Hanabi

Hinata tore through the shadowed streets of Konoha, her heart slamming against her ribs with every ragged breath. The cold night air lashed her skin, carrying the faint scent of cherry blossoms tainted by something sharper, something wrong—but she barely registered it. Her mind was a storm, consumed by one burning need: Find Naruto. Her legs ached, her lungs burned, but she couldn’t stop—not after Tsunade’s betrayal, not after Sakura’s fiery spirit had been snuffed out, her green eyes replaced by that obedient, glowing red. Her best friend was gone, rewritten in an instant, and Hinata knew she was next unless she reached him—the only one who could stop this nightmare.

She didn’t know where Naruto had gone, only that he’d left on a mission beyond the village’s borders, far from this creeping horror. If she could just get to him before Konoha fell completely—her thoughts spiraled as she veered toward the Hyuga compound, her last bastion of safety now looming ominous under the moon’s pale glare. The towering gates cast deep shadows as she slipped inside, her Byakugan flaring to life, veins pulsing around her eyes. Then she froze, a sickening dread clawing at her chest.

The courtyard was filled with Hyuga clan members—her father Hiashi, her uncles, the elders, and Hanabi—all standing in eerie silence, their faces unnaturally calm, their breathing synchronized. But it was their eyes that shattered her: each glowed a deep, unnatural red, silvery tendrils of corrupted chakra threading through their once-proud flows. Hanabi stepped forward, her normally sharp gaze now empty yet serene, her lips curling into a wicked, too-smooth smile. “Hinata-nee…” she purred, her voice a twisted mockery of its former warmth, dripping with a sultry edge that made Hinata’s stomach lurch.

Hinata staggered back, shaking her head. “No… Hanabi, you—” The realization hit like a kunai to the gut. Hanabi had been infected all along—even days ago, when they’d spoken, when her little sister had held her hand and listened to her fears. She’d been pretending, her comfort a lie, her touch a lure. This wasn’t just an infection—it was subterfuge, a trap set with cruel precision. They’d let her run, let her think she was safe, because they knew she’d come home. They knew she’d be afraid. And they’d been waiting.

“You’re late to join us, sister,” Hanabi murmured, her tone affectionate yet laced with malice as she took another step, her hips swaying with an unnatural grace. The elders moved in perfect unison, their crimson eyes locked on Hinata, their hands twitching as if eager to claim her. Hiashi lunged, his Gentle Fist strike crackling with chakra, and Hinata dodged, her own energy flaring as she parried Hizashi’s blow. “Father, no!” she cried, but his red gaze held no recognition, only a hollow devotion to “Master Baby.” Hanabi darted forward, her speed uncanny, her fingers grazing Hinata’s arm with a possessive heat before she twisted free, her sleeve tearing in her sister’s grasp.

The compound became a cage—every shadow a thrall, every corner a threat. Hinata’s chest clenched in agony as Hanabi’s voice rang out, calm and absolute: “Get her.” Her own little sister had given the order, her family turned into a pack of predators moving as one. A dozen Hyuga fighters surged after her, their movements fluid and eerily synchronized, their glowing eyes burning with hunger. Hinata leaped onto the compound wall, her Byakugan scanning for an escape as a chakra-infused strike slammed into the stone where she’d stood, dust exploding around her.

She didn’t think—she acted. With a **** burst of chakra, she vaulted over the wall, landing outside and bolting into the night, her sandals slapping the dirt as she fled the village gates. Behind her, Hanabi’s voice echoed, sultry and commanding, joined by cries of “Join us, sister!” and “Serve Master Baby!”—a chorus of corrupted devotion that twisted her gut. The forest loomed ahead, dark and unforgiving, its branches clawing at her as she ran, her Byakugan sweeping for any sign of Naruto. Her family was gone, Sakura was lost, and the entire village had fallen to this depraved empire. Hinata’s resolve hardened amidst her terror—she’d find Naruto, warn him, or die trying, the weight of her loved ones’ betrayal a relentless spur in her flight from Baby’s encroaching grip.