Three: Hyuuga Hichi
As with all Hyuugas, Hichi has gained the family look. Her eyes are all white (well, almost anyway) and she keeps her jet black tresses long and tied back in a low pony tail. Even her name follows the pattern of the family. With the exception of her father (whose name is Neji), all other Hyuugas’ names begin with ‘Hi’ or ‘Ha’. I don’t know why, and neither does she. I figure it must have something to do with the kanji. However, unlike her father and the rest of her clan, Hichi almost always has a smile on her face and something to say. You don’t need to ask her twice for her opinion. . . and she always has one. Hichi only goes into her “Hyuuga Face” when her dad is around, or she’s testing. Even when she’s fighting she talks. I suppose she likes to distract her opponents and unravels them slowly from the inside of their mind. She’s good at it too. I wonder if it has to do with her family. . . She’s only one of two Hyuugas that we’ve grown up with, but Hao doesn’t fight well at all. If Hao worked as well as Hichi I might be inclined to believe that Hyuugas were all as psychologically savvy as Hichi.
Then again, Hichi’s just a genius.
“Welcome back from Emo-World.” Hichi said to me as I entered the classroom almost a week after the exit exam.
“I wasn’t in Emo-World.” I said, glaring a little.
“So, why were you at home all week long?”
“Mom was working with me.” I lied a little. The first few days after the exam was a constant drill of chakra with my mom. After that I just stayed at home to rest and stay mad at Mom. It was quite fun throwing kunai at her picture actually. . .
“Yeah, you were in Emo-World.”
“Good morning you two.” Ryo greeted, throwing us a couple of rolls. “From Sasuke.”
“He cooked?” I asked, shocked.
“Yeah, actually.” Ryo said, scratching his nose. “I didn’t know he could cook.”
“The world is coming to an end!” I said, laughing.
“Doesn’t your other dad know, though?” Hichi asked. She rarely mentioned names anymore regarding Ryo’s parents for some reason. Maybe it was her father’s influence? Ryo and I really didn’t know.
“He eats ramen twenty-four, seven. I’m the one who cooks in the house.” he said, sitting. “Anyway, Sasuke wishes all us the best of luck with our teams. He hopes that we’ll be on the same team.”
“Fat chance.” I mumbled. “Well, we know Shikanomo, Chouzu, and Inoko will be on the same team. It’s practically written in stone.” Hichi smirked at the comment, knowing the story behind ‘Ino-Shika-Chou’. (1)
“Well, I know I won’t be with Hao at least.” she said, almost relieved. “They’d never let two Hyuugas be on the same team.”
“You think Hao’s gonna be like his mom?” I asked. “I heard she’s a medic-nin.”
“Maybe, huh?” Ryo answered. “He’d probably be better off because of it.”
“Too bad you need years of field training before becoming one.” Hichi said, a kind of cold hatred coming from her.
“What’s with you today?” I snapped. “Hao’s a perfectly nice guy!”
“He’s incompetent.” she stated. “His mom was the same way.”
“So you hate him because he’s a late bloomer?” Ryo asked, raising an eyebrow. “Look at you. You haven’t gained your Byakugan yet.” Hichi glared.
“He’s a dead bud is what I’m saying.” she retorted. “And I thought we agreed not to talk about my Byakugan. Hao doesn’t have his either.”
“Does this thing against Hao have anything to do with your father?” I asked. A lot of things came through from her dad. My parents (my dad in particular) had known the Hyuugas and there was some family conflict between the heir and her cousin. Well, that was Hao’s mom and Hichi’s dad.
“My dad has nothing to do with this.” she said, crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes and bit into the bread Ryo had given me. “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice!”
“Just because you claim it doesn’t mean I have to believe you, you know.” I said, leaning forward in the desk. “Is Naruto going to be on time today?” I asked.
“Actually, I think he will be.” Ryo answered, jumping over the desk and sitting between Hichi and I. “He didn’t go into the teacher’s lounge this morning.”
“He’s got thirty seconds.” Hichi muttered, beginning her bread roll too. “1,000 yen he doesn’t make it.”
“Up it to 2,000 and you’ve got a deal.” I said.
“In a hurry to loose money?” she asked, smirking.
“No, I need 2,000 to get that MP3 I’ve been saving up for.”
“Hope he shows up.” Ryo mumbled. “I want to see Hichi’s face when she–”
“Good morning class!!” Naruto said, coming in ten seconds early. I smirked.
“Pay. Up.” I said, holding out a hand to Hichi to receive the money.
“I’m broke.” I glared out of the corner of my eye.
“You made a bet without having the money to back it up?”
“That’s why I made the bet.” she said. “To make money. Besides, I thought it was a bet I couldn’t loose.”
“Your teams will consist of three members. These Genin teams will be headed by a Jounin.” Naruto continued. All three of us had missed the first part of his speech. “Well, I guess all I can do now is wish you all luck. I’m going to miss you all, so be sure to drop by sometime to say hello!” he said. “The teams are as follows:
Team Three: Haruno Ayame, Hyuuga Hao, and Uchiha-Uzumaki Ryo.
Team Four: Aburame Shizu, Inuzuka Kaki, and Mugen Moku.
Team Five: Hyuuga Hichi, Rendai Jin, and Usa Tori.
Team Six: Akimichi Chouzu, Nara Shikanomo, and Yamanaka Inoko.” Naruto said, and began to call off the names of several more teams. I hardly heard the rest of them. I was still a bit shocked and excited that Ryo was on my team. Not only that, but we had Hao too! The prospect of having a Byakugan and a Sharingan on the same team was really exciting! I gave Ryo a big hug.
“We’re on the same team!!”
“Yeah, I know.” he said, kind of disappointed. “Hichi isn’t, though.”
“I suppose so.” I said. “I feel kind of badly for her.” Hichi wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she was deep in thought and in anger. Jin was the class clown, and Tori hardly had a fight in her . We hardly knew why the girl was there, seeing as she didn’t like to hurt people (though she knew her way around weapons like nobody’s business).
“Hichi?” Ryo said, trying to comfort her. The Hyuuga didn’t move.
“Irksome.” she muttered.
“At least Jin can fight. He just messes around.”
“I don’t like him, and Tori’s almost as bad as Hao.”
“Give them a chance. Even if they aren’t great fighters, maybe you’ll make some friends.”
“You know as well as I do that won’t happen.” she said, still glaring at the spot in front of her desk.
“Is there a way we can switch teams?” I asked. “Maybe we can ask Hao to be moved to team five, and Hichi can be in team three.”
“It won’t happen.” Ryo said. “They choose teams based on performance and skill. Hichi will carry most of the weight of her team for a while until the other two catch up. That way, they’ll be able to improve their skills with each other. That’s how it works.”
“That’s why I’m bitter.” Hichi said. “Who’s the sensei?”
“Yours is Nobui-sensei. We have Katame-sensei.”
“Fine,” she said, picking up her things and going to go meet her teammates. Ryo sighed and sat back into his seat.
“She’s so difficult sometimes.”
“She’s being a brat today.” I said. “I don’t understand why.”
“It might be her dad.” Ryo said. “Sasuke gently mentioned to Hichi’s dad that I had gained my Sharingan last week.”
“‘Gently mentioned’ as in ‘politely shoved it in his face’?”
“Yep.”
“She can’t keep getting prissy every time her dad gets on her case.”
“You go emo every time your mom tries to help you with your chakra.” Ryo said. Though his tone wasn’t pointed, his words were. They stung right through my heart, making me feel incredibly guilty for getting pissed off at Hichi.
“Whatever.” I said, climbing out of the chair to go find Hao. It was really odd for Ryo to be so defensive, especially over someone who wasn’t family. I had only felt that piercing knife come from his mouth once before then, and that was because I had been trying to pry information about his parents. “Hao-kun!” I said, smiling. Hao smiled and waved at me.
“Hello Ayame-san.” he said, polite and quiet as always. “Did you hear we’re on the same team?”
“Yeah! I was coming over to say something about that. Glad we’re going to work together!” I said, kind of laughing it off. “Anyway, do you know anything about Katame-sensei?”
“Akani Katame is actually from Sunagakure.” Hao began. “The Kazekage had some sort of exchange with the Godaime, and he’s here to teach. He’s also learning more about the other villages’ teaching curriculum. Suna is trying to improve their fighters again.”
“But doesn’t Suna already go by Konoha’s teaching curriculum?” Hao shrugged.
“I thought so, but I guess it’s a bit different.”
“Oh well. . .” I said, trailing off. “So, is Katame-sensei good?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that he became a Jounin three years ago and that he hasn’t actually gone on an A Ranked mission yet.”
“Not yet??” Hao shook his head.
“No. He’s been going to each village with permission to change the teaching curriculum. That’s what’s been going on for the last five years.”
“That’s funny.” I said, not understanding how Katame could have gotten out of an A Rank mission for three years. “How old is he?”
“I don’t know.” Hao answered. “He’s not that old as I recall.” The Hyuuga boy kind of looked ashamed for some reason, though I didn’t ask why , and I kind of ignored it by smiling.
“Well, that’s good! I don’t want some old perverted man teaching us. . . That would suck.”
“Yeah, I guess that is good.” Hao said, smiling back. “I’m just worried I won’t be much help.”
“Don’t say that!” I said, putting a hand to his shoulder. “So what if you’re not number one in taijutsu? You’ve TOTALLY got your family’s gift of chakra! I mean, who’d pass up the chance to work with someone who can see 360 degrees around them?”
“Well. . . yeah, I guess.” he said, looking at Hichi, who was having a glaring contest with Jin. “I hope Hichi doesn’t ask about it.” I blinked in confusion.
“Wait. . . you mean you’ve gained your Byakugan?” I asked. The boy kind of blushed and nodded.
“Yeah, my mother has been keeping it under wraps for a while now. She doesn’t want Hichi to feel badly.” I smirked.
“Hichi needs a good kick in the posterior! Especially today. . . I mean, she’s been totally bagging on you!!” Hao shook his head.
“It’s all right. I don’t really care.” he said, smiling politely. I raised an eyebrow.
“Are you just saying that, or is that really what you feel?” He shrugged.
“Hichi’s words can’t hurt me, and I don’t need her approval. I’m comfortable with myself.”
“Apparently she’s not.” I said. “I mean, she should have more respect for you! You’re her cousin!” The Hyuuga just shook his head.
“Don’t worry, Ayame-san. Things are better the way they are.”
Later that day, I found Ryo and Hichi sitting at the Ichiraku Ramen shop, both lamenting the fact that we weren’t all on the same team. Hichi was the most upset, seeing that she was landed with the two worst possible people in the class.
“Honestly, Jin? Who in their right MIND would pair me up with that baka?” Hichi cursed. “Tori could hardly look at me when I went up to ask her about where we were going to meet Nobui-sensei.”
“I’ll talk to Naruto about it.” Ryo said, slurping up his ramen. “He might be able to do something about it.”
“Not likely.” I said, interrupting their mood. “They put teams together based on ability. Even you said that, Ryo.” They both glared hard at me. “Sheesh, just saying. . .”
“She’s right, you know.” Ayame, the Ichiraku waitress, said.
“Still, it doesn’t hurt to try.” Ryo said, paying for Hichi and his meal. “I’ll call you both later.”
“Oyasumi.” Hichi said, not looking in his direction, but at the money he left.
“Bye.” I said, wondering what happened between them. It just seemed really, REALLY tense. “So, what’s up?” Hichi didn’t say anything, only took out her wallet and put down some money.
“You don’t have to pay.” she said and walked off. I just blinked and sat down to order.
“What was that all about?” Ayame asked me. I shrugged.
“No idea.” I said. Maybe it was something I had said, but I wasn’t so sure. Later I found out why Hichi was acting the way she was.
My mother had been working with Hao’s mom as a medic nin for years, and they had many research projects going on all the time. There had been times over the years where my mom would have me go over to the Hyuuga compound and drop off documents or lab samples. That day, my mom had an envelope and a box that needed to go to Hinata, and I left right away to take it to her. The sun was going down and dinner was being made as I left. However, when I approached the Hyuugas’ place, not everything was peaceful.
“Chichiue,” I heard Hichi said. “I’ve been training hard! This is something I cannot control!”
“You’re right. Fate controls that.” Hichi’s father, Neji, said. “But to have someone your age surpass you is unacceptable. You will train under Hao until you gain your Byakugan. Am I understood?”
“Chichiue!!”
“AM I understood?”
“Hai, Chichiue.” Hichi said, bowing low on the ground before her father. Neji turned his back to her and walked off with Tenten-san, Hichi’s mother. As soon as both of her parents had left, Hichi punched the ground beneath her, making it crack. “Damnit!!” I didn’t reveal that I was there, though I’m pretty sure Hichi already knew, so I quietly began to walk away and leave her alone. “Wait, Aya.” I froze. “I know you’re there.”
“Hey! I was just on my way to see you! Well, your Aunt really, but I was just coming to say hi!” I said, laughing a little.
“You’re not that slick, Aya.” she said, deadpan. I went as serious as she was at this point.
“How long did you know?”
“Since you came.” Hichi said, her gaze still downward. “So?”
“So, what?”
“What are you thinking? It’s something about me, isn’t it?”
“Just that your dad’s a royal prick.” I answered. I wasn’t going to tell her that I knew Hao had gained is Byakugan before her.
“There’s more to that, though, isn’t there?” she said, her white eyes turning to meet mine. “You knew that Hao was ahead of me, didn’t you?!”
“What?!?”
“Hao is your teammate, is he not? You talked to him today, didn’t you?”
“That doesn’t mean–”
“Do you NOT understand?! I knew what you talked about!! I was there! You didn’t see me, but my back was turned toward you two while you spoke! He made you promise not to tell anyone, but I heard!!” Hichi screamed, her voice echoing in the emptiness of the Hyuuga compound. Her eyes were squeezed shut and tears were streaming down her shamed face. Her fists were balled up tightly and her body was still from trying not to cry. Hyuugas didn’t cry after all.
“Hichi,” I said quietly, not knowing what else to do. “I did talk with Hao, all right? He told me that his mom had been trying hard to hide the fact that he was far ahead of you. Until you had gained your Byakugan, his was to remain a secret.”
“And you were *hic* FINE wit deceiving your own friend?”
“And then earn the mistrust of a teammate?” I asked. “Hichi, there was no good way other than to keep the balance the way things were. Me knowing that would not have made a speck of difference unless I told someone.”
“Then why didn’t you?!?” she blurted out. “You could have made that difference! Now I have to train UNDER Hao! Do you understand just how degrading that is?! Not just to me, but to my family?!?”
“Hichi–”
“You don’t have siblings or cousins to compete with! All you can do is be a selfish little only-child!!”
“HICHI!!” I shouted, raising my voice at her for the first time. She flinched as if I had given her a fatal blow. “What’s wrong with you?! Whenever it comes to Hao or your family you’re always like this!! You detest Hao, and your family always is trying to push y our further than your limits!!!!!”
“Because that’s how the Hyuugas are, Aya! My father and Hinata-basan don’t get along, and neither do Hao and I!!”
“Why? Because your dad tells you to hate him?”
“NO! Because Hao is weak!!”
“Not that weak if he’s gained his Byakugan already.” I retorted. Hichi stopped and collapsed in front of me, crying hard. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. “Hichi, it’s okay.”
“No it’s not.”
“Of course it is.” I said. “Studying under Hao isn’t the end of the world. Think of this as an opportunity. You get to learn about something you will soon achieve, and you can teach him to be a better fighter.”
“Whatever.” she mumbled. “You sound like Ryo.”
“I do try.”
“He. . . he’s been acting strangely too, you know?” she said, drying the last of her tears. “Haven’t you noticed?”
“You know he has his Sharingan, right?”
“Yeah, Sasuke said something to my dad about it.”
“He feels really bad about it.”
“He shouldn’t.” she said. “He deserved it.” Hichi slowly stopped crying and tried to compose herself as best she could, considering her eyes and nose were all red now from crying so hard. “He tried to pay for my meal today.”
“I noticed.”
“He. . . he likes me.” she said. My heart stopped for a moment when she said that. Ryo. . . he liked Hichi? “Ryo told me about a week ago.”
“Do you like him?” I asked, a little too quickly. Hichi sniffed, rubbing her nose.
“Not like that.” she said, looking up at me. “You do, though, don’t you?” I blushed.
“Ryo? No, not really.” I said, lying outright. I couldn’t date Ryo. The three of us were best friends. . . I couldn’t date my best friend. . . even if I was insanely attracted to him. Hichi smiled a little.
“If you say so.” she said, laughing a little. “Wow, from family to Ryo and love problems. I’d never have seen that coming.”
“Me neither.” I said. “Well. . . I gotta go. Can you give these to Hinata?”
“From your mom?” she asked. I nodded. “All right.”
“Thanks. I need to get back home for dinner.” I said, smiling. “And Ryo was going to three-way us tonight too. We shouldn’t miss that.” Hichi smiled a little and nodded.
“You’re right.” she said, waving good bye. “And, thanks Aya.” I smiled and waved good bye as I ran home to try to cope with what I had just heard. . . Ryo liked Hichi. . . and though everything else was denying it, I. . . I really liked Ryo.
TBC...
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Notes:
(1): If you bother to watch the end of the new Shippuden eps, there was one which explained part of the Ino-Shika-Chou thing. There’s a card game in Japan in which the strongest combination of cards is a boar, a deer, and a butterfly. Inoshishi is a board, Shika is a deer (also Nara Park has LOTS of deer in it), and Chouchou is a butterfly. . . Nice little play on words, no?
Chichiue: (my) Father. . . very, VERY formal
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