A year passed and the Hyuga clan was going to start training their newest batch of young disciples. Most prominently, this included Mikoto, Neji, and Hinata Hyuga. There was Hinata, the heiress of the clan, Rising Superstar Neji, and Mikoto, who was loved by the branch families despite not carrying any Hyuga blood. These three and several other children stood in front of their instructor on an empty training field. A few spectating shinobi, ranging from parents to nosy passersby, were present at the edge of the field.

 

The instructor was a member of the main family, Tetsu Hyuga. He had a reputation for being one of the clan's best teachers but rarely taught due to his shinobi duties. Many parents were excited to know he would be teaching. However, Mikoto sensed trouble, noticing that his gaze would slightly sharpen every time he looked at her.

 

I'm surprised the clan is still trying to get rid of me. Even some of the main family members are beginning to like me. It's only a matter of time before everyone but the elders treat me as one of their own.

 

That's how it is sometimes. Rather, I'm surprised that Hiashi fellow didn't even try to stop it or warn you. Does he have a death wish?

 

I doubt that. I'm sure the elders are just forcing his hand. Ever since our little chat he flinches every time he sees me. The trauma he has won't go away for the rest of his life, even if we become comrades in the future.

 

"Attention!" Tetsu called out. The trainees present all straightened their backs. "Today is the day you will finally be able to train. As a Hyuga, you have the responsibility to uphold our clan's name and make sure none can look down on it. So far, only two of you have awakened your Byakugan. That is okay; not everyone awakens their Byakugan that early. Today, we will be training taijutsu techniques. I will show you several moves, you will practice them for half an hour, then you will spar using them. Unfortunately, there are an odd number of trainees and one of you will be forced to spar with me. Don't worry, I'll make sure to go easy on whoever gets stuck with me."

 

Ah, there it is. Looks like we know who you'll be sparring with.

 

Mikoto inwardly nodded, feeling slightly annoyed.

 

Do you think I should crush him or pretend to get hurt, garnering sympathy?

 

Genius among geniuses, or a bullied prodigy, huh? I hold no sympathy for the Hyuga clan. Demonstrate your worth and bury his face in the ground.

 

Roger that.

 

The training soon started. Tetsu demonstrated various punches and kicks on a dummy while also demonstrating ways to chain them together into combos. Both children and adults alike were impressed with the spectacle. Tetsu was great fighter and he conveyed every bit of information concisely without causing any confusion.

 

"Okay, everyone! Now that I've demonstrated everything you should be working on, practice your punches and kicks, then try making a few combos of your own. Some combos I showed off were pretty complex, so don't be discouraged if you can't do them right away!"

 

At Tetsu's words, the children began practicing, punching and kicking training dummies set to be around their height. Tetsu walked around and critiqued the moves of everyone present.

 

"Neji, those are outstanding moves! However, you're a little aggressive so be sure to hold back some against your opponent, I'm sure you know why," Tetsu said, causing Neji to falter some.

 

"Hinata, your moves are good, but you need to be more confident! You know everything perfectly but it seems that you struggle with following through on the attack. Make sure you're trying to punch through the opponent, not just connect the hit." Hinata flinched a little but quickly smiled and nodded.

 

"Mikoto. You're… alright. However, your stance is off and your punches are weak. Widen your feet more, square your shoulders, stand up straight, and try to actually throw your punch this time."

 

So that's how it starts. It's rather obnoxious that he's nitpicking things that don't exist, though. I'm mirroring his actions exactly, even if he has a slew of his own issues. Fine though, I'll play his game. Kurama, do you wanna see a real punch?

 

I'm worried about the training dummy, but go right ahead.

 

Mikoto readjusted her stance and after several loud popping sounds her shoulders were visibly wider and she comfortably stood with her feet spread further. She stood straight, reeled back, and punched the dummy once more. It sounded as though a gunshot rang out and the dummy was left in two pieces.

 

"Is that better, Sensei?" Mikoto asked, an innocent smile on her face.

 

"…Yes." Tetsu slowly walked to the next student occasionally glancing back at Mikoto, eyes full of confusion. Other clan members were looking on in awe.

 

Do you always need to make the transformations sound so painful?

 

They are painful though. I'm literally changing the shape of my bones and muscles. To do that, everything needs to be broken first.

 

Once again, that technique is terrifying.

 

Well, you'll get used to it.

 

Training continued as usual. Tetsu continued to try and find faults with Mikoto's form, but quickly stopped once he realized that a training dummy would be obliterated every time he did so.

 

"Alright everyone, it's time to begin sparring! Mikoto ended up destroying some training dummies so she'll be partnered with me just in case she can't control her strength. Everyone else, pair up! I don't care who you're with, just remember that this is a friendly spar," Tetsu gestured for everyone to get moving. Mikoto slowly walked towards him.

 

"Nervous?" he asked. He kneeled down and put his hand on her shoulder.

 

"Not in the slightest," Mikoto replied.

 

"Well, you should be," he muttered so that only Mikoto could hear him. Though he tightened his grip to the point where creaking sounds were heard, Mikoto's expression never faltered.

 

"I see, so you want the training dummy treatment? Got it. I'll be careful to make sure you say in one piece. Good luck, Sensei." Surprisingly, Tetsu only grinned.

 

"Let's see if you can keep that spirit during the match. Hopefully you'll be able to go home today with only a few broken bones. You aren't welcome here," he stood and addressed everyone, "Alright, now that you all have partners, we'll be doing the matches one by one. I'll go last, so if anyone would like to volunteer, please step up!"

 

Neji raised his hand; his partner was somebody from the main family. Tetsu welcomed them on stage, and the match began. The match was as one might expect from children. Though it ended in Neji's favor, it still took some time due to him holding back.

 

Hinata's match ended in her victory, though only barely. She almost lost several times due to flinching whenever the opponent made a move. However, everyone present was pleased with her performance.

 

Soon enough, it was time for Mikoto's match. She and Tetsu approached the stage slowly, eventually standing across from each other. They both made the sign of conflict and the match had officially begun.

 

"Feel free to attack me first, Mikoto!"

 

Looks like he wants to make a show of it. Let's give him one.

 

Just don't overexert yourself. It's not the same but I don't want a repeat of the time you tried absorbing chakra. I'd rather not see your muscles swollen to the point of exploding again.

 

I'll be careful, don't worry. As long as he doesn't do anything excessive, everything should be fine. Well, even if he does, somebody should realize he's aiming for my life and jump in.

 

"Of course, Sensei! Here I come!"

 

Mikoto disappeared from the spot. Tetsu activated his Byakugan, realizing something was wrong. Mikoto was directly above his head, poised to land a skull splitting kick. He was barely able to dodge before she crashed in the ground. Left in her wake was a small crater where her foot landed. The audience was dead silent as the dust around Mikoto settled. Tetsu was standing several feet away from her, panting with his guard fully up. It was clear to everyone present that his Byakugan was active, and even with that he barely dodged Mikoto's kick.

 

"What's wrong, Sensei? You told me to attack first, so I did. Shall I go again?"

 

"It seems that you're quite the advanced student. Perhaps your sensei won't need to hold back after all. Here I come, Mikoto!" Tetsu charged at Mikoto. He disappeared in the eyes of the children and large number of the adults present could barely follow him without their Byakugan active. As such, everyone who could soon activated their dojutsu to spectate the match.

 

Mikoto used her small frame to her advantage as she ducked through Tetsu's punches and weaved around his kicks. Seeing her approaching, Tetsu grunted and retreated as fast as possible. Once he had gained some distance he began to speak again.

 

"Though I've only made it up to sixteen consecutive strikes through observation, that should be enough. Mikoto, you're already in my zone."

 

Mikoto then felt herself get hit thirty-two times in a row as Tetsu seemed to have attacked from every direction.

 

"It's over, Mikoto, surrender." Tetsu stood haughtily while looking at Mikoto collapsed on the floor. There was some commotion from the spectators, but that could be handled later.

 

Why didn't you dodge that?

 

I wanted to see what he would do. It's a little unfortunate for him, thinking that my chakra pathway is something he can block, or that it's something that could impede my movement even when blocked. In the first place, I haven't used chakra once.

 

"Thank you for your concern, Sensei, but I can't surrender before landing a hit. I'll be coming at you once more."

 

"How are you going to-" before he could finish, Tetsu saw Mikoto rising from the ground as if she hadn't been hit at all. "How are you fine? I hit enough tenketsu to leave you immobile!"

 

"That doesn't matter, what does matter is that this match isn't over." Another loud popping and cracking noise came from Mikoto's legs. "I'll be speeding up now. Don't lose sight of me!"

 

He's going to do exactly that…

 

Mikoto's legs flexed and the ground beneath them cracked. Seeing something was wrong, Tetsu raised his guard once more. However, Mikoto still hadn't moved from the spot. Or at least, that's what he thought. While Mikoto's figure was still in front of him, his instincts screamed at him to move. He lunged to the right and just barely avoided getting hit.

 

"Wow! What impressive battle senses you have! Unfortunately for you, I know you couldn't see me. Why don't we see how long you can keep that up for?" Mikoto once again stood on the spot, but suddenly, more of her started appearing around the arena, kicking up a veritable whirlwind. Each and every afterimage started slowly waltzing towards Tetsu, leaving him no room to escape. Tetsu was focused on every one of these figures, but that ended up being his downfall.

 

"Kneel." A voice rang out, signaling the stop of the whirlwind and the disappearance of the afterimages. Mikoto kicked the back of Tetsu's knee and forced it into the hard concrete. Tetsu screamed out in pain over his shattered kneecap. Mikoto walked in front of him and slowly lifted his head, making his eyes meet hers.

 

"Sensei, would you be so kind as to tell everyone present what you told me before the match began?" Tetsu glared into Mikoto's eyes, but stopped before managing to retaliate. His Byakugan was still active, and all he saw was darkness. A darkness that consumed his mind before he could deactivate the Byakugan. There was no chakra pathway system, there was no body. There was only an endless night that threatened to swallow him. He barely managed to pull himself back in the nick of time.

 

"Get away from me! Fine! You want me to tell them? I'll tell them, just stay away!" The crowd saw him scuttling backwards, dragging his broken leg along with him. He was sweating and pale, his entire body shaking as if he had been dunked in an ice bath. "Before the match I told Mikoto that she would be lucky to leave today with only a few broken bones- but I didn't want to! The clan elders forced me to do it! Please, believe-"

 

"You were complicit though, were you not?" Mikoto quickly chimed in.

 

"I… I was…"

 

"So you understand that you are also responsible for this, yes?"

 

"I am responsible, I apologize." Tetsu looked at Mikoto, still shaking.

 

"That's not how one apologizes though, right? Dogeza."

"What about my leg? It's-"

"Dogeza. Now."

 

Tetsu slowly pushed through the pain, not daring to look Mikoto in the eyes. As he got on his knees his breathing grew heavier, but he slowly managed to work himself into the position, his knees bearing all his weight and his forehead placed firmly on the ground.

 

"I, Tetsu Hyuga… sincerely apologize…. for attacking you with the intent to… main you. Please forgive me." The crowd finally realized what was happening and couldn't contain their shock. One of the main family members had tried to seriously injure one of the younger clan members during training. It didn't matter that she didn't carry the clan's blood, it didn't matter that she won. What mattered was that Tetsu's intentions were revealed publicly and that he had trampled upon the clan's honor. They were furious, Natsu especially so.

 

Natsu rushed to Mikoto's side and held her tightly.

 

"Mikoto! Are you okay?" Natsu could barely contain herself.

 

"I'm alright, Mom. I'm tougher than I look!" Mikoto tried her best to calm Natsu down.

 

"I don't care how strong you are! What if you had gotten hurt? You should have surrendered when he first threatened you!" Natsu was on the verge of tears at this point.

 

"I wanted to, but you know that the clan elders don't want me here. If I had surrendered without even trying to fight, who knows what they would try to do…" Mikoto made sure to say the last part so that everyone could hear.

 

The crowd's sympathetic eyes turned fierce as they looked away from the mother and child and glared at Tetsu.

 

"Mom, let's go home. I'm sore."

"Okay. Mikoto, we need to let you rest."

 

The two walked away as the crowd slowly encircled Tetsu, getting ready to thoroughly question him.

 

As Mikoto and Natsu were about to leave the field, their path was blocked by two people. In front of them, Neji and Hinata stood. Hinata looked slightly afraid, but still worried, and Neji had an oddly fanatical look on his face. However, Neji waited for Hinata to speak first.

 

"Um… Are you okay? I'm sorry that happened to you…" Hinata fidgeted around while speaking, but still managed to get the words out, albeit somewhat softly.

 

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. You should still avoid me at least until we get to the academy, I don't want your father getting mad at you." Mikoto gave Hinata a gentle smile.

 

"Okay…" Hinata looked slightly sad.

 

"It's okay, Hinata. If the clan ever accepts me, we can hang out even sooner than that!"

 

"Really?" Hinata's face brightened like the sun coming out in the middle of a thunderstorm. "I'll try my best to make them like you!" As she finished speaking, she ran off towards her home.

 

You're quite manipulative.

 

I was being serious. She can spend time with me as soon as the clan stops this farce. It's not manipulation if it's true.

 

It still is, but I'll defer to you since it benefits you, and by extension, me.

 

All that was left now was Neji.

 

"I must thank you. You brought the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms out of him. Thanks to his poor technique, I was able to understand it. I'll be able to practice it in the future." Neji gave a quick bow.

"That wasn't my intention, but I will accept your thanks."

 

"Would you be willing to train with me in the future? I don't think I'll be able to improve myself beyond the other clan members if I'm stuck with a teacher like that."

"Sure! If you don't know where my mom and I live, just ask around. I can train with you any time I'm not helping with errands!" Mikoto smiled again, causing Neji to blush slightly and look away. He quickly muttered his thanks again and ran off.

 

"Looks like someone has an admirer!" Natsu teased.

 

"I do, but he's going to be unhappy."

"Why?"

"I'm not into men."

 

"O-oh… Well… If you say so then I'll believe you." Natsu faltered, but quickly recovered, "Good thing you have Hinata as an admirer as well!"

 

 "She can try if she wants, but as of right now I'm uninterested." Mikoto was as deadpan as one could be regarding the topic.

 

"Gosh! Can't I tease me cute daughter just a little?" Natsu began pouting as they walked home.

 

"Sorry, Mom. You've gotta be more creative than that to tease me!" The situation backfired as Mikoto began teasing her mother. While that was happening, Kurama had a question for Mikoto.

Earlier when he looked into your eyes and saw something. Did you use your powers without telling me again?

 

Kurama had an accusatory tone as he questioned Mikoto.

 

Oh, that. Don't worry. I promised I wouldn't without telling you first. I'll leave it by saying that you should avoid looking me in the eyes when I'm in a bad mood. The only one who has done so and come out completely unscathed was my brother.

 

Who is this brother of yours anyways? Even after four years I've only heard you mention him in passing.

 

I'll tell you some other time. There's a countless number of stories I could share, but sorting through them will take time. However, I will at least tell you his name. His name is Theo, Theo Xandros. Coincidentally, my name, Mikoto, is the one I was given in the life where we were born as twins together. That was my very first life, and his second. Xandros is the family name we had at the time. Both of these names mean very much to us, so I was surprised that I was naturally named Mikoto in this life. Normally I have to change it years down the line.

 

I see. I'm glad that I get to share your family name with you.

 

My, someone's being honest today!

 

Silence!

 

Mikoto had a great afternoon as she got to tease both Natsu and Kurama on the way home.

 

Unfortunately, she wasn't laughing for too long, as she was too sore to move the next day.

 

I told you to not overexert yourself…