WITHOUT WARNING CHAPTER 14
BEARER OF BAD NEWS
"Kozuya-san was right. There was a faint glow of a crown-like halo hovering above the Hyuuga woman's head." Sai had been the one mainly speaking for Ino regarding the vision Kozuya had shared. Sai's steady presence kept Ino from spacing out as her head still swam with the vision's horrific scenes. "It most likely points to the Main family since the crown has always been a symbol of authority in a hierarchy." He added after a breath.
"Are you certain it was a Hyuuga?" Tsunade asked.
Ino nodded this time, still aware of the conversations that had rolled out. "The Byakugan she had is unmistakable. It was a Hyuuga."
"Was there any distinctive features that could narrow down whether or not it was Hinata or Hanabi in the vision?"
Ino and Sai shared a look before both their shoulders slumped at the absence of an answer. Tsunade's jaw tightened in frustration and she turned to face the window, deep in thought. It was troubling enough finding out that the Raikage may have found some inkling of a threat coming for the Shinobi world once more. Adding the potential destruction promised by a lone vision carried by a stranger to Konoha will certainly cause a panic, or even a divide among the people. Even worse is how the Hokage was deliberately acting towards breaking the trust of the other Kages and the Union by keeping such a potential threat a secret. It may be a dormant threat, or even just a ploy to avert their attentions from real threats but still... The Hokage could not risk it, could not risk telling the other Kages and send them in a flurry of dictating one of the two Hyuuga Head's daughters to alter her life on the basis of a "maybe". Even if Kozuya had proven a vision to have accurately come true from her personal experience, it was too great a gamble.
"Tsunade-sama, I may begin with my jutsu while the memory is still fresh." Sai offered, as he understood the Konoha leader may be trying to devise the best possible plan.
Tsunade gave a curt nod, her back still turned to the bunch. Kozuya now slumped in his chair, a sheen of sweat had formed on his forehead, and even more so Ino whose forehead glistened with sweat as she breathed heavily while leaning on the back of her chair. The exertion of dissecting and then expanding the vision from Kozuya drained her. Hinata kept a calm stance but the noticeable trembling in her hands betrayed her composure, her mind swirled between duty and emotion, what ifs and maybes, and the potential for danger so large it threatened destruction to the world.
Amidst the tense hush that fell on the group, Sai's hands were working expertly as he opened big a scroll of his and began painting. The group waited.
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"It is too much, and there is too much at stake for us to rely on a cryptic vision which may or may not happen. We must first be prepared for what is actually threatening us from the horizon." An elder voiced.
"That is true. Hiashi-sama had mentioned of the meeting. Even Hokage-sama believes it is necessary to prepare for the warning of the Raikage." The youngest among the council said, bringing up the situation that is keeping the Kages on edge.
"But there is still no proof of what the Raikage claims to have seen! And no evidence of a threat," Another voice insisted.
"Was there evidence of the vision being true in any way?" Someone replied sarcastically.
Hiashi then raised a hand, palm facing forward, asking for the Council's silence. When the voices died down, he opened his stern eyes to see all the Hyuuga elders watching him with mixed expressions.
"It will be difficult to allow a vision to control the fate and actions of our clan, especially members of the Head family." Hiashi spoke. "And as we speak, the Raikage and various shinobi from each of our 5 great villages are working on investigating the situation."
Some of the Council's heads nodded in agreement to the statements, so Hiashi proceeded.
"It would be in the Hyuuga clan's best interest to set aside our worry of the vision, and simply await the results of the Raikage's task. I will be frequently in touch with Tsunade."
A number of the Council had released the breath they had been holding. There were more who supported focusing on the threat presented by the Raikage, rather than a prophecy from a stranger claiming to be the Mizukage's grandfather.
The rest looked worried, and desperately grasping their minds for anything to say.
"However," Hiashi began again and quiet fell once more on the Council. "We cannot spare any efforts. The Hyuuga will not be tarnished by a vision that speaks of destruction rooted in our clan, even our blood. All our best researchers shall be henceforth tasked to search of any knowledge or scrolls containing information on the Blue Moon and all the details of the vision given by Kozuya. No threat will be cast aside. We will take preventive measures as this may directly involve our clan."
Nods were shared and everyone seemed more motivated with the Head's wisdom.
Hanabi, beside her father, gave a solemn nod when he glanced her way. At the moment, they had proceeded with the meeting even without Hinata since she needed to be with the Hokage to acquire the vision in detail. Truth be told, Hiashi had been more surprised than anyone else at the ingenuity of Hinata's idea to utilize her comrades' special jutsus in order to bring about a clear view of the vision even by those untouched by the Yamanaka's mind-centered jutsus.
Hiashi began to give out orders to the Council before him, making research a priority among others. He left the Council with a promise to speak to his two daughters about their roles in the coming battle to prevent the vision from ever coming true.
"This is now a clan effort, for the sake of the Hyuuga, and the protection of the world."
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"This may come as a surprise." Sai warned gently, as he broke open the scroll he held and its contents began shifting and swirling into a moving scene before everyone's eyes. Among them, only Ino remained unfazed as she had seen him work on and polish the jutsu for many nights, sometimes even losing sleep over it. He had been more enthusiastic about his jutsu after he found out about the baby to come.
She smiled fondly at the memory of the night she told him, but then quickly returned to the present since her smile was out of place as the group watched the painted vision unfold.
Kozuya marvelled at the jutsu, but even more so st the accuracy at which Sai had captured its essence and detail.
"How long will this jutsu last for?" Kozuya suddenly voiced out, his question directed at Sai.
"So far I have only been able to maintain it for 3 days. But Ino's mind can keep the memory of the vision intact. I can remake the jutsu at a moment's notice."
All of Kozuya's concerned had been addressed even before he had the chance to voice them. At that, he gave a small, sad smile before turning to Hinata.
"Hyuuga-san, I am the most saddened to be the bearer of bad news to you and your clan. I hope dearly my vision is wrong. I would willingly surrender my reputation if it means you and your sister will be freed from this burden." His eyes were earnest, but Hinata saw the slight defeat in them as if a part of Kozuya still believed they could not turn the vision around.
She gulped but attempted a kind smile nonetheless. "Arigatou, Kozuya-san. Knowledge and awareness make up half the battle. We will fight this, believe it." Her voice was soft, but it carried a resolve that surprised even herself. A flash of an image filled her mind -- one of a wide, but manly grin that spoke of a Ninja Way.
"Tsuna--I mean, Hokage-sama, may I have a word in private?" Kozuya turned to face Hokage who had been standing by the window behind her desk the entire time.
Tsunade gave a curt nod, and the other three quickly gave their bows and exited from the room.
"Tsunade, it is time for me to go."
"You are returning to Mizukage?"
Kozuya smiled weakly and chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "I have prolonged my life too long just to deliver this vision. I had done so with urgency because of my artificial life span."
"What are you saying, Kozuya?" Tsunade frowned. She knew from knowing Kozuya that he was like Rock Lee -- he could not use ninjutsu the way typical ninja can. "How can that be possible without ninjutsu?"
"It is quite similar to your immense self-healing jutsu, Hime. But this is much less polished and thus is a double-edged sword."
"How?"
"My granddaughter did not want me out of the village because the source of my artificial life is contained there. If I am separated from it too long, my aging quickens, as you can see," the man raised his arms in front of him, palms up, and Tsunade could see the rather speedy change of his skin from being firmly stretched to slowly sagging and wrinkling. The veins underneath became more prominent, displaying a criss cross of purple, blue and almost greenish colors lining his arms.
"The source was a gift. Someone had given it to me during the edge of my life when I had told him of a vision I had concerning him. He had not believed at first, just as most people. But when it happened as accurately as I had told him, he returned to me. Giving me the source."
"What exactly is this source?"
Kozuya looked Tsunade straight in the eyes, a grim look passed over his face. "I was not meant to tell anyone, Tsunade."
"What is it?"
Kozuya ran a hand through his face, before stopping to rub his eyes slowly. He spoke in a hushed tone even as they had the room to themselves.
"It was a... peculiar-looking eye."
"An eye?!"
Kozuya nodded. "It had the familiarity of the Byakugan, but instead of paleness, the center looked like a blooming flower made of fire and blood. It is difficult to explain as I had only seen it once before it was hidden from me."
"How was it hidden from you?"
"He said it should not be moved from where he had bound it otherwise the gift, he called it, will reverse on me. It will absorb every last chakra and kill me. I was too afraid to move it, to even open its container because he forcibly comnected it to my life force. A mere drop of my blood on the eye had allowed it to bind its power to me. It is a fearsome thing, Tsunade. I pray no one else suffer as I have." Kozuya's face was downcast as he said the last part.
"I made the decision to allow my life to slowly ebb away in order to come here and deliver the vision to the Hyuuga clan. My conscience is finally clear of this debt." He added.
What is going on with our shinobi world? Tsunade bit the inside of her cheek, the edges of her mind slowly being gripped by terror.
She turned her eyes to Kozuya once more. The man looked defeated at this point. She knelt down to be on eye level with him. She gripped his forearm gently but firmly. "I will call Mizukage. She needs to know what is happening to her grandfather."
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The sun was beginning to set.
It was noticeable from the red, pink and pale lavender shades that began permeating the bright orange sky. Sasuke lay on the roof of his house in the Uchiha manor.
In the distance he could hear the sounds of hammering and wood clashing with metal as the other shinobi took shifts in continuing the task of rebuilding.
In his mind, Sasuke knew it wasn't necessarily unimportant to focus efforts on rebuilding the village -- it really had been destroyed anyway, but to keep a majority of shinobi occupied with menial tasks seemed more like a distraction to keep people's noses out of an underground plan on the move.
Sasuke knew something more was going on for the Hokage to suddenly bring in Karin. And for such plans to be made to have him bear offspring with the elder Hyuuga daughter, and Naruto with Karin to revive the Uzumaki.
The sun set even further and a cool air blew around Sasuke's hair as he continued to watch the sun's progress towards the edge of the horizon.
Sasuke could see the greater possibility of Karin being an Uzumaki. Her great amount of chakra and ability to share it profusely without slowing down is similar to what he had seen from Naruto's capabilities -- even without the Nine-tailed fox's chakra.
"Oi, Sasuke,"
Speak of the devil... Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at Naruto's timing.
"What?"
"Have you seen Hinata?" The blonde asked, still standing near the edge of the roof.
Sasuke didn't reply. He actually didn't know, or could he care less. But a very small (almost irrelevant) part of him felt a pang of something bitter inside.
"Aren't you supposed to focus on Karin?" Hinata is mine. Sasuke suddenly thought to himself, refusing to say it aloud since it was both absurd to come from him claiming a woman, and it might give off the notion that he is willingly obeying the Hokage's orders. He was surprised at the direction his mind went in that moment and he shook it off.
Naruto's fists clenched slightly but held himself. "This isn't even Orochimaru or the Akatsuki we're talking about, but it's the hardest mission I've ever had to face." He said somberly.
At this Sasuke propped himself up. He brought his knees up before him and placed his arms over them. His eyes shifted from the sun to his blonde friend whose usually positive character had the face of someone lost.
"Are you in any position to choose? I'm in the same situation as you."
"But you and I have both known Hinata since we were kids. It's different with Karin. And I don't want to."
"Hn," Sasuke moved to stand. "It'll be evening soon. Hinata will be back in time for dinner. She's living here now anyway. You can talk to her then."
Naruto was quiet, unnervingly so for Sasuke considering the blonde was the one with more to say.
"Sasuke," Naruto started just as Sasuke was about to leave. "Just... Take good care of her. Okay?"