new Team 7

Chapter 7

The district where the Hyuga clan lived was quite large and very traditional. You could tell from the moment you walked inside it that it had been there for many many years. Sasuke moved forward with his arms crossed tight across his chest as he followed right behind Naruto and Hinata, looking from side to side at the way these people with pearl eyes were working nonstop. He was reminded of walking the streets of the Uchiha district as a child, greeting people as he ran by, listening to them wishing him a good day and asking about Itachi. Ever since his clan's massacre those streets had fallen silent, a ghost town where all that was left were the memories and echoes of a past time when there had been life in those empty buildings.

He resented Hinata Hyuga for making him remember all of that. He clenched his fist as he gritted his teeth and kept walking.

The mansion where Hinata lived was much larger than the other houses around it. The entrance was beautifully decorated with cherry wood columns displaying the clan's symbol in the middle. They walked under the canopy formed by the cherry trees on each side of their path. The cherries were just beginning to mature, the occasional red spot standing out against the green leaves.

They passed over a small arched bridge made of wood. The pond under it was teeming with Koi, as the fish swam slowly from one side to the other. Naruto paused for a moment to praise the place, saying how beautiful it was and asking Hinata if those fish were edible.

Meanwhile, Hinata felt more and more embarrassed with each step she took. She dreaded showing them just how different her life was compared to the life of the rest of her teammates. The Hyuga clan was extremely wealthy and powerful; she had lived all her life with servants, nannies, governesses, maids, cooks, trainers and bodyguards. For once in her life she wanted to be normal, like any girl in the Leaf Village. But it was impossible to hide now; Naruto and Sasuke were seeing with their own eyes the way she lived.

"Wow Hinata! You must be loaded." Naruto scratched his head as he stared in wonderment without considering how impolite his comment had been.

"Of course she's rich. She is part of the Hyuga clan's main family." Sasuke retorted. Naruto's ignorance really annoyed the hell out of him. For the millionth time he wished this day would just come to an end already. "She is the heiress of the clan."

"That's amazing Hinata!" Naruto shouted. "You are really lucky!"

Hinata quickly bowed her head, but not before Sasuke caught her saddened expression. Did this girl actually dare to feel unhappy about having a family, a clan, about being the heiress? Watching her was like watching Itachi, only she lacked any talent. The eldest daughter of the clan's leader, the heiress, the princess, probably the one her father favored over anyone else. Being close to her was beginning to exasperate him. He could not stay here much longer.

"How long is this going to take?" Sasuke asked Kakashi.

"Only a moment, Sasuke." The instructor answered.

They reached the entrance of the house and a man approached them. He had the same eyes as Hinata, but he was dressing like Kakashi. All those Hyuga and their pearly eyes did nothing but remind Sasuke that he could still not activate the sharingan.

"Hinata-sama!" Said the man, smiling as he approached them. "I didn't expect to have you back so soon."

"Hinata-sama?" Naruto snickered slyly towards Sasuke.

"I already told you, she is the heiress to the Hyuga clan." He answered without looking at him. "Every member of the clan owes her respect because she is their superior."

"But she's just a girl!" Naruto groaned, unable to believe that someone their age could be so important. "Do we have to call her Hinata-sama too?"