People of the Land

Chapter 3 - The Hyuuga Heiress

Lord Hiashi Hyuuga, the head of the prestigious and rigid Hyuuga clan, had a daughter.

Not a son.

When he held the babe in his hands for the first time-

-she's so small, too small-

-He was struck by how frail and quiet she was. She hardly screamed. She was a little angel who could do no harm, and he had the distinct impression that his little girl would not be leading the Hyuuga clan some day in the future, as was her birthright. She was meant for something else.

The elders of the clan agreed, but for far different reasons, the greatest being the little fact that Hinata was a girl. The noble and ancient Hyuuga clan couldn't be lead by a woman! Just the thought was preposterous! Even before she opened her eyes for the first time, the elders had written her off as incapable of being the future leader their clan. To them, she was simply a means to further their bonds with other noble families, such as the Aburame and the Inuzuka.

Both of their leaders had little boys Hinata's age.

However, Hiashi had higher aspirations for his daughter. The elders had forgotten one important couple: King Minato and Queen Kushina. He was perfectly aware that their son was missing, and many presumed him to be dead. He once believed that of the little prince too. However, after hearing the royal couple's account of that tragic night, Hiashi's mind was changed. They claimed that a masked man had attacked them and extracted the Kuuybi from the Queen. According to their account, King Minato managed to force the masked man to retreat, seal the Fox Demon inside of his newborn son, the Crown Prince Naruto, and then they both passed out from exhaustion and blood loss. When they awoke, their son was gone.

Did Hiashi believe them? Mostly, but he knew they were hiding something. However, that was irrelevant. What did matter was that the prince was only presumed dead, and there were bound to be more royal children. It was actually highly likely that the Crown Prince was still alive, to be held as ransom or something else along that line, so he was sure to show up at some time. And if he never did (and if the King and Queen only had female heirs), then his daughter would just have to become the next head of the Hyuuga clan, even if he knew that wasn't the path meant for her.

So his daughter grew, and proved his suspicions even further. When she began lessons on their clan's ancient techniques, the elders saw her gentle nature and reaffirmed their judgment of her low worth. But Hiashi saw the fierce determination alight in her gaze every time she picked herself up off of the ground and continued on. She wasn't meant to lead the Hyuuga clan.

Even though the elders disapproved of Hinata as the Hyuuga heiress, there was no other option besides her cousin Neji, and for the elders, who refused even more to have a Hyuuga from the branch family represent their prestigious clan, Hiashi's daughter was the lesser of two evils.

That is, until Hiashi's second daughter was born. At first, the elders had the same reservations about Hanabi as they had with Hinata, but as she grew she proved to be confident, proud, and without hesitation. She was without the gentleness her elder sister possessed.

To the elders, she was the best, third option for the position of the Hyuuga Heiress. Unfortunately, she was not the eldest, and according to tradition, the eldest inherited the title.

As the head of the Hyuuga clan, it was his job to move the clan forward and keep their traditions, and that was a fact the elders were never hesitant to remind him of. They insisted Hiashi disown his eldest, or arrange a marriage for her with the Inuzuka, Aburame, or even (goodness, no) the Uchiha. He refused and held them back, all the while pushing Hinata harder and harder to be more like her younger sister.