I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

I seem to be producing a lot of Hyuuga fics lately. It's so hard to resist sibling fics...

This is a slight AU that occurs after the Chunin preliminaries, before the finals.

Of Water, Ice and Fire

This must be why Father always arranged members of the Branch Family to pick her up from the Academy.

To prevent her from being weak.

That is what Hyuuga Hanabi concludes as she stares down at the motionless form under the blankets. It is obvious now what her conscience is capable of doing without her control.

Hinata is pale, she observes. Too pale. It looks like she is sleeping… if not for the dried blood that flecks her lips. Hanabi stares at the imperfection on her sister's features. The medic-nins must have missed it during their checks.

Her hands move by their own accord. Hanabi is helpless to restrain herself. The traitorous limbs of hers reach for the water jug. A napkin is in her hand before she can comprehend how it got there. She watches as it is dipped into the liquid and dampened.

Hanabi dabs the moisture onto her sister's cracked lips and gently wipes away the blood. Once the task is completed, the young Hyuuga regains control. Frowning, she scrunches up the napkin and tosses it into a corner of the room; the cleaners could labour for all she cared.

The blood is gone from Hinata's face. It is one spot of blemish taken care of. Too bad Hinata has too many of them.

Hanabi realises that she is still bearing her pack from the Academy. She slips off the straps and drops it to the floor. The Branch member will be punished for allowing the future heir of the Hyuuga clan to escape his watch. Hanabi knows that her father will be furious with her disobedience, and she expects punishment when she returns to the compound.

It makes her want to leave even less.

The minutes drive on without Hanabi noticing. Sometimes, she wishes she can see the folds of time. She longs to peer into the past and catch a glimpse of the woman that Hinata misses so much and calls 'Mother'. She wants to see the reasons behind her sister's tears.

Her Byakugan is blind to Time. Hanabi can't see the past or the future. She sees only the present, and as she turns her penetrating gaze on the physical components of her surroundings, she sees the mess of severed capillaries and half-healed ribs that are her sister's innards.

Hinata's chakra flows in subtle traces. It reminds Hanabi of the light touch she feels in her sleep. Her Byakugan travels up. It hovers over Hinata's heart, and as she observes its strained beats, Hanabi reaches a hand to her own heart and wonders if there was ever a time when it had beaten as slowly as her sister's.

Had her cousin really done all that?

For all the prejudices held against her age, no one can accuse Hanabi of being inobservant. She sees many things, possibly more than her father's Byakugan ever will. She sees the conflict of her clan's Main and Branch houses. It is like water and ice, made from the same substance yet differing in their solidity.

Since her birth, Hanabi has been raised in the ways of becoming a solid block of ice. She looks at blood without fear, glances at the sufferings of others without sympathy. Those that shudder and aid the wounded are weak. Like Hinata.

But water is more malleable. It can flow and mould itself into what is necessary. When the time comes, it will harden and frost into ice. Neji's time came during the Chunin Preliminaries. He and Hanabi are similar, and it is the closest Neji ever gets to becoming one of the Main House.

Yet he melts at Hinata's words. His cold exterior dissolves and his interior becomes heated with anger and hatred. He reverts back to a pool of water.

That is why Hinata loses her match and barely manages to keep her life. It is not because she is weak.

It is because she is neither water nor ice. She is a vibrant flame that is fuelled by passion.

By laws of the elements, she is rightfully extinguished by water.

She wields the fate of ice in her hands. Should she approach with intent, the ice will thaw out and liquefy. Hanabi knows what this means.

If she wishes for it, Hinata can defeat her, even if it was only for the slightest moment.

Hanabi wonders if this is why her sister hardly ever dominates their spars. Perhaps the flame ventured too close to the ice and the water that would eventually crush its existence.

If that is so, Hanabi wonders why Hinata continues to approach.

She hears footsteps and a cheerful whistling. Her Byakugan alerts her to a new presence, but before she can discern the identity, the door opens and a head of blond hair is all Hanabi sees as she deactivates her bloodline limit. She gets up from the chair she doesn't remember lowering herself in, and stares coldly at the newcomer. The boy blinks back at her.

Then he chuckles. "And here I was thinking all you Hyuuga bastards were blind."

Hanabi doesn't know what he means.

When she returns to the clan's compound later that night, Hiashi turns his back on her and wordlessly commands her to follow him into his quarters. She slips off her sandals and follows her father's tall, dominating figure, ignoring the murmuring that is conducted behind the doors she passes.

He doesn't hit her, doesn't immediately condemn her to a night of katas. Instead, he lays his emotionless gaze on her and quietly demands where she has been.

Hanabi tells him she went to a place called Ichiraku Ramen.