"Alright, let's head out."
"Goodbye, Mother."
In no time—
They finished getting ready.
The three of them, mother and daughters, enjoyed a hearty breakfast.
Since the day she decided to grow stronger and keep up with Kiyoshi's pace, Hinata had devoted nearly every moment to training, day and night.
But today was a rare day off, a break from her rigorous training.
With her excited sister beside her, and her mother waving them off, they stepped out of the house.
"Wow, nee-chan, it's so lively here." Hanabi's eyes sparkled.
With their father absent—
Hanabi felt freed from the usual Hyuga family restraints and filled with excitement.
She ran around the busy street, thrilled.
"Hanabi, be careful..." Hinata watched her sister fondly.
"I want this."
"Oh, and that too."
"Mmm, it's so tasty."
Both of Hanabi's hands clutched two or three skewers of candied fruit.
Usually, under their strict father's watch, Hanabi wouldn't dare ask for these kinds of treats. But today, she was blissfully content.
Her eyes squinting in delight, she bounced around, overjoyed.
She held one out proudly to Hinata. "Here, nee-chan, take one."
"Mm, thank you, Hanabi…."
Hinata smiled as she accepted the skewer, gently patting her sister's head.
She couldn't help but advise, "Don't eat too many, though, or you might get a cavity."
Watching her sister's sunny smile—
Hinata clenched her fists, making a silent vow.
Hanabi, I won't let you turn out like Neji.
Hinata reached into her pocket, pulling out a lifelike, green paper crane.
It was made from a leaf, a gift from Kiyoshi.
According to him, all she had to do was channel some chakra into it.
No matter how far away, he'd sense it immediately.
"Huh? Nee-chan."
Hanabi, who had been skipping ahead, turned around and looked curiously at the paper crane in Hinata's hand.
"What's that?"
But before she could reach out to touch it—
Hinata had already put it away.
Patting her sister's head, she said with a smile, "Hanabi, I'm taking you to meet someone."
"Meet someone?"
Hanabi tilted her head.
Her pure white eyes widened in curiosity. "Is it a friend of yours?"
"Is it the heiress of the Yamanaka clan, or the rumored genius puppeteer?"
Hanabi had overheard some things from the branch family guard her father assigned to follow Hinata.
Lately, her sister had been spending time with Ino Yamanaka, the Yamanaka heiress, and a girl who was gaining fame at the academy as a genius puppeteer.
The three often trained together.
"No, not them. But if you want to meet them, I can introduce you."
Hinata smiled warmly.
Her gaze at her sister was filled with affection.
"Yes, yes..." Hanabi's eyes sparkled with excitement.
She was curious about her sister's friends and what kind of impressive skills they had.
She had heard that Ino was considered a rare talent.
Despite her age, she had already mastered many of her clan's secret techniques.
She had even learned the Mighty Fist technique of Lady Tsunade.
….
Before long—
Hinata and Hanabi arrived at a training ground not far from the Hokage Rock.
There, two wooden puppets clashed as if they had minds of their own.
"Huh? Are those puppets?"
Hanabi's eyes went wide.
She looked around but saw no one else.
Wasn't controlling puppets supposed to require chakra strings?
But she didn't see anyone at all.
Surprised, she activated her Byakugan.
Veins bulged at the corners of her eyes as she observed the puppets closely. "There are…. two tiny people inside the puppets?"
With the help of her Byakugan, she easily uncovered the secret of why the puppets could move on their own without a controller.
Inside each puppet was a small, hidden figure.
Judging by the appearance and the chakra path, they looked like miniature humans.
"Amazing..." Hanabi exclaimed.
With such a technique, only those with the Byakugan or highly perceptive abilities would be able to see through the puppets' true nature.
As expected of Konoha's genius puppeteer, this method was ingenious.
"This is called the Miniature Shadow Clone technique, similar to the regular Shadow Clone, but in a smaller, physical form."
Hinata patted Hanabi's head and explained with a smile, "It's Tenten's specialty."
"Huh? Miniature Shadow Clone?"
Hanabi tilted her head, astonished, her mind broadened by this discovery.
She hadn't known such a clone technique existed.
Whoever had created this technique must be a genius.
"Tenten."
Hinata led Hanabi to the edge of the training ground.
She waved to the two puppets locked in combat.
Swoosh…
The two puppets stopped simultaneously.
They turned toward Hinata and quickly flew over.
Under Hanabi's astonished gaze—
The lead puppet's chest armor opened with a small mechanical click.
A tiny figure emerged from within.
Poof... As the smoke cleared—
The real Tenten appeared before the sisters.
"Hinata, what brings you here? Weren't we going to meet up tomorrow for training?" Tenten looked at Hinata, surprised to see her and the little girl holding her hand.
The small, clean forehead and white eyes made it clear to Tenten who the girl was.
"What an adorable little sister." Tenten patted Hanabi's shoulder and smiled. "You're Hanabi, right? Hinata talks about you often."
Over time Tenten, Hinata, and their friends had grown closer.
But they didn't always have the time to train together.
For example, Ino, as part of the future "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio—
Her rapid progress in training had drawn the attention of her clan, the Yamanaka, along with the Nara and Akimichi clans.
Every weekend, she had to train with her partners, Shikamaru and Choji.
"You're Tenten-senpai, my sister's friend? Hi..."
Hearing Tenten's praise, Hanabi's eyes squinted in delight.
She bowed politely and introduced herself, "I'm Hanabi Hyuga, pleased to meet you."
"I wanted to bring Hanabi to meet you."
Hinata glanced at her sister.
Without further ado, she pulled out the green paper crane and spoke earnestly, "Also, I want to try to call Kiyoshi back. There's something very important I need his help with."
"You're calling Kiyoshi back?" Tenten was taken aback.
"Kiyoshi?" Hanabi's eyes widened in shock.
"Do you mean the legendary healer, the most gifted mind in Konoha in decades, Ishikawa Kiyoshi?"
She'd heard her father mention him before.
Hinata's rapid improvement was likely connected to him.
This filled her with curiosity about the man known as the disciple of the Sannin.
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