Chapter 2
HINATA HYUGA
"Begin!"
With that shout, the boy in front of her moved like a blur, as Hinata struggled to hold her ground. The first strike came at her chest, and thankfully she was able to parry it away pushing it to the side with the palm of her hand, but just as she was about to try and counter, the boy moved fast, as he spun on his heel and aimed a strike at her shoulder forcing her to defend once more.
PAH!
She raised her hand, blocking the strike, yet the force of his chakra made her skin tinge as she tried to push forward and aim at his shoulder as a counter, but he simply pushed up her arm, forcing her out of balance as he tried to strike at her tenketsu once more.
"Eight Trigrams..." but before he could finish gathering chakra, she pushed a gush of chakra into her feet, pushing herself off the ground as she escaped the range of his attacks and retreated back to gather her breath.
It was a cowardly move, and though she did not glance to the side, she expected to see disapproval in the eyes of those witnessing her retreat.
The boy, though, her cousin, seemed to narrow his eyes, the Byakugan oozing with power as he rushed forward once more, his barrage of attacks now more ferocious and faster than before.
Hinata, though, had been practising hard for years now, and kept up for as long as she could until she made a singular mistake as she tried to reach for an opening that was not there, and immediately her older cousin pushed himself down, as her palm hit nothing but air, as his fingers attacked the tanketsu on her shoulder.
"Eight Trigrams..." and as she tried to escape again, he struck first, aiming a strike at her leg, as she winced in pain.
"Two palms," and with that the barrage began, as her tanketsu were attacked in quick succession.
"Four palms, eight palms, sixteen palms,..." and his speed continued to grow as he reached the feat that few amongst the Main Branch could reach.
"Thirty-two palms," and she had expected this to be the end, but in the end, those eyes narrowed as she saw him push past his limits.
"Sixty-four....'
"That is enough!" and just as his finger was about to strike her once more, he stopped as Hinata winced in pain as her chakra found its flow blocked because of his attacks.
She turned around to face the clan head, her own father, who stood there looking down at her as he gave his verdict.
"That was a poor showing, Hinata," and she gritted her teeth for what else should she have expected. She had lost.
"And Neji, do not be so proud just because you have defeated a weakling," and her eyes fell to the ground as her father refused to acknowledge her improvements or hard work.
In his eyes, Hinata would remain a failure as always.
"Let us see how you fare against your peers," and with that, Hinata moved back, as her father turned towards the crowd of members gathered around them, all witnessing the match.
"Watanabe, step forward," and at her father's command, an older boy nearly twice the size of her cousin stepped forward. Unlike Neji, who was about to graduate, Watanabe had been a genin for years now and was considered a very strong member.
He had straight hair that he had let down as he stepped forward and faced her cousin, who remained stoic as always, unfazed by the prospect of facing an experienced genin.
He had just finished his bout against her and must be a bit exhausted, yet he offered no complaints as the son of elder Watanabe took his stance.
Her elder cousin did the same, as her father gave the command to begin, and Hinata had no doubt that this fight was nothing more than a punishment for Neji, retribution for bringing shame to the Main Branch of the Family.
"Begin!" and Watanabe Hyuga was faster and bigger as he rushed towards Neji, and tried to land a blow but her cousin was faster and avoided all his attacks, but rather than backing away, he retaliated and she saw him push chakra into his hand, and release it at once as he parried one of his strikes.
"Death Palm!" she heard him whisper, as his palm connected with the older Hyuga's forearm, and all she heard was a snap.
"AGHHH!" Watanabe Hyuga screamed in agony, as his arm turned limp, as he screamed in agony, but this had created the perfect opening, and just as her cousin was about to land a barrage of his own, she stilled as screams filled the Hall.
"AGHHHHH!" and she saw him fall to the ground, as he held his head in his hands.
"STOP!" her father ordered as he glared at the elder sitting to the side.
"What do you think you are doing, Elder Watanabe!" he thundered as Neji-nii's screams stopped, as all eyes turned towards the bald elder eyeing his son with pity.
The hall fell silent. Even the wind outside seemed to pause as the elder stepped forward, his eyes burning with pride and prejudice as he glared at her prostrating cousin and mocked him ruthlessly.
"The boy has no respect for the techniques of our clan! He makes a mockery of the traditions, and I won't let him humiliate my son..." and her father had had enough.
"The bout had no rules! They are both free to use any technique they can," he added, as the servants all rushed towards the young genin, who was glaring at her cousin, who pushed himself back to his feet as his fists balled in rage and indignation.
The Elder retorted with a scoff as he refused to back down, "We must not let them taint the traditions and practices that have kept this clan alive for generations," and with that, the elder Watanabe stepped forward and stood against a boy half his size as he took his stance, and asked snidely.
"If the boy thinks himself so powerful, then he wouldn't mind testing this technique against me," and her father shook his head, and his chakra roared with him.
"No!" he announced, stopping the challenge before things could escalate and glanced around the Hall as he announced his verdict.
"The training session is over," her father declared, as he turned towards his nephew and began in a solemn voice.
"From tomorrow onwards, you shall don the hitai-ate of this village, and shall become a shinobi. There will be consequences if you shame this clan," and with that, he walked away, as everyone in the Hall gave the clan head a bow, and then the dojo began to empty out until only she and Neji-nii remained in there.
Years ago, Hinata would never have dared to be alone in a room with her cousin. Still, years upon years of support from one special person had made it so that she saw through the cold, piercing, hateful gaze of Neji-nii, as she began to understand his pain and suffering.
Her cousin was not angry at her. Not truly.
He was angry at the world and at the fate that he was given, a fate of a lesser child. He was blessed, and Hikari spoke with certainty that the clan had no one more talented with the Byakugan than his brother, but just because of his heritage, he would never be allowed to reach his full potential, all because his blood came from the tainted and lesser Branch line.
Her cousin turned, and even now she found herself still at that gaze, losing what little courage she had gathered, as he walked past her, leaving behind but a whisper of an insult.
"Weakling..." and words broke her heart, only because they were true.
Hinata was weak. Weak enough that she could not change her clan, and she could not take away his suffering.
So, she hung her head low in disgrace as the dojo emptied, before a rather familiar voice broke her out of her trance as a soft chuckle echoed through the empty dojo. She turned—and there he was, the boy who had lost everything, yet still smiled.
"Damn, you look as if someone kicked your puppy," and though the voice was familiar to the one that had insulted her earlier, but the tone was much lighter and simpler as her head snapped back towards the young boy standing behind her.
He was young, having a face much similar to his brother Neji, though unlike his elder brother, Hikari Hyuga preferred to keep his hair relatively short, and had no bandages or hitai-ate covering his unblemished forehead.
Though he had his own scar marks around his temple, marking a tragedy much worse than the one suffered by his elder brother.
"What are you doing here, Hikari?" she asked, for she knew that if someone saw him here, he could get into trouble.
"Cheering you on, of course," he answered with a bright smile, and Neji and Hikari were as close as brothers as herself and Hanabi.
Both of them were suffering, yet while her elder cousin chose to deal with his frustrations through rage and anger, Hikari did not let his tragedy deject him as he continued to smile and laugh, even encouraging her along.
"That was quite a bout," he added, spilling the secret about how he had been watching her match against Neji.
"You have gotten faster, but Neji-nii is quite a monster," and that he was.
"If it were anyone else from the Main Line, you could have easily defeated them, you know, a shame that your father only chooses him as your opponent." She knew that he only tried to humiliate her, push her farther along, and she had long gotten used to this.
"You shouldn't break the rules, you can get into trouble, you know," and her younger cousin simply shrugged.
"I won't," he spoke with confidence born out of years of mischief and rule-breaking.
"After all, I have you to cover for me," she sighed, though his jovial nature was somewhat infectious, and as she felt the cloud of gloominess vanish, a smile erupted on her lips.
"So, watching your fighting, I think I have just the solution for you," and this was how they had become friends, for though Hikari was young and not officially a shinobi or a trainee, he was a genius.
All of her recent improvements had come from his ideas, and the only reason that she could even last for as long as she did against Neji-nii was because of his teachings.
"It is obvious that you cannot defeat Neji-nii when it comes to speed or power," and those words, while dejecting, were true, for he was a boy who dwarfed him in both speed, dexterity, and chakra reserves.
"But I believe you can defeat him in range," and she frowned, refusing to get the idea.
"What do you mean by that?" The Hyuga mostly relied on taijutsu, and in taijutsu, range mattered little.
"Come to the forest at night, and I will show you," and that was their little secret, for Hinata found it difficult to train with a dozen gazes trained on her, so she would often go into the forest into the night to train by herself and it was during one of these training sessions that she had stumbled upon her younger cousin punching a tree late into the night even as blood dripped down his hand.
"And don't forget to bring some snacks," and with that, he turned away, as Hinata followed after him as they made to leave the dojo.
"I won't," and that was her payment for his help, snacks of different kinds, along with theoretical lessons that she learned at the academy.
Much like Neji-nii, Hikari was a genius himself, excelling in anything and everything related to chakra and its application, yet despite all of that, her father refused to let him become a ninja, all because he had lost his Byakugan when he was but a child.
And as she remembered that her eyes went to the fading scars on his temple, and how she shared blame for that tragedy as well, for it had been her that the Kumo shinobi had wanted to capture, yet through some fortune they had captured her cousin. The clan elders had chosen to activate his newly applied 'Caged Bird Seal' so as to protect the clan secrets.
And so, that night he had lost both the Byakugan and his chance at being a shinobi for the clan considered him a disgrace, a failure, though in her mind it was the clan which had failed him.
"I will see you at night," she waved at him, as he waved back.
"See you soon...."
0000
Read ahead and support me on my Patre 0n. Help me write this and other such stories by becoming a Patre 0n. It would be pretty awesome of you and would mean a lot to me.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a nice day!