One of Three

The week has passed, and it's time to wake Hinata from her coma because the Three Kage Summit is approaching, and I won't feel at ease if I don't resolve this before that.

Two interesting things I discovered: the Hyuga clan had become quite paranoid with Hinata's disappearance, and it turns out that the people Anko claimed to have in the village... were Hinata herself.

But that wasn't even the most baffling part, as the frequent contact with Anko (through snake summoning, specifically bred by Anko outside the Ryuichi cave to avoid Orochimaru's surveillance) caused Hinata's thoughts to be influenced in a certain way over the years.

Hinata even took the initiative to become a contractor for the Snake clan!

I understand each word, but when put together, it leaves me utterly baffled.

Apparently, she had been gaining a lot of support from the branch family secretly, using her shyness as a cover without arousing suspicions from the main family. She was preparing to become something like the leader of the resistance that would bring a new era to the Hyuga clan, where the Caged Bird Seal wouldn't apply to anyone else.

And if the rebellion couldn't be achieved, they had a plan B, which involved me!

But they still needed at least another three years to finish the preparations and gather enough people and supplies. Once achieved, she intended to give me a BIG surprise.

It took me about a good fifteen minutes to finish processing that.

When did they start corresponding, and why would they do that?

Anko confessed that after she joined Seimeigakure, she wanted to get a contact in Konoha to try to stay informed about important news and contribute more to the village. When she learned about my encounter with Hinata, she decided that she could take advantage of that and "raise" her spy at an early age and with an identity that no one would ever suspect. And boy, did she.

When I asked if that's why she believed it was so reliable, she laughed and told me that was only half the reason. And when she told me the other half, I grimaced.

"We and Onoki's granddaughter aren't the only ones who fell for your charm~" she said teasingly.

Damn! Why are the girls in this world so precocious?

I think Hinata is now like, what, fourteen years old? Even if I waited until the Shippuden saga to consider anything remotely, she'd only be sixteen, and it's still too young for me to feel comfortable following the values of my old world.

Moreover, Anko essentially took advantage of the good feelings of a young Hinata, and I didn't like that one bit. It's not the worst thing anyone has done in this world, by far, but that doesn't mean I have to agree.

Although that would explain her attitude towards me during the Chunin Exams.

The situation only became more uncomfortable when Hinata woke up and, upon remembering what happened with Ino, started crying rivers as if she had broken her tear ducts, holding onto my arm against her forehead.

Three hours! It took her three whole hours to stop crying and get it all out of her system. She had red and slightly swollen eyes when she realized that her right eye felt different.

Only now that I could talk to her did I realize that her real attitude was different from the timid act she used in Konoha. It didn't reach the extreme of "Road to Ninja" Hinata, but having so much interaction with Anko had affected her... quite a bit.

If I were to make a comparison, it's like when Haku was exposed to Ameyuri and company, ending up corrupted by their twisted sense of humor.

When the issue of the Tenseigan came up and what would happen if she decided to change her left eye, as expected, she fell silent and started thinking.

Well, at least the overall framework of her personality is still intact; it's good to know.

"If my body goes through this change, will I still be me?" she asked me.

Well, that's a very legitimate question, especially in this kind of world.

"Think of it as if you were visiting a spa and winning a lottery while you're there," I told her as a simple metaphor to understand. "You'll come out feeling like new even though you'll still be the same, but you'll have a few more things with you when you leave than when you arrived."

Besides, the Tenseigan won't be visible unless she activates it consciously, like someone with the Level Two Cursed Seal would. The only reason we could see that change in the iris is that the eye was reacting to the body unconsciously.

In summary, for others, she'll still have the Byakugan and can use it normally. But if she wants to use the Tenseigan, she can increase the ocular power output and activate it.

Plus, she doesn't need to worry about side effects like Kakashi and Nagato suffered. The eyes were made with her DNA, and after eating the golden apple, it will be as if she were born with them.

While I let her think about it, I couldn't help but ask her what happened with Ino to make her attack so aggressively. I simply didn't understand.

And that's when guilt hit me like a truck; I almost got scared thinking I was going to transmigrate again.

It turns out that the reason they ended up like that... was me!

They agreed to meet, talk, and go for something sweet, but things took a wrong turn very quickly before anyone realized it.

More specifically, Ino seemed to be venomously talking about me and had gotten all dark about what she was willing to do to avenge her father's death (VERY exaggerated things if I understood correctly; Orochimaru would be impressed). But Hinata tried to dissuade her because vengeance never solves anything, and she didn't want Ino to go down an irredeemable path.

Come on, she wanted to prevent Ino from becoming a Sasuke 2.0 who would have the support of a very much alive clan, if the other two didn't join her.

Then Ino suddenly changed her expression, started yelling at her, accused her of being on my side, being my spy (incredible how she hit the nail on the head there, as I didn't even know myself), and before Hinata could calm her down and make her see reason, she jumped on her, and things quickly got physical.

Now, Hinata could have taken her down, but she was still trying to reason with her until a bad hit made her lose consciousness, and the rest is history.

It seems that Ino really lost control due to anger and resentment, taking the nearest target as an outlet, but that's no excuse for treating Hinata like she did.

Even knowing that, I still feel somewhat bad for Ino. Oh, Shikamaru also died, right...

Hey! At least Choji is still in one piece, one out of three still counts. Right?

Anyway, in conscience, I'm MUCH more uncomfortable now, and I don't know how to treat Hinata.

"I will change my other eye too," I hear her decide as she covers her eye with her hand.

Perfect! She gains strength, and I have time to organize my thoughts.