Team 8

Chapter 5: Difficult Preparations

Hinata was still a little shaky when she arrived at the Hyuuga compound. Kurenai-sensei suggested that they should forgo their normal evening training and make sure they got a full night's sleep. Depending on their assignment, they may have to set out immediately. Though she understood the reasons, Hinata was disappointed that she and Naruto wouldn't get to eat the dinner she'd packed that morning. She thought the shitake udon had come out rather well, and she wanted to see Naruto's face when he tasted it. Perhaps she could pack some for their journey to the border.

Though she'd come home earlier than usual, the main house was still quiet. Her father must be occupied with the village council again. She felt herself relax for a moment before she realized what she was doing and chided herself for her disrespect. He was still her father, and it was... unseemly... for her to be glad at his absence. Worse, he would probably detect her disloyal feelings when he returned, and it would be his duty to punish her for failing to show proper respect.

"Hinata?" her father's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she hated herself for the way she jumped. Her fear was unworthy of a Hyuuga.

"Yes father?" she replied in a quiet, but precise voice. If she could take down an enemy spy, surely she could talk to her own father.

"You will follow me to the training room," he said, walking down the hallway without another word.

Hinata followed, her bare feet silent on the polished wood. When she reached the Dojo, Father was waiting for her, along with her cousin and younger sister. Neji was as impassive as ever, though she wondered if his eyes smoldered with resentment when no one else could see. Hanabi was openly glowering, the expression on her face at odds with the graceful features she'd inherited from their mother.

Hinata's own face seemed to be a mixture of her father and mother, in varying amounts. There was a touch of the clan leader in the line of her brows, and the angle of her jaw... the latter of course rarely visible given the way she tended to duck her head around others. Hanabi, on the other hand, was the very image of their mother, a woman the younger girl had never known. Hinata remembered that beloved face though, and savored the memories of the kind-hearted woman who'd treasured her only daughter.

Of course, that made it difficult to fight with Hanabi. One look at those eyes, no matter how angry they seemed, always softened her hands. Her heartache and longing for the only person who seemed to understand her, to treasure her, had no place in the sparring ring. Nevertheless, they intruded constantly, sapping her will to fight. No matter how disappointed her father became with her, Hinata couldn't force herself to hate her sister, to strike her down as he demanded during their sparring matches.

So it was inevitable that Hanabi would triumph against her larger, but mostly passive, sister. Father had first been amazed at Hanabi's prowess, and it lifted Hinata's heart a little to see her sister smile as she basked under Father's praise. But eventually his surprise turned to disappointment in his oldest daughter, who could not hold her own against a girl several years her junior. Hanabi continued to work hard, thriving under Father's amazed tutelage, while Hinata was always more and more of a disappointment.

Today was no different from any other, though perhaps Hanabi's expression was a little more fierce than usual. Hinata briefly wondered about this, before her father's voice derailed her train of thought.

"I am to understand," he said in a low voice, "if certain members of ANBU are to be believed, that you played a role in the capture of a spy today?"

Hinata's heart contracted into a hard lump at the patina of frost that overlaid her father's words. She'd thought about telling him herself when she saw him, hoping he would be proud of her. But he'd already heard about it, and did not seem happy at the news. "H-hai," she said in a faltering voice.