青い骨の美 - The Beauty of Blue Bones

Chapter 4

Winter
Friday—2:11AM

She took a moment to breathe as she focused on her target; the bell hanging from the ceiling chimed tauntingly as it came to a complete stop just as she stood up straight and got into her stance once more. She had not practiced the form of the Hyūga's fighting style since the war, and that wasn't changing any time soon, so she occupied herself with learning and mastering a style suited for her flexibility—one that her father would no doubt frown upon seeing as the technique she was learning relied on the movement of her legs as opposed to the Gentle Fist.

With her leg raised in a near straight line, she quickly snapped it back for a roundhouse kick that sent the bell whipping to the side as it rang loudly. Breathing out through her mouth, she continued sending a barrage of kicks that would have been hard to counter if she was facing a true opponent.

Hinata wasn't as strong as Sakura, as witty as Ino, or as resourceful as TenTen, but she was quick and the most flexible of the bunch. She prided herself in such, ignoring the small voice in her head that told her that it wasn't enough to please her father, and she sure as hell was going to hone such a skill. Her technique was foreign, barely seen or used by taijūtsu specialists. She had observed Gai and Lee as they fought, she's seen people like Kakashi battle with impeccable precision, and she was well aware of Tsuande's monstrous strength that was passed down to her pupil. She had envied such things years before, wishing to one day be as confident in a style as the aforementioned individuals, though it wasn't until something as catastrophic as a nationwide war that allowed her the freedom and courage to explore the alley of taijūtsu.

A war and a condescending father who made it his duty to remind her that she still had her shortcomings when practicing the Hyūga technique she should have mastered by now.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, she grabbed her water bottle and squeezed the cool liquid into her mouth. Her eyes were shut as she calmed her breathing and relaxed her muscles as she jogged in place to loosen the tension in her legs. She knew she was going to be sore with or without doing final stretches, and ever one to skip out on them, she grabbed her sweat towel, threw it over her shoulder, and turned the lights off to the dojo.

Walking back into the main section of her home with her hand on her hips and her breathing still somewhat heavy, Hinata blinked back her blurry vision and groaned as her head began to hurt. She didn't know what it was, but it had become more frequent during the last few days she's spent settling into her new home.

She supposed that it had to do with some sort of homesickness and getting used to having a place all to herself, so she didn't think much of it even after it became bothersome with its frequency.

Using the front of her shirt, forgetting about the small towel thrown over her shoulder, she wiped her face again. Her painkillers were already waiting for her on the kitchen counter, which made her applaud her previous thinking of keeping it nearby for situations much like the one she was having. Taking them with two big gulps of water, she sighed.

Hinata pulled her shirt over her head as she walked towards her bedroom, stripping lazily as she grabbed her towel and trudged back down the hallway to the bathroom. Her shower was hot, the water relaxing her muscles some more as she washed herself slowly. There really was no rush now that she was alone; no one was there to scold her for using too much water, or for showering so late into the night, so she took the advantage to just stand there after her hair was washed and her body was all cleaned.

She stared at the cream coloured tiles blankly. There were no thoughts in her head, and the water barely registered after some time. She had no issues paying for the water bill anyway. Once her skin was completely numb from the hot water, she turned the tap off and stepped out. By the time she was done drying both her hair and her body, the steam on the large mirror had settled.