Yes…this is the final chapter! The BIG one. :D
If you guys are wondering why I started out with such a small character, is that I love side characters. I hug them silly, redress them, and then put them in the middle of the room so everyone can go "ooh and ahh" and see them in a different way. In my next stories, I will be using much side unnoticed characters. Hope you all stay and read my next stories! Very few will feature main characters. Much love to you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its storyline, or characters. However, this fanfiction is based on Naruto, and is my creation.
Hikaru no Hanabi
8. Seal of Beginnings
Hanabi angrily slashed at the Sound Ninja with her palm, her eyes pulsing with fury-filled chakra. Revenge was all she had in mind. These Sound nins…they took away her Otousan and Hanabi nee-chan. Even three months after their deaths, the war between Konohagakure and Otogakure was still progressing to a final clash.
The countryside was ragged with the obvious marks of battle; upturned trees were scattered among the fields riddled with patches of saturated or burnt grass and pits.
Neji was still in the hospital recovering his injuries while Hanabi pleaded with the Godaime to allow her to take the place of her fallen kin.
But…after her first kill, strangely, Hanabi didn't feel satisfied. Revenge was not sweet at all! Instead, she felt bitter and awkwardly hollow. Nothing had changed. Otousan nor Hinata were back, nor would they ever be.
After seeing the deaths of her comrades and enemies surround her, Hanabi felt flooded with grief. She cried for every death, of her making or not. Every face took on the face of her father or sister, making her hesitant in killing. She wanted no more war. It was so…painful to kill. To take away lives.
After weeks of fighting more than her part required, Tsunade made Hanabi take a break and return to Konoha for a rest. But every time Hanabi wandered the halls of her seemingly empty and larger-than-ever compound, she was agonizingly reminded of the absence of all who died.
Hanabi miserably sat in the courtyards, often crying.
Memories of Hinata's funeral were too easily recalled. As Head of the Hyuuga Clan, Hanabi had to control the arrangements. A burial was too sad, and the ceremony had to be meaningful and reminiscent of Hinata. So instead, Hanabi chose to honor her sister and unite her with the elements.
At the private ceremony especially for ninjas who served in battle, the body was dressed in an Uchikake, a very formal ceremonial kimono. In this case, Hanabi chose a royal purple and lilac pattern for Hinata, since it was her sister's favorite color. The body was then set on a rectangular slab of crystallized ice.
The family of the parted would then stand in a circle around the ice-pyre, and at the same count, would alight it with a fire jutsu. After a few minutes of watching the glimmering fire melt down the ice and consume the body, they would extinguish the fire and rouse from the ashes an enormous tree with another jutsu. In that way, the body would be officially bonded with the elements and then would nourish the earth with its minerals.
Even after everyone had left the tree at midnight, Hanabi stayed behind. She sat at the base of the towering tree and leaned her ear against the tree, as if to hear Hinata's parting words from another, better place. Thoughts of Hinata quickly arose and flitted through Hanabi's mind.
Hanabi gradually slipped back into the reality of the courtyard.
Suddenly, the dawning realization of Hinata's true meaning snapped into place like a missing piece into a puzzle.
Don't make the mistakes I did, Hanabi imouto-chan. Listen to me…don't be like me. And the war...fight it. Fight the war and everything it tears away.
Fight the fighting. Stop the fighting. Don't kill, make the killing stop.
All this time, Hanabi was fighting for what she thought was her sister's revenge.
Hinata didn't want revenge, she wanted for the killing to end.
With urgent swiftness, Hanabi leapt out onto the roof of her house and beyond onto the streets of Konoha. Quickly locating the Hokage's office, she headed leeway.
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With Neji's support and encouragement, Hanabi managed to convince Tsunade to make the war "end" with a special plan she thought up of.
Tsunade would raise up all barriers of Konoha and withdraw the troops to fool the Sound nins into thinking that it was retreating because of major losses. Instead, the Leaf nin's shadow clones would be waiting behind the extra-fortified walls for a direct Sound ambush on the city. When the Sound attacked, the Leaf shadow clones would come streaming out for a diversion. Of course, it would be chakra draining and a constant supply of clones. But no one would be injured. After the clones ran out, there would always be a resort to summon monsters. Meanwhile, Hanabi, Neji, and many others would slip out of Konoha and enter the Sound Village miles away while the battle was fought. In the Sound would wait Orochimaru and Sasuke. And then…who knew? It was a risky arrangement, but it a chance of working.
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A year later…
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Hanabi's name was listed onto a stone memorial in the middle of Konoha.
No, it was not an enlisting of heroic death.
It was an enlisting of those who fought and successfully saved Konoha from foreign dangers.
The plan had paid off and the war ended.
The first part was easily fulfilled; the fake battle which was really a diversion.
The sent ninjas reached the Sound Village after two hours.
Naruto fought and detained Uchiha Sasuke with the help of Sakura.
Shino, Kiba, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji held back the reinforcements within the battalion.
But Neji and Hanabi aimed for the real cause of gallons of spilled blood and tears.
The fight with Orochimaru was a horrifying struggle. Neji suffered gaping wounds dealt by Manda, his summons-snake. Hanabi, however, was nearly killed. Orochimaru was very quick and unpredictable. His movements were far-ranged while hers was close.
Fortunately, Hinata had taught her the Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō, or Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
At the very end, Orochimaru resorted to his deception.
He was very paralyzed from his lack of running chakra systems, so he staggered and fell. Hanabi sprinted forward to deal the final blow to his heart, when the snake master suddenly grinned and pulled himself up. He grabbed her fingers and forced them to align in the kinjutsu position. Double-edged suicide.
Hanabi gasped. Orochimaru was mad! To fight for a goal is exerting, but to go as far as to kill yourself for that goal was insane. But again, it was a trick.
Orochimaru leaned forward and quickly bit her arm, which was locked into the kinjutsu while the other was cut and bleeding profusely.
He removed his hand from the kinjutsu and with that one hand, formed into a horrifyingly familiar seal.
"How--? It can't be! That seal was forgotten years ago, when I had the whole clan sealed! You can't--!"
The snake sannin grinned maliciously.
"My Sasuke-kun's family was inter-related with the Hyuuga clan. When he came to me for power, he accidentally brought some sealed scrolls that he thought were useless…but I found one of the scrolls to contain very interesting things. Such as the Hyuuga clan secrets. After all, he, his family, and your family shared clan secrets together, as kin. And when the news reached to me that you had been sealed on the chest when endorsed clan leader…I decided to use those little secrets to learn how to use the jinjutsu."
Suddenly, Neji came hurtling from behind Orochimaru, slamming his chakra-laden palms into the snake sannin's back. The sannin staggered and fell to the ground while Hanabi dodged out of harm's way.
"You…will never harm Hanabi-sama as long as I live," Neji panted out, breathing heavily. Orochimaru's face was lined with terror, as Neji's palm flew to the sannin's chest. With a final breath, a death rattle forced it's way out. It was finally over.
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The present…
"Okaa-san! What happened next? What happened next?" echoed the voices of two children. One was a solemn looking boy with shoulder-length hair, his pearly lilac eyes gazing intently at his mother. Next to him sat a cute and cuddly looking girl with a short duck-tailed hairstyle and the same beautiful eyes.
Hanabi took the girl into the crook of her arm and smiled gently.
"Your father saved my life, Ayane-chan. Then we came back to Konoha, and the man called Sasuke was put on trial. He was put on a year of probation, and then set free."
The little girl named Ayane had her brow wrinkled in confusion. "That weirdo half-uncle twice removed down to the cousin line of ours was a baddie?"
"Somewhat," Hanabi admitted. "But he's better now."
The sound of a door shutting resonated in the distance. A moment later, Neji entered the courtyard and smiled at the sight of his wife, daughter, and son sitting under a sakura tree.
"I'm never going to get the groceries ever again, okaa-san," Neji grumbled/teased, a small smile gracing his features. "I was the only man there, I'll have you know! And with all those crazy obaa-sans giggling at the sight of a respected ANBU leader sniffing apples to see if they're good or not, I thought I would go mad!"
Hanabi's laugh tinkled beautifully and she imagined the sight of her husband shopping for groceries.
She patted her stomach and said contentedly, "I am pregnant you know." Ayane and her brother Shinji leaned over and touched her stomachs, laughing happily at the thought of having a younger brother or sister.
"I went to the doctor today, Neji. He announced that it will be a girl."
Neji smiled and leaned on the sakura tree. "What are we going to name her?"
Hanabi closed her eyes for a moment, picturing her fallen sister beaming cheerfully in the heavens. She opened them again and looked at Neji, a mischievous grin placed on her lips. "What about…
"Hinata."
-The End-
So there's your bittersweet ending! Thanks for reading everyone!!!!! -hug-