Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Diplomacy ❯ Thus Far ( Chapter 1 )

     ̶ 0;I am Hyuga Hinata.”

     It was something the girl, while looking at her reflection in a mirror, would say to herself once every day. She did this for many reasons. First and foremost, it was an affirmation. She had recently come out of an ordeal that had nearly cost, among other things, her very identity. The experience had taught her a great deal about herself. Even though it had been nearly half a year since that time, she spoke this affirmation in order to never forget what she had learned.

     Hyuga Hinata had been captured by a tribe of primitives called the Nimmori. People of the Forest who lived in a deep forested valley that, until then, had been essentially cut off from the rest of the world for years. Its now deceased leader, the Ki’ge, had placed Hinata under a powerful hypnosis. One that had made her believe she was really a girl named Kashghyu N’ga, which translated from the Nimmori tongue meant “She of the Ghostly Eyes.” The Nimmoris’ goal had been to summon to this world a powerful demon they believed to be a goddess. They had needed Hinata, or more specifically, her clan’s Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, to perform the ritual to do so. They had also intended to use Hinata’s body as the vessel for their Goddess’ soul. Had everything gone as planned, the demon would have taken Hinata’s body and devoured her soul, essentially erasing Hyuga Hinata from existence.

     “I am Hyuga Hinata.”

     Only through of the actions of her fellow Shinobi did she survive the ordeal. Her sensei and teammates, Yuhi Kurenai, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Members of her clan’s Branch Family, Hyugas Riisen, Uashi, Tomoko, and Kodomairu. And last, but most importantly, Uzumaki Naruto. It was him, above all others, who had saved her that fateful day. He had entered into serious battle with her in order to prevent her, as Kashghyu N’ga, from accepting the Goddess into her body. He had managed to reawaken Hinata’s buried memory and identity. However, Hinata had been about to follow through with the ceremony anyway. Again, it was largely due to Naruto’s interference that she had survived the day.

     “I am Hyuga Hinata.”

     The whole incident had wound up showing Hinata some very important facts about herself. She had never been the most confident person to walk the earth. She knew that as well as anybody. However, she did try. She worked hard to make herself stronger, even if it was only in her own eyes. Even so, she had desperately wished for someone to acknowledge her work, her skill, her strength. Nobody in her home had done so. Her father favored her younger sister, Hanabi, and most everyone else in the Hyuga clan paid Hinata little regard. The Nimmori, on the other hand, had given Hinata that which she craved. They saw her as their savior, they respected her strength, which exceeded or matched all but their very best warriors’. That was why, even after the spell on her had been broken, she had still been willing to follow through on summoning the Mori no Megami, the Goddess of the Forest. Even had she known, right from the start, what performing the ritual would have done to her, it wouldn’t have affected her decision at that moment. Hinata knew this, and because of that she understood just how far she could fall.

     While she had understood to what depths she could potentially sink, that same incident had also shown Hinata to just what heights she could potentially climb. The Nimmori had respected Hinata’s power. Not because they had needed her, but because she had earned their acknowledgement. Da Iri’ga, the man who had been in charge of her while she was in the village, the man who now led the Nimmori since the passing of the Ki’ge, had regarded Hinata no differently than a father would his flesh and blood daughter. He and the Ki’ge had kept Kashghyu N’ga’s confidence high, even when pieces of Hyuga Hinata’s mind and memory came to her, draining that confidence in a heartbeat. That encouragement had eventually led to Kashghyu N’ga’s using the painful memories of Hyuga Hinata and turning them to her advantage in battle, using techniques specific to the Hyuga clan, such as the famed Kaiten. This same encouragement would later allow her, as Hinata, to perform the Hakkeshô Rokujûyonshô technique, which saved Naruto’s life in the course of the conflict in the forest.

     The battles in the Nimmori village had shown Hinata what she was like at both her best and her worst. She had a greater understanding of herself now then she ever had before. It was for that reason she could never let herself forget what had happened during her time there.

     “I am Hyuga Hinata.”

     In the weeks immediately following her return to Konoha, Hinata had entered into sessions with psychologists. It was largely just to make sure the hold of the Nimmori really was gone for good. Despite the occasional new, and odd, habits (such as running into the village’s forests whenever day-to-day life got to her) Hinata was cleared of any danger of reverting back into the hypnotized state she had been in. Still, the doctors had instructed her to use tricks such as the daily affirmations to keep her mind focused. Hinata felt the need to do this, though, had long ago passed if it had even been present at all. She now did it to keep her lessons in mind. Though, today, she also had a more practical reason.

     While she was being examined, Hinata had been taken off of active duty. However, that did not leave her with nothing to do. While she was not carrying out any official missions, she still had a very vital task to attend to.

     As the only person in all of Konoha with firsthand knowledge of both the Nimmoris’ culture and their language, Hinata had found herself in high demand from the village’s Diplomatic Corps. Despite some initial mishaps while she found her footing, she was able to teach negotiators who would be heading into that area what to expect from and how to best communicate with the Nimmori in order to achieve the best results possible.

     She had taken to the Diplomatic Corps. very quickly. Despite her growing adeptness at it, Hinata never thought of herself much as a warrior. She hated seeing people hurt or killed and preferred to avoid bloodshed when at all possible. For this reason she found herself falling in love more and more with diplomacy. Through diplomacy, it was possible to head off many situations before battle and bloodshed became a necessity. Studying some of the village’s history archives, Hinata had been shocked to learn just how many conflicts and wars had been avoided with simple negotiations. That was why, after her off-duty time officially ended, she requested an opportunity to join Diplomatic Corps. of Konohagakure Village.

     Her request was approved with little hassle. She had already proven herself fairly capable. Her recommendations regarding the Nimmori had led directly to what was considered, for the most part, to be a mutually beneficial conclusion. The Nimmori would be enabled to live freely for the most part. Konoha’s negotiators insisted on being able to keep tabs on them as a precautionary measure for the sake of little villages surrounding the Nimmori valley.

     For the most part, Hinata, still a Genin, just managed paperwork and ran errands. She had, however, managed to join with some diplomatic entourages into various countries, some hostile, some not, and learned a great deal. She had even carried out a few small missions all her own and done, in the words of her superiors, spectacularly well. Those same superiors informed Hinata that she had talent, she just had to learn how to best use it.

     Now she was being given her biggest job to date. Her chance to truly prove herself. She was to be a chaperone. A girl from Kirigakure Village had come to Konoha asking for asylum. While Konoha was not on unfriendly terms with the ninja of the Mist, they weren’t on friendly terms with them either. The girl’s story suggested she had her own agenda, apart from her village, and was seeking information possibly held in Konoha to accomplish her goal. She was very open about her objectives, some of which even coincided with the village’s own. For that reason, her asylum was being granted, but with conditions.

     Among those conditions were that someone must always be with her. While she had guards keeping track of her in a provided apartment as well as when she studied or trained, she had been complaining of late that she was bored and wanted to get out and do something. The Hokage wasn’t unwilling to listen, but also wanted their guest’s interactions with the outside to be as limited as possible. Both for the girl’s protection as well as for that of the village’s. Despite her openness, there was the very real possibility her motives were less than honest.

     Fifth Hokage Tsunade decided that the best option, rather than an entourage of guards following her everywhere, would be a single chaperone. Someone Tsunade knew she could trust with the sensitive job. Someone who would be able to easily keep tabs should the village’s guest decide to go off on her own. Most preferably, someone of the same gender and close to the other’s age to make interaction easier and less conspicuous.

     To that end, fourteen year-old Hyuga Hinata, wielder of the Byakugan’s near 360-degree range of vision, was chosen for the task of keeping an eye on sixteen year old Tsurukawa Chie. Now, she was agonizing about how to introduce herself upon meeting her charge.

     “I am Hyuga Hinata.”