzled her head against Natsuki's chest, then turned to her sister behind her.
"Mm-hmm, I will help." Thinking of Neji's hatred for the Main House, Hinata had long harbored this desire.
But she was alone and lacked the courage to break with tradition. Now, with Natsuki leading the charge, she found the courage to strive towards this goal.
"Alright, the most important thing now is for both of you to grow stronger quickly."
"With enough power, you can do whatever you want." As Natsuki spoke, he glanced at the damp spot on his chest and lightly rapped Hanabi on the head. "Hanabi, did you deliberately wipe your snot on my robes?
"You're the first person in all of Konoha brave enough to defile the Hokage's robes."
Hanabi covered her head, sticking out her tongue. "I'm not a clueless little kid, I don't have any snot. That's the water that splashed on me when I was sparring with sister earlier."
Hanabi finished speaking and deliberately shook her wet hair, droplets of water a mingled with fragrant scent of shampoo showered over Natsuki.
Then, as if remembering something, she clung to Natsuki like a koala, holding on even tighter.
"That reminded me, Natsuki! I shouldn't let go! When will I ever get to dirty the another Hokage's outfit. That's the symbol of Konoha's highest honor we're talking about!"
Seeing her sister's lack of decorum, Hinata helplessly advised, "Hanabi, come down, girls should be more reserved."
"Blegh... No way! Natsuki likes me the most, it's fine." Hanabi made a face at her sister, then covered her mouth and giggled.
"Speaking of which, ahem, sister is even bolder. I saw you kiss Natsuki several times!"
When it came to verbal sparring, ten Hinatas were no match for Hanabi.
Sure enough, as soon as Hanabi finished speaking, steam started rising from Hinata's head, her face flushed crimson.
She had hidden so well when she was with Natsuki, how could her sister have discovered them?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Fortunately, Natsuki was quick to react, his left hand swiftly supporting Hinata. At the same time, he extended his right hand and bonked Hanabis head.
thuk!!
"Alright, come down. Do you still want to learn those flying techniques or not?"
"Ow... If you keep hitting me like that, I'll really become as dumb as my sister.
"Hmph! Natsuki really does like sister more." Hanabi rubbed her forehead, pouting and sulking.
"I won't let go of you unless you give me a kiss. I want whatever my sister has too."
'What kind of childish thinking is this?'
However, she was indeed the age where she would be stubborn.
Natsuki couldn't help but ask, "Do you also often steal your sister's toys?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
Hanabi's eyes widened in confusion. Then she quickly shouted, "No! Natsuki, don't try to change the subject!"
"Ugh, fine."
"But you have to keep your promise, or I'll really be angry," Natsuki said with a feigned seriousness.
He had to scare this little girl a bit, or she would keep pushing her luck.
"Mm-hmm." Hanabi nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken.
Since he had agreed, Natsuki kept his word.
He lowered his head slightly and gently pecked Hanabi's six lane highway of a forehead.
Just as he was about to lift his head, Hanabi tightened her legs around his waist, cupped his face in her hands, and boldly tried to peck him on the lips.
But who was Natsuki? He was the Hokage, he lifted his head at the right time, making her peck land his chin.
"Oh come on! A forehead kiss doesn't count!
"Come here lemmeeee!!! UUUUUU."
Hanabi Protested fiercely, and Natsuki continued to evade, but with Hinata still in his arms and not wanting to hurt Hanabi, he couldn't struggle enough.
In the end, he tucked his lips inside his mouth, looking at Hanabi with a smug clowny grin.
Hanabi was dissatisfied, about to pout, but in swist motion, she licked his face, leaning back with a smugger grin.
"This counts, hee hee." Hanabi giggled.
It wasn't the kind of cute touch with the tip of the tongue that could be barely counted as a lick, no it was the nasty kind!
Saliva was smeared from Natsuki's chin till his nose, making his face scrunch up in disgust.
He breathed in fiercely through his nose, about to gather snot in his mouth to spit and teach Hanabi a lesson, but sanity prevailed.
No he wasn't someone that would stoop that low, no he had his pride, he wouldn't associate wih some nasty brats.
He spit to the side, onto the lake. Making the apprehensive Habnabi beath a sigh of relief.
"You nasty little rascal.
"Get off me, or I swear to all that is sacred, I'll drag you through the bottom of this lake."
Hanabi knew when to stop. Her eyes crinkled into crescents, as she loosened the leg on his waist.
It all happened in an instant, as soon as the grip on Natsuki's wasit and neck loosened, he let go of Hinata in his hand who just floated in the air, and grabbed Hanabi by the waist.
Although Hanabi was younger than Hinata, she was still as tall as Hinata, if only a bit bigger.
And natsuki effortlessly lifter her into the air and used her robes as a towel to wipe the saliva on his face.
"Eaarraaaghh!!"
Hanabi let out a shrill shreak at that, only managing to jump out of Natsuki's hand after he finished wiping.
Fortunately she managed to land on water.
"Disgusting bastard!" She cursed Natsuki with a sniff, and held the saliva smeeared part of her robe from touching her skin.
Natsuki looked proud of himself as he stood there ina heroic pose.
"That's your sliva for fucks sake!"
…
A while later, hanabi stood by the waterfull, using the water form the waterfall to wash her robes clean, with Natsuki, who had already washed his face, walking to the side with the unconcious Hinata in his arms.
"Then, Natsuki, please teach me how to awaken the Tenseigan." Seemingly heaving already forgotten the earlier grievance, Hanabi started speaking,
"It's not really like what sister said right? It's not about shouting 'First Mage, something something' is it? Ohhhh that would be too embarrassing."
As Natsuki gently laid the unconscious Hinata on the grassy slope by the riverbank, he replied, "What else did you expect? If you don't even have that much resolve, then you'll never awaken the Tenseigan in your lifetime.
"That's the Tenseigan we're talking about, something that surpasses everything that is living! It's the evolved form of the Byakugan. Fully developed to it's potential, it can even split the moon in half!"
Natsuki's words made Hanabi's jaw drop. She found it a bit unbelievable. "The… the moon can be split in half?"
"Of course.
"Right. and 'First Mage' is your sister's title, you can't use it.
"Also, make sure to have this badge on you from now on. From this day forward, you're a new member of our Dimensional End's Congregation. You can use the title 'Third Mage'."
After speaking, Natsuki pulled a shiny badge from his pocket and tossed it to Hanabi.
Hanabi quickly caught it.
Looking closely, it was a badge with a dark and intricate abyss pattern depicted on it, as if it could absorb everything.
A shimmering hexagram was imprinted in the center, giving it a three-dimensional feel.
'Sister treasures this badge, treating it like a precious gem. When we were little, I could snatch any of her toys, but she never let go of this one. So it was given to her by Natsuki…
'Hmph! Now I have one too!
'This badge is so mysterious and beautiful, it would make a great accessory.
'But why does the name of this group sound so unreliable? It's probably something Natsuki and sister made up when they were playing house as kids.'
"Wait, if sister is the First Mage, shouldn't I be the Second Mage?" The clever Hanabi immediately spotted the flaw in Natsuki's words.
"Because there's already a Second Mage.
"You didn't think there were only three of us in this group, did you?"
"Huh?" Hanabi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Besides us, there are other people who joined this unreliable group?
"Natsuki, you didn't force them to join, did you?"