NOTES: The continuation of Laterality is now live! Here's a little bit of the first chapter for you. Please check my profile for the link to the actual fic! This is the last update to this story and this chapter will be deleted in the future.

HALO EFFECT

Chapter One Preview

The snow-covered hidden village of Konoha sat quiet and still, nestled at the base of four stone faces that watched over it in the midst of winter, with stars and moon shining above. Night had fallen long ago.

Most villagers were sound asleep, or preparing to burrow under warm blankets and the embrace of family or lovers until morning.

Two, maybe three, dogs yipped in the distance. Too far away from here, but the sound echoed and carried far.

No. There were no strays in this neighborhood—not in this immaculate clan compound.

No stray dogs, anyway.

Under the faint light of the moon, though, shapes and shadows shifted, shooting from cold, bare tree branches to snow-powdered rooftops. One—two—three. Four. All speeding through the night until they arrived at this particular compound, alighting on its high walls and leering into the candle-lit interiors beyond the closed shoji screens and doors.

This was the Hyūga Clan compound. And within it, a child had recently celebrated her third birthday. With her mother. Her father. Her uncle. Her cousin.

These strays were not present to bring her a belated gift, nor to impart their well wishes for many more years to come. Like sentinels, they watched. Waited. Until the final, rounded flame of candle light flickered into nothing and left the home dark. Until the final maid retired down the hallway and slid her bedroom door shut with the quiet, muffled sound of wood clacking against wood.

Until the night was silent.

Then, they moved.

One, taking off in another direction—down the street, to douse the nearest street lamps and provide even darker cover as well as provide incentive to avoid the area, should any wander by. And to keep watch, should any wanderers pass through regardless.

One, crouching down atop the wall surrounding the property.

Two, leaping down into the pure white courtyard, traveling across the snow as they crept toward the traditional silhouette of the clan's main house. Toward what slept within.

Toward what they would soon take as theirs.

There wasn't really an actual Christmas in Konoha.

But the holiday still stuck in mind, and Namie celebrated it anyway. Miho didn't care either way. Sai certainly didn't complain about random presents around the end of December. Neither did her brother's family—including the newest addition of a redheaded little girl with her father's eyes. Uzumaki Nako. Naruto's beloved baby sister by almost two years—already a firecracker, just like her brother, and a bit of a brat, to boot. Both kids, but Nako in particular, enjoyed being showered with gifts from their one and only aunt who pampered them without prompt.

No one objected to random presents at all, in fact, especially not Ueno Kasuga, or Inuzuka Toboe, or her almost-parents Harumi and Sei, whose graves never went without offerings and little trinkets that she thought they'd enjoy, so she just kept giving them as the years passed.

The day had already come and gone, but missions and meetings pushed her normal schedule back just a bit. It wasn't really a problem. All she had to do was make up for it with a quick visit to whatever shops were open past sundown.

She looked down at the paper bag held close to her chest, feeling the bumps of folded clothes and plastic chew toys within. The corner of a sketchbook poked out, too. All of that did little against the cold, though. Her breath fanned out in front of her, coiling around her in a cloud as she walked through it, and snow piled up against her closed-toe boots as she trudged forward.

The snow had stopped falling some few hours ago, and the hills that had collected along the roads would remain through the chill of the night. Probably would melt in the sunlight the next day, and sit in puddles until the dark of the evening cooled it to sleek ice.

The streetlight above flickered as she passed underneath. She stopped and watched as it burnt out completely with an abrupt and startling crackle. Looking ahead proved the others had also gone dark and cast the street in eerie shadows and muted silhouettes with long-stretching, tangled black hands and spindly fingers from property trees surrounding them. There were no apartments or businesses in this neighborhood—it was the traditional, scenic route—and no lit windows around. The only light guiding her way now was the moon above.

Half full.

She clicked her tongue and sighed quietly, pulling the crinkled shopping bag just a bit closer against the thick, cable-knit navy sweater hanging from her shoulders. It kept her warm, but not warm enough to bring on the flash of sweat that prickled all across her skin and trickled fast down her back, soaking into the shirt she wore beneath it.

No, not normal—not in this cold.

Something sharp lingered in the air, like the blade of a cleaver waiting to drop. Tense, taut. She hadn't faced combat in a while and she was probably rustier than she'd like to admit—but instincts never dulled.

The night was too quiet.

Moonlight glowed in narrowed sea-blue eyes as she scanned the area, checking the shadows for ambush. Nothing gave itself away. But, no, it wouldn't, would it? The soles of her boots crunched against the packed snow as she shifted, then took a cautious, measured step forward.

The blade dropped.