Sage's Resurrection

Chapter 20

"Why did it have to be in Kumo of all places?" Hinata grumbled to herself.

She was distinctly not having a good day.

"Gloomy again, Hina?" She inhaled deeply at Sakura, eyes closed.

"Sakura, maybe we shouldn't antagonise Hinata, okay? She's not having a good time right now," Kiba said.

"Oh come on, I didn't mean anything behind it. Just trying to break her out of her doom cloud." Doom cloud was certainly an apt description for Hinata's current predicament.

Hinata was three again, on the back of a Kumo nin draped in deep navy. Black cloths draped over his face like Kuroko, rendering his face completely indistinguishable.

The only emotion that Hinata had ever felt was fear. Deep, uncontrollable fear. She wanted to call out for Daddy, someone, anyone but there was no use as her hands were both metaphorically and physically tied, a cloth gag tied around her mouth.

Already, he was nearly out of the Byakugan's sensory range, almost out of the village. Father appeared and struck down the assassin, twin fists outstretched to her assailant's heart and chakra core. He collapsed, dead.

She later discovered that this man was the main delegate for a celebration of peace between Konoha and Kumo, supposedly their head ninja. Of course, the Raikage called for Father's head. The Third had demanded Kumo's apology, which they'd refused and countered that, since Hiashi Hyuga had killed their Head Ninja, and an ambassador at that, that he should be killed and sent to Kumo as compensation.

Uncle Hizashi had bargained with Father, saying that he, as the branch member, the spare, should take his brother's place in death. Despite Father's protests, he went ahead with backing from the previous Head, his father.

Hizashi had only ever been kind to Hinata, indulging her interests and listening to her problems, even if it was as simple as Father not letting her go buy sweets, or something as world -ending as when Mom died. He read her bedtime stories when Mom and Dad were too busy or too tired to do the same, and continued even when Hanabi was born.

And he was dead, all because Kumo wished it so. The Third could've enforced the apology, could've stopped Uncle from dying. But he didn't.

And since that day, Hinata's hatred of Kumo has festered within her, filled with people that were complicit or responsible for Uncle's death.

And now she was in Kumo, in the land responsible for his death. And none of her teammates or acquaintances had shared her thoughts.

Naruto in particular was quite guilty. He'd befriended two high-ups in the Kumo pecking order, Yugito Nii and Killer B. Both jinchuriki, one the brother of the Raikage. Really, the fact that he was so chummy with people within reach of the Raikage made her blood boil, even though she knew it wasn't her business.

The rest were rather apathetic. Didn't really care one way or the other.

The only one of Konoha who'd come here sharing her thoughts was her cousin, Neji. But even he didn't hate Kumo. He saw the incident as a failure of communication and resolved himself to prevent such a thing from happening again.

She was so distracted she almost didn't notice the sword about to decapitate her.

She snapped back, and flipped away, a move that would've granted her full marks in a civilian acrobatics competition.

She sidestepped a thrust, jabbed her opponent's lung. He coughed violently before she moved in for the kill.

She placed a hand on his chakra core before forcing her chakra into it. The small sphere swelled before it exploded, shredding his chest, burning his lungs, and pulverising his heart. He had a lot of chakra.