The Hyoton - 10

"What was the outcome of your mission today?"

Hinata looked up with an expression similar to a deer being caught in the headlights. She sat quietly next to her sister and across from her father at a small, mahogany table, sipping tea with her head bowed. The shy girl had been desperately hoping her father wouldn't pay her any attention at all, but how could he not after the Hyuga clan heir had returned from her first C-rank mission?

She swallowed, "It was a success, father."

Hanabi raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, trying to disguise her astonishment as interest. Her elder sister was well known for her absurdly gentle ways and many of her D-rank missions had poor results that only, 'tarnished the Hyuga name.'

Hiashi said nothing else and Hinata had trouble telling if he actually cared what had transpired during her mission, so long as it was a success. It was a fact that stung her deeply.

She had been training extensively ever since she had achieved genin rank, hoping that in some insane way her father would be proud of her. However it slowly began to dawn on her, over the years, that she had made herself a hopeless rival: none other than her cousin, Hyuga Neji. He was beyond compare in skill and she had no hope of diverting her father's attention away from the prodigy unless she somehow became Hokage (highly unlikely, but not impossible, Naruto-kun could give her some pointers), or if she died an honorable death while completing her mission.

If the mission failed, well, her death wouldn't count as much.

But whatever the case, she felt stunted, almost harassed by all of these expectations coming from her father, sister, her clan, and how could one forget? The entire village, who would lose any and all respect for the most powerful clan in Konoha if, heaven forbid, she became the leader of the family.

And somehow she managed to live her life without expressing these hardships to anyone, not even to her friends. It was bottled up, or rather, locked up inside of the deepest confines of her soul because the last thing a respectful member of the Hyuga family would do is complain.

She never complained because she rarely found her voice. When she did, it was quiet and polite. It made her want to scream, but that would be contradictory. Maybe Gaara-kun could help her learn how to be sarcastic and mean. Naruto-kun was also very vocal so he could help.

Though the outlook for that didn't look good.

'I'll find my own way to make my life worthwhile. I can still be strong...somehow...'

"Onee-san," Hinata snapped out of her thoughts, "You haven't said anything about your teammates. They say they're both young men from our fellow clans. What are they like?"

Hiashi didn't appear interested and sipped his tea, while Hanabi watched her sister expectantly, wanting the dirt on any up-and-coming talent among the shinobi clans of Konoha. Hinata swallowed again, collecting her thoughts.

"My teammates they...they are b-both quite strong," Her father took another sip of jasmine tea, listening with some eerie sort of detachment, "Shino-kun is of the Aburame clan..."

"You mean those people who use insects to do their bidding?" Hanabi looked slightly disgusted, "A real ninja wouldn't need such tiny creatures to fight for them! Real ninja stand on their own two feet."

"But Shino-kun does fight on his own," She protested weakly, "He uses his Kikaichu insects most often for collecting information and for disabling his opponents." Hinata raised her eyes, "I think it is very impressive."

Hanabi ignored the retort, "What about the other? The Hatake?"

Hiashi paused briefly while pouring himself some more tea.

Hinata tried to grasp the words to form a description of him, "He is...unique. Sato-kun has a remarkable talent for traps and Genjutsu. I have seen his chakra circulatory system with my Byakugan a few times during training and his chakra is...quite different than anything I've ever seen."

"It is the white chakra of the Hatake clan," Hiashi clarified simply and she bowed her head sheepishly at her lack of knowledge, "He, I assume, is the Copy Ninja's nephew. They possess an unusual white chakra that can be channeled through certain weapons."

Hanabi looked intrigued, but Hinata wasn't very keen on exposing the secrets of her teammates' families. Looking into her empty tea cup for a brief moment she wished she could escape somehow but then sat up straighter, brushing her thoughts aside.

"Father, may I be excused?"

He inclined his head slightly in what she took as an affirmative, before standing up, and silently exited the tea room. It was amazing how restless her own family made her feel, and there were times she yearned for another family that would only expect her best rather than perfection during her career as a shinobi...or even in general.

She stepped lightly in the hall, passing by a few of her indirect relatives; some cousins a few times removed, and gave them a small, shy word of greeting before moving on. Hinata glanced outside an open door and saw the sun was sinking beneath the horizon in an explosion of orange and pink.

It made her smile unconsciously and she kept walking, wondering when Naruto, Gaara and Haku would return from their mission. A small chirping noise caught her attention once she turned a corner and she looked around to see if a bird had strayed inside the compound again.

Hinata saw nothing but the soft chirping persisted, and she was grateful the hall was empty because she looked like a damn fool turning in all directions searching for the sound's origin. Absently she looked down at the hardwood floor beneath her bare feet and her eyes widened when a tiny string of color lined up beside the wall, red and yellow.

She knelt down, perplexed and awed all at once. Tiny, colorful toads had somehow infiltrated the Hyuga compound, chirping blithely with those cute, beady eyes. Immediately fearing for their lives if they stayed any longer out in the open, she followed the trail down the hall, gently lifting each minute creature and cradling them in the palm of her hand while they sang carelessly.

The final toad, a bright, lemon yellow was scooped into her palm and she sighed in relief that she hadn't been caught by any other residents. Much to her surprise, she had reached her destination. In fact, it was suspicious that the little critters had lined up and lead her down the path straight to the door of her own bedroom.

Hinata opened the door quickly and went inside, shutting it behind her while her whole hand was chirping. Her room was quiet. She had activated the Byakugan just to make sure no more of the darn little things had strayed into her room and could quite possibly become victims of her own foot.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, what took you so long?"

Startled, she looked up, making sure not to drop any of her precious cargo. On her windowsill sat Naruto, looking very pleased with himself. 'I didn't leave that window open.' Hinata thought to herself before acknowledging that he was a ninja and that infiltration was a common ability.

"I...j-just came back from a mission, Naruto-kun." She answered quietly, setting the small, autumn-colored toads down and watched them hop across her bed like splashes of magic paint.

For a long moment he balanced on the pane outside her window, looking thoughtful. She feared, irrationally however, that he could possibly fall and break his neck, "Please come in, Naruto-kun."

"Don't mind if I do!" He bounced inside, grinning.

It wasn't the first time he had snuck into the Hyuga estate. He actually had been doing it regularly for several years, but this was the first time he had ever laid bait for someone who lived there...namely Hyuga Hinata. She sat cautiously on the side of her bed and admired the red and yellow dots scampering across it.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, "Er, I'm just curious Hinata-chan, but why did you bring all those little guys with you?"

She blushed, answering honestly, "Well, I think they're sweet and I didn't want anyone to s-step on them..."

He laughed loudly and she feared he'd alert someone of the main house, or even worse, her father to his presence. There was no reaction so she relaxed. The blonde took a seat on the floor, carpeted, because she disliked cold floors and fiddled with a medical scroll that had been forgotten there. She frowned. She'd have to clean her room even though it was already anal-retentively well-kept.

"Hinata-chan they can't get hurt, they're summoned!" His grin widened, "You worry too much!"

And just like that, Naruto had the tiny, chirping, spots of color disappear in many small puffs of smoke. Her heart fluttered, wondering if he intentionally wanted to make it feel romantic or if she was being ridiculous once again because of his close proximity. She'd analyze it later.

"Yes, I was being silly I suppose..." She admitted, wishing he had left them, "But, um...your mission!" Her voice squeaked and he chuckled at her, "How did you and Gaara-kun and Haku-kun do? Was it successful?" Hinata paused, not liking how she sounded like her father, "I mean, what happened?"

He stood up, "See, that's why I came here. Let's get some ramen and I'll tell you how awesome it was!"

In a few hours her father would be expecting her at dinner and she still hadn't finished reading a scroll pertaining to advanced forms of healing jutsu that Haku had given her for her birthday. But that smile and those eyes...

"I'd like that Naruto-kun." She smiled back, also standing and followed him out the window, asking him how he had gotten those adorable toads into the mansion.

Maybe her father wouldn't notice she was missing.