A Lily Bloom In the Land of Shinobi

They say hindsight is 20/20. Well, it is, since you can see why what you did was stupid in hindsight. Therefore, one certain Uchiha Satsuki could honestly say that, in hindsight, walking alone when there ain't one single light on one of the more narrow streets of Konoha, where there were many dark and dank alleys, was a terrible idea.

Then again, she had nothing to fear from anyone that lurked the night. After all, she was a kunoichi, and pretty much the first thing that they learned was how to inflict insane amounts of pain to potential rapists. Mostly because their teacher in the art of kunoichi (which had later been adopted as the name for female ninja due to the predilection of them going into the career, even though, humorously, there were actually male kunoichi), one Suzume by name, just so happened to be more combat oriented than what would have been ideal for kunoichi classes.

Sometimes, Satsuki wondered why boys rarely took them. Kunoichi classes, unlike what was usually thought, taught a lot of important infiltration stuff, a lot of useful little things that most took for granted that could help you go unnoticed. That and they were also surprisingly fun at times.

That one year they'd had that Anko lady teaching had been the most entertaining year by far. Then again, the woman was a bit more practical than Suzume (and more graphical in her descriptions) as well as more focused on the actual kunoichi stuff rather than overall infiltration. Fun things such as convincing someone, man or woman, to hand over their secrets just with your tongue.

What she had meant had, at the time of her describing it, flown right over their heads. Satsuki was certain Naruko still hadn't gotten the pun. She could be dumb like that.

Getting back on track, Satsuki really should've thought better of walking during the night. The problem came not from civilians attempting to 'get back' at one of the proud kunoichi of the leaf, no. The threat a civilian posed at any time was laughable at best. They were only a danger when the ninja was trying to remain low profile.

The trouble would come from a fellow kunoichi, in fact. A rather pissed off one, at that.

Then again, who can blame Satsuki for not expecting the events of that night? After all, who could expect sweet, meek and shy little Hinata-chan to be out after dark? Who would have expected that after a grunted greeting, the girl would get right in her way?

"You're in my way." Said the Uchiha, blinking.

"Yes. I am aware of that." Hinata replied, folding her hands behind her back. "We have to talk, Uchiha-san."

She hadn't stuttered. Hinata ALWAYS stuttered. She hadn't even stumbled on her words. This was an absolute shocker coming from the girl who couldn't go for an entire sentence without changing her choice of words thrice or doubting the veracity of her own statements even when she was quoting the book verbatim. "At this time?" The Ice Princess was confused, yes, but nothing that would break her composure.

"This time would be best. I am actually glad to have such a chance to speak with you away from prying eyes." Spoke the Hyuuga softly, keeping her tone even and calm. "Would you kindly follow me?" she asked.

Seeing no real threat, after all the Hyuuga girl had been middle of the pack at best, she decided, sure, why the hell not? A simple nod had the issue straightened out as Hinata walked into an alley off the side that was devoid of any form of trash or anything living, for that matter.

"What do you wish to speak about?" Being perfectly formal yet somehow incredibly insulting was an Uchiha trait that the only loyal Uchiha had mastered. Something about the tone in which you said things just pissed people off somehow, and Satsuki knew this very well. The reason why she was intentionally doing it when speaking to the Hyuuga girl was…

…She didn't really like her very much.

First, she was a Hyuuga. Their families had such an ancient feud that it had lasted longer than their feud with the Senju, which had been settled with the birth of Konoha while the Hyuuga and Uchiha had never really stopped hating each other. Satsuki blamed it on Doujutsu envy.

Second, the girl simply disgusted her due to how weak she was. Uchiha Satsuki prided herself on being a strong, capable and independent woman, while Hyuuga Hinata was, in her eyes, the complete opposite to that, what with being a poor little flower in danger of wilting if you yell too hard.

Let it not go unsaid that Satsuki hated weak men just as much.

She just hated weakness in general. Most importantly, her own, but her own denial would never let her admit her own weaknesses.

"Are you just going to waste my time?" Asked the Uchiha, glaring at the girl who looked around and seemed to deign the barely lit alley worthy of the conversation she wished to have.

"I wish to waste either of our time. I have much to do." Hinata explained, turning back to Satsuki and surprising her with the sheer hate that her usually meek demeanor hid so well. She had never known Hinata could ever be scary, but the sheer amount of hate behind that glare almost made Satsuki stumble.

It distracted her long enough that she never saw Hinata's arm move until it was buried in her gut. No chakra enhancement. No open palm attack. Just a regular punch to the Solar Plexus, almost knocking her out right then and there and driving all air from her lungs out. "Now, this will not be a conversation, Uchiha-san. A conversation implies both parties speak. This? This will be more like a monologue."

Satsuki was too busy trying to recover her lost breath to counter that statement, and she didn't even have time to prevent Hinata from grabbing her hair and forcing her to look up.

"I will talk, and you will listen, okay?" She said, forcefully making the defiant Uchiha nod. "That's a good girl. Now, you might be wondering just what this is all about." She began, as her right hand, the one that was free, flew to the tenketsu on her shoulders, disabling her arms, and then to the ones around her waist, disabling her legs and leaving her defenseless. "Well, this is really simple."

"What… the fuck…" Satsuki gasped out, almost unconscious from the sheer pain that the sudden and brutal assault had left her in.

"For some reason, in her infinite kindness Naruko-chan decided that she likes you." The Hyuuga heiress spoke, lifting Satsuki so they were face to face. "Naruko-chan is very special to me. When nobody wanted to give me a hand, she was there to pick me up. When everyone did their best to knock me to the ground, she was always supporting me. Even before she even took notice of my existence, she has always been the strength that held me together. Her smile has always been the priceless jewel that lights up my dreary life." She said, smiling fondly at the memory of the blonde.

Satsuki found herself mystified. She'd never seen the two girls hang out. Then again, she only registered Naruko's existence when the girl was annoying the living daylights out of her. And despite what she might say, Naruko wasn't constantly annoying her. She annoyed other people too. And apparently she also found time to be Hinata's source of strength.

Maybe that was what she did when she wasn't annoying Satsuki herself.

"Like I said, Naruko-chan found a place in her heart that she dedicated to you." The Hyuuga repeated, pulling Satsuki's hair back and causing her to grimace in pain. "Naruko-chan might forget and forgive any and all offences… But I won't. I won't forget, and I won't forgive you if you do anything to cause her pain." She said, smiling in a sinister manner only made worse by the fact that it seemed as if she were a gentle, kind and caring soul instead of this creature that was frightening the last Uchiha.

"Tch! You don't scare me!" She said, her voice now recovered to its usual frigid and menacing tone. Satsuki was a master at appearing in control even when she was not, it seemed. However, Hinata was far from intimidated, sneering at the angry Uchiha.

"You don't seem to understand your situation here." Hinata stated, slapping Satsuki and causing her to give an indignant, pained glare. "Let me put this in the simplest of ways so you can understand this, Uchiha."

There was a few seconds of silence as Hinata steeled her face into the most abominable expression a human being can make. It genuinely made the Uchiha scared, if only because it was the usually kind and gentle Hinata making it. The Hyuuga grabbed Satsuki's neck and then slammed her against the closest wall, holding her above the ground with one single hand.

There was nothing Satsuki could do to free herself, as her limbs would be locked for a few more minutes by Hinata's precise Jyuuken strikes.

"If you dare to break Naruko-chan's heart… I will break yours." She said, closing the distance between their faces to the point that the only thing they could see was each other's eyes. "Except when I do it, it will be a lot messier. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Uchiha-san?"

Satsuki growled. "You won't scare me! You have no idea who you're dealing with!" The Uchiha's composure was finally blown and she was left as an almost snarling angry yet impotent little girl.

Hinata smashed her against the wall again. A massive shock of pain rang through the taller girl's chakra system, causing her to yelp in agony. She could have screamed, brought along assistance… but both of them knew that she never would. She'd never accept that she had been so easily outwitted and bested. She'd never show this much weakness.

And Hinata had made use of that fact.

"What are your dreams, Uchiha-san? Destroying your elder brother and resurrecting your clan, aren't they?" The Uchiha remained perfectly silent, not revealing her anger or surprise at the fact that the Hyuuga had such knowledge of her. "The Jyuuken is a very versatile style. I can do many things with it. All sorts of things that the majority of the population doesn't know they can do." She explained, smiling widely. "I can cancel the flow of chakra through your limbs and render them useless temporarily or… I can make them useless permanently. The only difference is in the shape of the chakra spike I use to do it. All I need to do is to just tap you and my chakra will do the rest. The chakra scalpel is based on the principles behind the Jyuuken, did you know that?" She asked. "It's just as easy for me to damage your tenketsu as it is for me to damage your physical body. I know my anatomy well enough to know where your uterus is."

Hinata said that as her hand snuck under Satsuki's blue shirt and she placed it against where her waist began. "Wh-What are you—"

"Hm… So fragile. Right now, I could have rendered you infertile just like that." Hinata explained. "And those are both your dreams, down the crapper." Hinata was dissonantly cheerful as she said that. "I assure you, I can, and I will ruin your life if you break Naruko-chan's heart."

Satsuki was finally allowed to crash into a heap, laying against the ground and wall. She didn't even have the will to be angry.

No. She was too terrified, and shocked, to have the slightest reaction when Hinata crouched down and placed a peck on her cheek, smiling widely at her. "But you won't do that, right? Naruko-chan is sometimes too cute for her own good, and I fear what this ugly, ugly world might do to someone as pure and innocent as she is…"

"Pure and innocent?" Satsuki blurted out, completely beyond coherent thought at this point and just reacting to something she found utterly ludicrous.

"Ah, yes, you let yourself be deluded by her perverted attitude. Such a shallow fool, really, I wonder what she sees in you?" She asked. "Well, you are reasonably pretty, I guess, and you do blush cutely." She said, noticing Satsuki's face going through those same motions, despite the girl herself currently responding only by instinct. "Ah, well, the point is, Naruko-chan doesn't understand why acting the way she acts would be wrong. And to be frank… I believe she is right to act the way she does. Why should we repress our feelings? Why should we conform to what society wants us to be?"

Satsuki growled. "So it's just that she doesn't care what others think about? Neither do I and you don't see me flashing my underwear to everyone!" she declared, her anger taking over her fear for the moment. She was beginning to regain the flow of chakra to her limbs and the feeling that came with it.

Her calm mind had taken over once again. She was intentionally trying to lure Hinata into lengthening the conversation. She would never, ever lower herself into calling for help… and she would prove that she needed no one's help to defend herself by turning this situation around.

Hinata sighed. "It's not that simple. You may believe you don't care what others think of you, but you do." She explained. "You train as hard as you do because everyone expects you to be a genius, befitting the noble Uchiha clan. You are cold and distant because that's what everyone expects you to be. You act the way you do because that's the way people wanted you to act and you never knew anything else."

Satsuki actually stopped to think for a few seconds before shaking her head, which was difficult given her body was still mostly numb from the chakra shock Hinata had given her earlier. "Don't be ridiculous. All my life I've had people tell me that I should be more open, that I should share my burdens! I am strong enough to shoulder them myself! I don't need anybody to tell me what to do! Not you, not a counselor, no one!" She snarled, glaring at the Hyuuga girl who only looked at her with pity.

"That's where you're wrong… but discussing that with you is pointless. You'd never listen if the words came from my mouth. Perhaps somebody will get through to you in time… Before you do something you will regret. I dearly hope so. I wouldn't want Naruko-chan to be sad because you followed the dark path you've been set upon to its distasteful conclusion." Explained the lavender eyed girl, shaking her head as if she was truly feeling bad about it.

"Who do you think you are, Hyuuga?! Who gave you the right to decide if I am right or wrong in the path that I chose for my life?" asked the kunoichi of the year.

"Me? I'm nobody important to you." She said, shrugging. "To be frank, under normal circumstances, you could go and kill yourself for all I would care. I literally couldn't care less about the ancient clan rivalries. Personally, the only reason I don't like you is because you're a frigid bitch. Maybe once you pull your head out of your ass, we can even be friends." Hinata explained. "In these specific circumstances, however… You have in your hands something that is more precious to me than anything else in the world. Something that I've always done my hardest to keep safe and protected at all costs. You, Uchiha Satsuki, have in your hands Naruko-chan's heart. From the moment that she decided to like you, your well being became my business."

Satsuki merely glared at the Hyuuga, who smiled widely at her.

"I'm glad we had this conversation. A monologue would've been rather boring." She said, apparently thinking back. "Now, I know that you are a smart girl and that you will think things through now that I've told you where you stand." Hinata then crouched so she was at eye level with the Uchiha again, then she placed a quick peck on her cheek. "Of course, Naruko-chan is happy if you're happy. If Naruko-chan is happy, so am I. Therefore, I have a vested interest in your happiness. I wouldn't dream of harming you, and it really pains me to have to do this, but I really must stress the seriousness of my words."

"You… you're insane." Satsuki finally summarized.

Hinata tapped her lower lip in a manner reminiscent of Naruko and then giggled, the sound contrasting with the dreary atmosphere of the alley like black next to white. "Perhaps I am. But then again, what good ninja is not the least bit insane?" she said, winking at her. "We'll see each other around, I guess. Now, I believe I have an appointment with your other teammate, Sakura."

"What the… you're going to assault Sakura too!" Satsuki said, glaring at the girl.

Just a few seconds more. She'd regain the feeling in her arms enough to overpower Hinata, beat her up and bring her to the authorities so they could see how crazy the Hyuuga was.

"Assault her?" Hinata asked, tilting her head. "Now why would I do something like that? Sakura appears to be a smart girl who can understand spoken words. She also isn't hell bent on following a self-destructive path that will hurt her and everyone who cares about and loves her. Good night, Uchiha-san. Oh, and I'd prefer if you kept this little conversation away from Naruko-chan's ears. She really could do with less heartache in her life."

Satsuki merely grunted, a non committal sound that had Hinata smirking before she vanished into the night. The Uchiha recovered the feeling in her body too late to stop the girl from escaping, and she let out a soft curse before punching the ground in anger and frustration.

Again. Again she'd been reduced to a hopeless, useless and helpless little child being talked down to. She hadn't advanced at all. She had thought she'd grown beyond that… but Hinata had just proven she was still a naïve, trusting little moron. She seethed internally, trying her hardest not to let her anger and frustration show.

It was a futile effort, but in the dark and cold of the night, nobody saw the tears spill.