[Open] It was a rare day off...

[hyuugachild]

...and Hanabi didn't see them often. She considered herself, at this point, little more than a drone of the Hyuuga estate, fated to take on the much respected, prestigious role of heiress, and subsequently fated to losing much of her childhood to training, studies, and other assorted etiquette lessons and fine arts like calligraphy, weaving, ikebana and tea ceremony. All to ensure she grew to be a splendid young lady.

She certainly didn't feel splendid. She felt exhausted.

But it was a lovely day in the midst of winter, and for once, Hanabi was in the midst of Konoha, breathing in cold hair and watching mist form in front of her mouth. Hoheto, her Branch companion of the day, stood some distance behind her and followed her slowly, as if to appear as though he weren't directly watching her.

She felt self-conscious, being fourteen and still needing a keeper to tag along everywhere, but Hanabi learned quickly that this was life, and a privilege to have so many people dedicated to keeping her in the best of physical health.

Still, thinking dark thoughts wasn't going to improve the day, so Hanabi wanted to make the best of it. She walked slowly up to a shop selling yams and bought one, savoring the taste (though it wasn't as good as the ones spiced by Hyuuga hands).

It was cold, but it was a beautiful day. A day of freedom.

If you ignored the bodyguard tailing you.

Hanabi had tried an inordinate amount of times to ditch them, and failed every time; they were jounin, and she was decidedly not. Still, with every new year of training, she dreamed of escape.

Escape, the thought spread a fuzz over her brain that felt like drinking warm hot chocolate.

With the sight of the Byakugan, she eyed Hoheto's location.

She could make it.
She could.
She would.

With a small signal, a bunshin and a kawarimi no jutsu later, she was running giddily toward the forest. At the longest limits of her vision, she could see Hoheto was not following, and shortly, he'd be out of range.

"Well, it seems like you're having fun," an eerily familiar voice said...just before something hit Hanabi couldn't see hit her squarely in the gut and made the world black.

* * * * * * *

The first thing she noticed was that she was cold. Then, slowly, as sensation returned to her body, she realized her mouth was dry, like she hadn't had a drink in days, and her head and stomach hurt terribly. Shifting alone gave her gut-wrenching cramps. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by white.

Snow.

Snow? In Konoha?

No. Not Konoha. Definitely not.

Instantly, Hanabi assumed the worst. She must've been abducted. Kidnapped to blackmail her father. The snow was probably genjutsu...it would be silly to leave precious cargo lying about to freeze to death.

She shakily lifted her hand to make the seal of the ram. "...kai..." Hanabi whispered, hoping the genjutsu could be released simply.

Too hopeful, she chided, staring up at the snow that didn't fade, and the chill that was starting to make her clothing wet.

Hanabi was sure that she was in over her head. For a day of freedom, this was the punishment.

No. Move. Get up. Find out what's going on.

Get up, Hanabi ordered her body. Get. Up.

Comments

[hyuugachild]

Considering this Tenten was undoubtedly genjutsu, any other worlds she might've claimed to have been to were inconsequential to Hanabi. "Well, just because one world isn't doesn't mean that this one might not be, right? We have to consider every option, if we want to return home."

[bunsofsteel]

"I... guess." She shrugged, restlessly twirling a chopstick between her fingers again. "The weather's pretty unpredictable here, so once the snow clears up some, I was going to head toward one of the nearby villages. The closest one's maybe a week's travel from here, but the blizzard hasn't let up for more than a day or two at a time."

Return home. That was something she hadn't thought about in... far too long. After being jerked from world to world, she'd almost started to think it was impossible to go back... after everything with Itachi and Sasuke, she wasn't sure she even wanted to.

[hyuugachild]

"You seem uneasy," Hanabi commented, realizing that guessing people, even genjutsu people, was still something she could do. She let the topic drop when Tenten changed it out of politeness, and moved on. "There are other villages, here? And a blizzard...that's certainly not Konoha weather."

[bunsofsteel]

Tenten gave her an unamused look, but followed the topic change without further comment. Damn perceptive Hyuugas. "No, it's not," she agreed, twirling a chopstick one more time before setting it to a dumpling again. "From the people I've spoke to, we're in the Country of Time. I don't suppose you've ever heard of it? I've never seen any map with it, and there's nothing that shows the Land of Fire on any of these maps. But there're other villages; they have to import certain goods, like metals."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi thought about what Tenten said carefully, and noted the unamused look. He supposed she got a lot of it from Neji and was annoyed with it. Hanabi wouldn't push the issue. "Maybe it's similar to erm...the summoning animals."

[bunsofsteel]

"That's what I thought, too." She pointed the chopsticks at the younger kunoichi before taking a bite from a dumpling with another frown. "But that would mean there was one person, or several people, summoning us here. Someone like you or Neji, sure, I could understand why they'd do that. Itachi and Sasuke, of course. Someone like me? Please." Tenten snorted through her nose and shook her head.

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi took another cup of tea and sipped it thoughtfully. "Maybe you're here to throw us off of the real purpose. Though in that case, I'd think that Neji-niisan would also be a lost cause...after all, they cannot take his Byakugan."

[bunsofsteel]

...Wow. Insulting both her and Neji within two sentences. Tenten's expression soured at the thought that she was considered a diversion and Neji, useless.

"Or maybe there's something else here at stake besides your eyes, Hyuuga-san."

[hyuugachild]

"It's not as if I considered them a prime target, I merely stated that if they were bringing certain types of shinobi here, assuming there is some usage for them or something particularly special, it seems strange that they would consider my cousin as a part of that."

Hanabi realized that the genjutsu was offended, but she wasn't sure if it was something she cared about.

Still. Maybe these genjutsu would stop talking if they were angered. "I do apologize if my statement was crass. I did not mean to offend."

[bunsofsteel]

"Yeah, you're right, it was crass. Neji's plenty important, no matter which side of your clan he was born into." Between Obito and now Hanabi, Tenten was starting to get pretty tired of this clan nonsense. "Lee and I are here, so's Sakura. People who hardly have any affiliation with the Hyuuga or the Uchiha. You think we're all just here as diversions?"

She was starting to understand why Neji had used to refer to the head family as spoiled, selfish brats.

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi didn't even bother to look offended or put out, just bland. "Sakura-san is close to Tsunade-sama, that is a logical reason to bring her here. Lee-san...well. Lee does have a peculiar ability, doesn't he? It's not necessarily about Hyuuga or Uchiha specifically...but perhaps certain types of rare abilities and knowledges. Do you know some sort of secret?"

[bunsofsteel]

"Why not just bring Tsunade-sama here directly, then?" Tenten flicked her wrist to gesture to the whole village and gave another self-depreciating snort. "Hardly." The secrets of the Sharingan immediately came to mind, but she'd learned that here, from someone who was already in this place.

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi chuckled. "Tsunade-sama is very powerful, and very well protected. Maybe they couldn't. And maybe the secret you know isn't something you're aware of. If it's that. I'm only speculating." Hanabi took another pointed sip of tea.

[bunsofsteel]

"Maybe." She shook her head again, meeting the younger girl's eyes. Meeting a Hyuuga's eyes, that was something she'd always been proud of; Neji had been ample practice.

"The other thing that's weird is that there's been no hostilities here. Not even from people you'd expect it from; Akatsuki members and the like."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi wasn't particularly irked by having Tenten look into her eyes...she was perhaps nearly impressed. Most people were quickly unnerved and looked away while the Hyuuga stare lived on.

It was something she could appreciate.

"Mightn't it be just a temporary ceasefire? Until everyone knows what's going on, that is."

[bunsofsteel]

"Could be, but then, I've been here for two months, and you've been here... how long?" Tenten rests her chin on one hand, only looking away long enough to snatch up another dumpling with her chopsticks before returning her attention to the young Hyuuga.

"And people don't just seem to arrive one at a time, either."

[hyuugachild]

"A while," Hanabi lied easily. "Please don't think that I am making any sort of deeply researched claim...I'm only proposing ideas. I don't want to stay here forever. By together...do you mean they arrive from the same...universe, at the same time?"

[bunsofsteel]

"By yourself?" She frowned again and shrugged. "Well, I can help you find a place to stay, at least. I know Neji's going to want to hear about his cousin, anyway."

Tenten tapped the chopsticks against her lips. "No... there's no pattern that I've been able to see about people arriving. Sometimes two or three people end up here, sometimes just one."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi gave an unnaturally fake laugh which stopped abruptly once she realized how awful it sounded. "Ah...well. About my cousin, since we likely aren't from the same universe I hardly think that it would be...logical to interrupt his day with a frivolity such as this...as for a pattern," she quickly changed the subject to, "I think that we should certainly pay attention...one might not be immediately visible but it may exist."

[bunsofsteel]

"He's from mine," she answered, face scrunching up as she leaned back, away from that attempt at a laugh. Then and there, she decided that Hyuugas shouldn't try normal human emotions. "Trust me, if the way he's been acting is any indication, he'd be happy to have someone from the clan here."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi shook her head lightly. "I truly don't believe it would be a comfort to him at all. He enjoys his alone time, you know."

[bunsofsteel]

She sighed through her nose and met the girl's eyes again. "Of course he does, but he still watches out for everyone. You're his cousin, but I'm his teammate. If I didn't take you to him, he'd be pretty mad."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi was really, really trying to stay pleasant with the Tenten genjutsu. She had never fake apologized so many times in her life! Wiping the traces of faux emotions from her face, she took another sip of tea. "I'm unfortunately going to have to decline. I appreciate the intent." She didn't, at all.

[bunsofsteel]

She shook her head again. "Fine then. Where are you staying? I'll let him know, so when he has time, he can come see you, or at least take a look in that direction. Will you let me do that much?"

[hyuugachild]

Lies, lies and more lies. "I haven't set up a place for myself yet, not a steady one, at least, but I can let you know the moment I do, if that's okay?"

It was never going to happen.