𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐆𝐀 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍

A Realization

Once Hanara was outside the tower, she immediately ran up to Asuma-Sensei, who was talking to Kurenai-Sensei.

"Asuma-Sensei, I-"

"I have to borrow your little Genin," Kakashi said from behind Hanara.

Asuma shot him a confused look.

"Lord Hokage wants to speak with her," Kakashi explained.

"Oh, okay then..." Asuma-Sensei responded, still looking extremely confused, "Meet us tomorrow for regular team training, okay Hana?"

"Yeah, sure."

Kakashi then proceeded to Body Flicker both of them to the Hokage's Office where Jiraiya and Lord Hokage were speaking to each other.

'Tagging along to someone else's Body Flicker is a weird experience...'

"Good. Now we just need to wait for Hiashi. I assume you know why you are here?" Lord Hokage asked Hanara.

"Naruto," she responded.

"Yes."

There was a tense silence in the room which was broken by Hiashi entering.

"Now that we are all here, why don't you explain what happened?" Lord Hokage asked.

"Oh, um... okay," she said, looking down at her hands, "In the Academy, I was sometimes told to spar against Naruto. Sometimes, we were allowed to use chakra, so I used my Byakugan against him. His chakra network was... weird. I could see his normal chakra but if I looked closer, I could see a faint red chakra that almost looked malicious. There was a lot of it and it was almost like it was straining against some invisible barrier. I thought it was some kind of bloodline limit so I started to read about the Uzumaki. I found a lot of things, like how almost all of them had been killed in the Second War. What seemed most interesting to me was that Mito Uzumaki was the wife of the First Hokage. That didn't make any sense to me. Why would the villagers treat Naruto so horribly if he was somehow related to the First Hokage? Why do they call Lady Tsunade a princess but call Naruto a demon? Then, I remembered one well-known fact: Mito Uzumaki was the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. No one knew what happened to it after she died. So, what if the Fourth Hokage decided to seal it into an orphan when it attacked twelve years ago? It would make more sense than him somehow killing something that was made purely of chakra. It would clear up why the villagers kept calling him a demon. So, that's how I figured it out. I wasn't completely sure until I looked at Gaara and asked Kankuro though..."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well, no one talked about it all that much so I assumed there was a law or something that prevented them."

"You said you saw the Nine-Tails' chakra. That shouldn't be possible. Even our clan's strongest Byakugan users can't see it." Lord Hiashi said.

"I don't know why or how I can see it," Hanara sighed, "My Byakugan was never really strong when it came to seeing far. It took me a lot of training and overuse for me to even see as far as I can. I could always see things in more detail than Neji could, though. It never made sense to me."

"I see," Lord Hokage said, looking thoughtful, "No one else will be able to find out, right?"

Hanara and Hiashi nodded.

"If I find that you have told someone else or talked about this, you will be killed, understood?" he asked, leaking out some Killing Intent.

Hanara hastily nodded, "Yes, Lord Hokage."

"You will also only tell Naruto you know if he asks," he added.

"Right."

"Now that's cleared up, all of you may leave. Do not speak of anything that happened here."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Kakashi, Hiashi, Jiraiya, and Hanara chorused.

Once Hanara got to the Hyuga Compound, she decided to visit Hikaru. He was a Special Jonin now and he had moved out of his mother's house, too. Hanara wouldn't have even considered living with him if he hadn't. Hikaru's mother absolutely hated it when Neji and Hanara fought over who got to choose the meal. If she got to know that they were fighting over Hinata well... it wouldn't go over well.

When she got to Hikaru's house however, there was a note on his door. It read: Am on an urgent mission. Apologies for the inconvenience. Will be back on the 23rd of July. -Hikaru Hyuga

Hanara sighed, 'Looks like I'll have to put up with a cranky Neji then. Hikaru's only coming back in 3 weeks. This will be a long month.'

The walk to her home was uneventful. Most of the Hyuga clan spent their time in the compound inside their homes so the streets were empty. The inside of her house was empty as well.

'Guess Neji decided to hit the training grounds immediately. Well, all the better for me. I can plan without any interruptions.' Hanara thought as she walked into her room.

Hanara's eyes searched the room like they always did. One of the first things Asuma-Sensei drilled into her mind was being aware of her surroundings and making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Of course, not much could get past a clan full of people with a near 360° range of vision but you never knew. Today was the first time Hanara saw something out of the ordinary.

There were two extra scrolls on her desk.

Hanara cautiously made her way towards them and scanned them with her Byakugan. The first one seemed normal but the second one was nearly bursting with chakra. So, she did the smart thing and opened the first scroll.

Hello, Hanara Hyuga. Or should I say, Hana Lashi? Now, now, don't panic. I am Cierva. My brother, Ciervo, and I are the ones in charge of animals.

Hana snorted. Cierva and ciervo were part of the bits of Spanish she still remembered. 'Doe and Stag are the ones in charge of animals? That is so ironic.'

Kamatayan was the one who first spoke about you and you peaked our interest. Since then, we have been watching you. You have been taking things slowly in this new life. Being cautious. Trying not to make too many ripples. I can appreciate that, but, testing the waters for twelve years is not something you should do. You are not living this life to the fullest. In fact, the way you are living is not living at all.

I am aware that you are partaking in the Chunin Exams. The second scroll is the summoning contract for phoenixes. It may help you, but there is a catch. You will not be able to summon them immediately after you sign it. When you finally make a decision that is not influenced by your prior knowledge, a decision that you made for you, a phoenix will appear. Depending on the situation, it may be a battle phoenix. Once a phoenix appears in front of you, you will be allowed to summon the phoenixes at will (provided you agree to any conditions they may set, of course).

Use this as a warning. Twelve years is too long. The past is in the past. It would do you well to remember that. I hope that allowing you to keep your memories was not a mistake.

Hanara closed her eyes and sighed, 'As much as I hate to admit it, they are right. I started off here hoping to make a change. Then, I grew too afraid. I thought that I might make things worse, so I tried to make things stick to canon. I need to just live. I shouldn't be so scared. I should just enjoy my time here and stop being so paranoid. As the French say (said?) que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be.'

With that in mind, Hanara opened the phoenix summoning contract, bit her thumb, and signed it with the blood she just drew.

'At least now I have a wild card.' Hanara thought, staring at the darkening sky behind her bedroom window, 'I wanted to start writing up some battle plans but looks like I better sleep. It's been a long day.