The Cloud Over The Leaf

Hii put up his books in his bag and started to head to the front of the academy.

"Hey!"

Hii turned around and saw Naruto rushing towards him.

"Are you heading to Hinata's place again today?"

"Yeah. I have some more things to do there before training, so I need to get it done so we can start."

"I'm gonna go with you this time dattebayo! I wanna get stronger too!"

Naruto hung close to Hii, obstinately waiting together with him.

".....Fine. You can't be loud though."

"Yeees! Ha!"

Naruto clasped his hands over is mouth while Hii stared at him.

Hii sighed, turned his head, and waited for Hinata to come out.

"Naruto~."

Naruto shivered as Shizuka approached them with a teasing smile on her face.

"Nee-san! What's wrong?"

"Where are you going? Did you forget Mom wanted to talk to us today about something?"

"Geh! I forgot! I was going to go with Hii to Hinata's house!"

"No. You. Don't~! You're coming with me."

Shizuka grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt and started to drag him out of the academy.

"Wait! Can't I at least go partway with him?"

"Nope~. Mom said I had to capture you and take you back~."

"Aaaah! Why today dattebayo?!!"

"See you tomorrow, Hii-kun~!"

The two bickered into the distance, causing Hii to shake his head.

"S-sorry for the wait!"

Hii turned and saw Hinata heading towards him.

"Don't worry about it. Let's go."

"Umu."

Hii and Hinata walked out of the academy and headed over to the Hyuga estate. 

Hinata looked a bit nervous as the two got closer to the estate.

"What's wrong? You look tense."

"Eh? N-not really. It's just..."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you're Mom will feel much better after today's treatment."

"T-thank you! But that's not it."

Hii turned to Hinata and saw her fidgeting with her fingers again.

"Well, what's wrong then?"

"It's...about Neji-niisan."

Hii's face immediately frowned when she mentioned his name.

"What about him?"

"W-well... Can you two...not fight?"

"No."

He shook his head confidently.

"That's impossible."

"I-I see."

"Sorry, Hinata. I can't let what he said slide."

"Oh...."

Hii turned back to continue heading to the estate while Hinata followed closely behind.

*******

Hii let go of Haruka-san hand as he  finished his healing session.

"Whew! Do you feel better, Haruka-san?"

".....Yes."

Haruka had a complicated expression as she looked at Hii.

"Hii-chan. It might be for the best if you stop healing me."

"Why?! You feel better, right?!"

Haruka sighed and nodded her head.

"I do, but this will bring unwanted attention to you. People will want to know how you did it."

"Then I'll just leave after you're healed and hide behind my Mom!"

Haruka looked at Hii in surprise.

"Pffft!!"

She then started laughing hysterically as tears started to well in her eyes.

"That's right! Kaya-san wouldn't let anybody bully her baby! How could I forget that?!"

Haruka continued to laugh for a little while longer before wiping her eyes of her tears.

"Haaa. Well, I hope you can heal me completely in that case, Hii-chan."

"Of course! I'll get you healed up in no time!"

Haruka smiled brightly and rubbed Hii's head.

"Now then, I heard you've been getting into a spat with Neji-chan?"

Hii face started to frown, but he said nothing as he just continued to heal Haruka's body.

Haruka sighed as she brushed her purple hair away from her face.

"Boys sure love to fight. I'm sure Neji-chan said something to make you mad."

"......"

"You're a little too much like Kaya-san. Just....try not to kill each other, ok?"

"I'll try. I'm finished for today. I'll see you next time, Haruka-san."

Hii stood up, bowed, and headed out of the room, finishing his task.

Haruka could only sigh as she watched him go.

******

Hii and Neji both stared at each other in the Hyuga clan training ground.

Hinata stood nearby, flustered at what she should do.

"U-um!"

"Yes, Hinata-sama?"

Neji asked Hinata without looking away from Hii.

"Do you have to fight?"

"We must, Hinata-sama. He told me my fate was to be beaten. I must see if that's true."

"There you go with that "fate" thing again. You're not wrong though. You will see that I was right."

"Hmph!"

Neji starts to get into his stance, spreading his feet out slowly as he moves into position.

"You should back up, Hinata. We're gonna start soon."

Hii raised his fists and his feet started to slowly march at a rhythm.

Neji's eyes start to focus as veins start to appear on the side of his face.

Hii looks at him with a smile on his face.

"Any rules you want for this match?"

Neji thinks about it, and nods his head.

"Taijutsu only. I'll show you the power of the Hyuga clan."

"Yeah, you do that. Hinata! Can you start us off?"

Hinata looked at the two of them and sighed.

"O-ok.... Ready?"

The two stare at each other in their stances, tense and ready to fight.

"Begin!"

She shouted, expecting to see the two dash at each other and start fighting.

These two, however, had other ideas.

They began to circle each other, inching closer and closer to their opponent as they watched their every move.

'This guy has a stance that looks more relaxed than Hinata's. His technique won't be as stiff as her jabs and pokes. I'll have to be careful of his speed.'

Hii monitored Neji carefully as Neji did the same.

'His foot movements are rather strange. Is it to throw me off? No. His leg muscles are too toned for him to not use them. I should proceed with caution.'

The two had similar thoughts of their opponent as they slowly inched towards each other.

Hinata stood by, silently enduring the tension between the two.

 A cold breeze suddenly blew by across the back of her neck.

"Fuwah!"

Hinata felt a cold shiver go down her spine and let out an embarrassing sound.

'Oh no! I let out such a strange sound! How embarrassing!'

*Swish Swish Pow Bam*

"Eh?!"

Hinata heard the sounds of combat in front of her and quickly looked up to see Hii and Neji fighting at last.

Neji poked at Hii with high speed precision towards his Chakra Points, but Hii blocked them by dodging or slapping his attacks away.

Hii also sent a few punches and kicks to Neji, but Neji dodged them as well as tried to attack any sloppy attempts.

The two countered each other at every chance they could and anticipated the other's movements.

Despite how much they disliked each other, the two were an equal match for each other.

The two kept jabbing at each other, neither receiving any significant damage.

A few minutes passed as the two continued to silently battle.

'Tch! So we're the same level. I'll have to do something drastic. Wait! I could try that move.'

Hii began to strike at Neji more freely as he started to open up some gaps in his stance. He also held his hand further out to his right side to distract him.

Neji didn't immediately go for the openings as he watched Hii's movements carefully. 

His Byakugan focused on Hii entirely, trying to anticipate his movements.

'His muscles are tightened on his right side. He should be preparing a big punch. Why make it so easy for me to see?'

Neji thought about Hii's actions, but quickly disregarded it as the openings were too tempting to pass up!

"Haaa!"

Neji slide close to Hii and reached to disable the points in his right arm!

"Huuuo!"

Hii prepared himself and tried to strike him with his right fist.

"It's over!"

Neji ducked the fist and struck several points along the arm.

"Ugh!"

Neji positioned himself close to Hii as he prepared to further incapacitate him, but Hii was hoping he'd stay close!

"Huuu!"

Hii shifted his weight and shot his left fist towards Neji's face!

Neji didn't think Hii could fight back so quickly with the pain from having his Chakra Points sealed!

The fist quickly made its way towards Neji and all he could do was lean back on instinct!

'He won't reach my face with this!'

Neji believed Hii would only be able to barely graze his face from the angle, but Hii was prepared for it!

'I only have one shot!'

Hii eyes flashed as he channeled chakra into his feet, closing the distance with a bit more distance and power in the punch!

*Bam*

Hii struck Neji barely on the chin, his head tilting from the impact.

"?!!!"

Neji felt everything go dark as his legs suddenly gave out as he fell down on his back, knocked out with his eyes open.

Hinata was shocked to see Neji laid on the ground after one hit.

"It worked."

Hii looked at his hand and shook his head.

'I guess Akumu wouldn't teach me something that wouldn't work, huh?'

The Knockout Punch Akumu taught him was a weird move to Hii, but he could see it worked well.

Hii caught his breath as he looked over at his arm limply hanging

Hii tried to move it, but he could only feel pain coming from it.

He looked over at Hinata and saw she was still staring at Neji on the floor.

"Hey, Hinata?"

"Eh?! Y-Yes?!"

Hinata recovered from her shock and she turned to Hii.

"Can you help unseal my arm?"

Between Hinata's strikes and Neji's, Hii truly felt that the Gentle Fist was anything, but actually gentle.

********

Hii stretched his arm as he walked back home, enjoying the night breeze.

"Hehehe! His face was priceless!"

Hii laughed as he remembered the face Neji had once he woke back up.

'I'll try and get him again once my arm feels better! Hehehe!'

Hii joyfully walked by a neighborhood park on his way back home.

*Sniff*

"Hm?"

Hii looked around after hearing a strange noise.

'Someone crying over here?'

*Sniff Sniff*

Hii looked over the area and decided after a while that be might as well be nosy.

He crept closer to the area the sniffling sounds came from and found a boy crying on a swing.

"Naruto?"

"?!!!"

Naruto looked up from his crying and quickly jumped to a nearby tree!

Naruto fled away from Hii as soon as he saw him!

"Hey, wait!"

Hii was confused at first, but quickly jumped up and chased after Naruto. 

Something was telling him he shouldn't let Naruto get away.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

"Leave me alone!"

"Why?!"

Hii continued to chase him as they went from rooftop to rooftop. After they went through the town, Naruto started to head of into a nearby training ground!

'Ugh! Stupid! This brat has tons of stamina! I'm not gonna be able to outlast him!'

Hii followed closely behind him anyway, hoping he would just stop and calm down at some point.

Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't giving in and kept running!

Hii, however, had enough of Naruto's obstinate refusal to explain himself!

"Leave me alone!"

"Argh! That's it! I'll stop you myself since you don't want to on your own!"

Lightning Armor!

*Chi Chi Chi*

Hii's hair spiked up as he bolted into Naruto at high speed!

"Ora!"

"Uwah!"

The two fumbled over,crashing into the ground with a slide!

Hii rushed over to the dazed Naruto and slide towards his head!

He grabbed on to Naruto's neck, gripping him in place with a headlock!

"Aaaargh! Let me go!"

"After you tell me what's wrong with you."

Naruto continued to struggle, but Hii held a tight grip on him no matter how he moved.

Naruto's resistance soon began to crumble as Hii slowly started to increase the pressure on his neck.

He slowly stopped struggling and laid in Hii's grip powerlessly.

"Well?! What happened?"

"I....I have a monster."

"A monster? What are you talking about?!"

"I have a monster inside of me!"

Naruto tried to broke out of Hii's headlock and tried to run again, but Hii just tightened his grip on his neck once more! 

"Guh! Get off of me dattebayo!"

"Quiet!!"

"!!!"

Naruto grew shocked as he never heard Hii sound angry before!

"Now listen here! Enough running away! You will sit here and explain what the hell you're even talking about, slowly and clearly from the beginning! Got it?!"

"Y-yeah..."

"Answer me!"

"Yes!"

Hii nodded his head and slightly released Naruto's neck as he waited for him to explain.

Naruto hesitated, but soon began to talk about what he and Shizuka learned from Kushina. Naruto decided to confide in Hii and hope he wouldn't change after learning the truth.

********

Inside the Uchiha estate, Maka came into her room after a long day.

"Haaaa...."

She laid back, letting the stress of the academy and training go as she fell into the covers of her bed.

It was her happy place, but she wasn't feeling very happy as of late.

'Nii-san is still out on a mission. I barely get to see him nowadays.'

Maka brought one of her pillows to her chest and squeezed it. She slowly tossed and turned on her bed for a while while thinking of her training recently.

She was making progress, but it didn't feel as fun as it normally was.

Sasuke was a good opponent for her, but...

"Stupid Hii."

Maka rolled around a bit more as she thought of his "secret training" he was doing with Hinata.

'I want to be part of secret training too! Stupid.'

Maka punched one of her pillows as she just stared at the ceiling.

'I should just talk to him. Nothing's changed at all. It should be simple like it used to be.'

She would make an effort to talk to him, but it recently became an uphill battle. She felt her hands suddenly get sweaty, and she could barely look at him when they talked now.

She couldn't be honest with him like she used to for some reason.

It wasn't so bad before the academy starter, but ever since she met Her, it's gotten much worse.

"Stupid Shizuka!"

She punched her pillow a few times before squeezing the poor pillow in a death grip.

'I don't know when she's being serious or not! Uggggh!!'

She held the pillow tightly, then sighed and let the pillow go.

She got out of her bed and stood in front of her mirror. 

She looked at herself as she had plenty of times before.

She thought about what her brother had taught her when he first opened his Sharingan.

'Your eyes are red, Nii-san! How did you that?'

'It's easy! You channel your chakra to your eyes and they change, just like that.'

'Can I do it too when I get bigger?'

She remembered the pained expression Shisui had when she asked him that question.

She looked into her deep black eyes and smiled wryly.

"I'm an Uchiha, but not really an Uchiha. How stupid."

She remembered the time before she resolved herself to be a strong ninja without those eyes.

She would stand in front of the mirror and use as much chakra as possible to pump it into her eyes. 

She remembered crying in front of the mirror as her black eyes didn't change into those red eyes she wanted so much, no matter how much chakra she used.

'What am I thinking?! It's not like things will change if you wish for it. You have to make it change.'

Maka shook her head and was going to lay back down on her bed, but she stopped.

She looked back and looked into the mirror, like she used to do.

"....One more time can't hurt. Not like I haven't already been cast aside anyway."

She closed her eyes and started to channel her Chakra into them, just like she used to.

'I can consider it chakra control training anyway, so why not give it another shot for old time sake?'

Maka joked, remembering how she did this all the time in secret. 

She always wanted to make fun of something if it hurt her.

She felt an unfamiliar sensation in her eyes, but she quickly disregarded it. She had felt a sensation before long ago, but it just turned out to be her eyes drying out.

"Channel chakra into your eyes and just like that! Easy~!"

Maka opened her eyes away from the mirror and sighed.

"As if it was ea-"

She paused and looked at the mirror in disbelief.

"W-what?!"

Her voice grew sharp and frightened as she looked at the mirror!

She could no longer see the deep black eyes in her reflection, only the red eyes she always wanted.

'T-This can't be!'

"Kai!"

Maka immediately tried to break a Genjutsu when she saw her reflection.

'It has to be a Genjutsu!'

Maka used the method her Nii-san taught her to break Genjutsu and kept her eyes closed.

She held them shut for a long time before slowly opening one of her eyes.

All she could see was the red hue and the small tomoe rotating around her pupils.

"N-no way..."

She touched her face around her eye and felt the warm sensation on her hands. She found herself crying again.

Maka sank into her bed as she tried to understand the situation.

'I have the Sharingan?! I have the Sharingan!!'

She couldn't contain her emotions as they all graced her face.

Shock from the surprise!

Elation and relief for finally having her family trait.

Righteous anger for the boys who thought they were above her that she would demolish soon enough.

Of all of the emotions present, the one emotion that presided over all the others was confusion.

'How did I unlock it? I can't remember anything that happened that wouldn't have already done it before.'

She thought about everything that could've been the trigger, but nothing seemed to match up.

'Wait! That one training session!'

She remembered the training session she had with Hii and Sasuke long ago.

'That time when Hii healed me in a weird way!'

She had nearly forgotten how bizarre he was during that time.

She also remembered what he said. She couldn't forget it.

'You have great potential, Maka. I'm sure you'll rise up to be as great as you want to be.'

She remembered his words and felt her face grow a bit hot.

She wiped her eyes and thought of her plan of action.

'I'll figure everything out tomorrow! I won't let him get away from me this time!'

Maka squeezed her pillow once more and started to roll around on the bed. A blooming smile was plastered on her face as a sense of relief washed over her.

She was finally excited for tomorrow to come.