19 White-Eyed Princess (2)

Have they met before?

After pondering for a brief moment, Hikari shook her head.

The girl did remind her of someone, but it was a really vague feeling...

Suddenly, she had an idea.

"...Yao Huang. my name is Yao Huang. Can you understand me?"

The words coming out of her mouth were spoken in the tongue of her homeland.

She waited for the girl's reaction with slight anticipation bubbling in her heart. Sadly, it ended in disappointment.

The girl was giving her a vacant stare. Without a doubt, it was a sincere, honest-to-goodness confusion.

"..."

"...Um... e-e-excuse me...?"

"Hikari. Just call me Hikari."

She let out a burst of dry laughter, mocking herself for getting her hopes up.

Yeah. As if any random schmuck in town would turn out to be reincarnated folks like her or Daji... what's the chance?

"H-Hikari, is it... n-nice to meet you. I-I'm Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata..."

The girl blushed even harder.

Just saying her own name turned her into a ripe tomato... Hikari and Kokuo began to worry about this child's future.

She was about to say reply when Kiba's face popped up from the other side of the tree.

"Oi, what are you doing here... huh? Is that Hinata?"

Hinata almost smacked her face on the tree once again out of shock. Thankfully, Hikari managed to catch her on time.

"K-Kiba... h-hello..."

"Just having a chat," Hikari remarked. About this girl's stalking... maybe it's best not to mention it. "More importantly, why are you still here? I told you to get back to class."

"Bug off," Kiba snorted.

At that moment, another face showed up behind Kiba.

"Hmm? Hinata?"

"E-eh?!"

That loud voice, who else could it be if it wasn't Naruto?

When Hinata's eyes accidentally met his gaze, she began to tremble.

And then, she went out cold in Hikari's arms.

""...""

Yep. The Five-Tails and its Jinchuuriki were really, really worried about this child's future...

---

"Ngh..."

The first thing that Hyuuga Hinata saw when she opened her eyes was the clear blue sky.

She was lying on a wooden bench with a blanket covering her body. Something soft and cool was placed over her forehead. When she touched it, it turned out to be a compress.

"Hm? You're finally awake."

Hikari halted her meditation before walking over to check on the Hyuuga girl.

"W-where is this...?"

"Inuzuka clan's outer training ground," she promptly replied.

When Hinata fainted, the first thing that popped up in their mind was to carry her back home. But then, Kiba remembered something about her circumstances.

She was the daughter of the head of Hyuuga clan's main branch. With her family's status as a noble clan in Konoha, she could be seen as someone akin to a princess.

Things would get complicated if they brought her in this condition. Therefore, they decided to wait until she woke up.

It would be too cruel to leave an unconscious girl out in the open, so Hikari opted to bring her back to the Inuzuka compound. Kiba looked like he wanted to reject that idea, but she had already run off before he could stop her.

Thus the present situation.

By the way, the entire Inuzuka clan had gone off to attend a ninken festival in a nearby village. When Kiba learned about it, he fell on his knees, feeling deeply wronged.

"Why didn't they tell me?! I wanna go too!"

"...Maybe Lady Tsume doesn't want to bring you because you always skipped class?"

"..."

Alright, maybe he had no one else to blame but himself...

Currently, Kiba had changed into his training clothes. When he noticed that Hinata had woken up, he quickly came over.

"Man, you have to stop fainting every time Naruto speaks to you!"

"Every… time?"

This wasn't a one-off case?

"Yeah. Whenever she gets close to that bastard, she would always faint or run away."

"...What?"

Meanwhile, the subject of their conversation had once again turned into a bright red tomato as she desperately tried to cover her face.

"B-b-but, I... t-talking with N-Naruto... I c-can't..."

She made some incoherent noises, looking more and more pitiful.

Woof.

A bark caught her attention. A white-furred puppy had landed on Hinata's lap, acting cute by rubbing his head on her belly.

"Ah..."

She timidly offered her hand to Akamaru.

The puppy gave her a couple of sniffs before he let her pet him on the head.

That wholesome feeling as she stroked that soft fur was heavenly. She felt the pressure that was weighing her down slowly dissipating into thin air.

Before she realized it, her lips had curled up to form a gentle, loving smile.

'Aaah, she's really cute… Eh, wait.'

Hikari quickly shook her head. The other person was just a little girl! As an elder, she shouldn't have inappropriate thoughts!

"Anyway, just rest here for a while. We'll take you home after you recovered."

Leaving Hinata to Akamaru's care, the two walked back to the center of the ring.

"Kiba, show me that technique again."

The boy nodded, and then formed a tiger hand seal.

<Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four-Legs Technique>

He crouched down on all four, chakra pouring out to cover his entire body. His claws and fangs grew out as well, making him look more feral.

Accompanied by a low growl, Kiba turned into a blurry shadow as he charged at Hikari with frightening speed.

"S-so fast...!"

Hinata had heard about the Inuzuka's Four-Legs Technique from her father, but this was the first time that she had witnessed it with her own eyes. She didn't expect that it would be this ferocious!

However, the girl at the receiving end of his attack was unbelievably calm. She didn't show any sign of fear. Instead, she was focusing her gaze at the incoming silhouette.

A sharp claw shredded through the air, aiming at her side. At the same time, she casually leaped backward.

The claw had missed her by a hair's breadth.

"Drat-!"

"My turn."

Chakra burst out to cover her body.

With a heavy stomp as the prelude, she launched a straight kick at his belly, sending him flying a few feet away.

"Guh... damn it! I was so close!"

"You know I deliberately avoided at the last moment, right...? I thought I already taught you."

He did, but knowing and doing were two different things!

In the first place, if it was him, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to dodge like that even if his life depended on it.

"Your so-called Four-Legs Technique, the basic principle is to make you stronger by covering your body with chakra. Do you really have to be on all four?"

"Not… really…" Kiba grumbled. "It's just… it makes us more in sync with our partners, alright?"

"Yes, I mean, that's the problem. A fight between cultivators- err, I mean, ninja, is a fight between humans. How can you win if you devolve yourself into a mindless beast."

"..."

Why did it feel like she was mocking the entire history of his clan? Kiba was at a loss for words.

"Your point?" He grunted.

"You should incorporate more finesse in your attack," she continued. "Sometimes brute force can work, but try to mix feints into your strikes."

"...How?"

"Like this."

She assumed the standard Emei Sect's offensive stance.

Kiba suddenly had a bad premonition.

"W-wait! I-"

He couldn't even finish his words before she lunged forward, closing their distance in a single leap. She readied her right palm before sending an upward curve toward his face.

His reflexes, heightened by the Four-Legs Technique, immediately spurred him to dodge to the side.

Unfortunately, he had fallen for her trap.

Her advancing foot stomped the ground, halting her momentum. Her right arm was retracted back as her body twisted the other way around, this time sending a hook to his side.

"Gueh-!"

The punch knocked the air out of his lungs, forcing him down on his knees.

"Do you understand? You rely too much on instinct. You have to consciously analyze your opponents, and then try to outwit them."

Her right hand moved up and down her chin as if stroking a non-existent beard.

"Then again, it's not something that you can learn just by listening to lectures. You can only earn it through experience. That's why…"

She resumed her stance.

"...I'll drill it to your body."

"W-wait, wait!" Kiba desperately scrambled back to his feet. "At least wait until my wounds are healed!"

"Don't worry. Since you're already in the Qi Condensation stage, your body will heal in a few days even if all your bones are broken. Besides, they said that you learn faster if you got hurt in the process. It's called traumatic memories or something like that."

"..."

Kiba had the urge to smack this girl in the head. Just once, if he can do it just once, then he'll be extremely satisfied!

"Ummm... e-excuse me..."

A soft voice interrupted their bickering.

Hinata was staring at them with a raised hand, her lips slightly trembling.

"Yes? Do you need anything?" Hikari dropped her stance before addressing the blue-haired girl.

"N-no... it's just... just... uuu..."

She was trying her best to speak up, but in the end, she failed miserably.

Ah, she started fidgeting again...

Hikari scratched her head, getting extremely confused with this girl's antics.

"C'mon, just spit it out!"

On the other hand, Kiba, who had a way shorter fuse, just went the direct way and broke through the wall in one go.

"H-huee! I-I'm sorry!"

Ah, she's shaking even harder now... but at least she had finally started talking.

Good job, Kiba!

"T-that... those moves you're using... is... is that Gentle Fist?"

Hinata glanced at Hikari when she asked that question.

...That 'Gentle Fist' stuff again?

She vaguely remembered that Tsume had mentioned that name as well two years ago.

"No, it's not. It's based on emeiquan, but I mix-and-matched it with other styles. Come to think of it..."

After giving it some thought, Hikari decided to pry a bit further.

"...what's 'Gentle Fist'?"

"Umm... i-it's the name of our Hyuuga clan's t-taijutsu..."

Taijutsu, huh?

So far, the only taijutsu style that she had seen in this world was the Inuzuka's. Their techniques were rather… unique, to say the least.

She had initially thought that all taijutsu was supposed to be weird like that, but if her movements were said to be similar to the Gentle Fist, perhaps there was still some 'normal' styles left in this world.

Her curiosity quickly flared up.

"Hinata."

"Y-yes...?"

"Can you show me that Gentle Fist of yours?"

"F-fueee?!"

Hinata jumped slightly.

"...Is it no good?"

"Ah, I-I…"

The girl wanted to decline, but she hesitated when she saw Hikari's glistening gaze full of hope aimed directly at her.

U… Uuuu...

"I-I can show you, b-but I'm not too good at it... w-would that be alright...?"

"No problem," Hikari gave her a thumbs up. "Better than fighting a dog the entire day."

"Oi!"

Why did he still get the short end of the stick even when he hadn't even said anything? Kiba felt really wronged all of a sudden...

They returned to the ring, but this time it was the two girls sparring while Kiba and Akamaru watched by the side.

"T-then... I'll start..."

Hinata took a deep breath. And then, her hands moved to form a long string of hand seals.

Horse, Tiger, Boar, Hare, Rat, Dog, Hare, Rat, Boar, Snake.

The veins under her temple began to twitch. Soon, they bulged out entirely, forming branch-like patterns around her eyes

<Bloodline Limit: Byakugan>

"Oi, oi, are you alright? Something is wrong with your eyes!" Hikari exclaimed.

"Ah...? N-no, t-this is normal..."

Hinata gave her a slight bow, and then she took a stance of her own.

"H-here I c-come...!"

She struck a palm out at high speed, aiming at one of the chakra openings on Hikari's arm.

"Oh?"

Hikari didn't try to block it. The palm scored a hit. A small amount of chakra was injected in at the same time, blocking the flow around that point.

Her arm had abruptly turned numb!

"This is... Gentle Fist?"

She was amazed. This style of palm strikes was similar to the acupressure attack used by the mortal sects. To think that such a style existed in this world!

<<Emei Sect Unarmed-Style: Thirty-Six Dianxue: Lower Arm Point>>

She quickly pressed two fingers on her numb arm's pressure point, forcing her chakra to overflow and breach through the blockade.

This time, it was Hinata's turn to be astonished.

"T-that... you can unblock your tenketsu...?"

"...Yes? Can't you do it as well?"

Why was she so surprised? Pressure points study was a basic subject for every respectable sects' disciples, right?

"She can, but... the Hyuuga is feared because they're the only ones who know how to seal our chakra pathways thanks to their Byakugan," Kiba chimed in.

He also didn't expect that she would be able to counter the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist like that. He still couldn't believe it even after witnessing it with his own eyes.

That strongest rookie who had graduated this year, Hyuuga Neji... if he fought her, perhaps she could...

"Well, nevermind that. Hinata, could you show me more of your moves?"

"E-eeeh...??"

It turned out that that talk about walking her back home later was a lie.

Because of one training maniac, she was forced to practice together until night fell. The Hyuuga couldn't wait anymore and ended up sending some of their people to fetch their princess back.

By the time she arrived home, Hinata was fully drained. However, the truth was that she didn't particularly hate it.

'Perhaps... this is how it feels to have friends...?'

A faint smile escaped her as she surrendered herself to sleep.