"Poor Young Miss, standing all alone like that," one of the guards assigned by Hyuga Hiashi to protect his daughter whispered to his companion from the eaves.
"Idiot! She's the Young Miss. What are you to call her pitiful?" His companion clearly didn't agree with that description.
"Hey, Chio, don't get mad. I'll put it another way. Don't you think the Young Miss standing all by herself looks like a dog? Hahahaha!" Hyuga Toshio snickered.
They were members of the Hyuga Branch Family, assigned as the Young Miss's personal guards. Hinata Hyuga's guards had already been replaced once, after she was kidnapped. The one who paid the price for that incident was the head of the Branch Family, Hizashi Hyuga.
Naturally, the Branch Family guards who had been assigned to protect the Young Miss hadn't gotten off lightly either. They had all received extremely harsh and humiliating punishments.
Hyuga Chio and Hyuga Toshio, who had taken over as the Young Miss's guards, were under tremendous pressure. They paid close attention to her every move, afraid something might happen to her again and bring trouble down on them.
But even a ninja couldn't stay on edge forever. Ever since Hinata Hyuga had started attending the Ninja Academy, her life had become even more routine than before. Every day, she went to the Ninja Academy and nowhere else.
The things that had happened within the clan recently had made them even more lax.
"Do you think that after the Young Miss gets branded with the Curse Mark, she'll become the head of our Branch Family, like Lord Hizashi?" Hyuga Toshio continued.
"Not necessarily. The Second Young Miss is still little. Maybe when she grows up, she'll turn into a good-for-nothing like the Young Miss," Hyuga Chio replied.
"Hopefully neither of the Clan Head's daughters comes around. I think Sister Tsuki is pretty considerate of us, even if she's cold. But it'd be even better if it were Lord Neji..."
Not long after, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno spotted Hinata Hyuga. Sakura wanted to apologize and hurried ahead, but Ino grabbed her.
She held a finger to her lips. "Shh, Sakura. Let's do this, then that, and surprise Hinata!"
Sakura nodded, and the two began tiptoeing toward her. The two Hyuga guards on the eaves almost burst out laughing at the sight.
Guard duty was pretty dull, but getting to watch a sweet moment between girls like this was great.
Keeping themselves hidden behind the adults, Ino and Sakura moved toward Hinata. A little while later, they suddenly sprang out from the crowd and landed in front of her.
"Ta-da!"
Ino supplied the sound effects while Sakura knelt on one knee, holding out the ninja sword model they had bought with both hands, like a loyal knight presenting a gift to a princess.
But after two seconds, they still hadn't heard a response. Sakura had thought Hinata might have fainted from embarrassment, but when she looked up, she saw Hinata still standing motionless in the same spot, not reacting to their appearance at all.
"Um, Hinata, are you mad?" Sakura instinctively reached out to put a hand on Hinata's shoulder.
The next moment, her hand passed right through. Her arm went straight through Hinata's body, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Huh? Hinata?"
Ignoring her fall, Sakura hurriedly scrambled to her feet. Hinata was still standing there, staring blankly.
Ino started to step forward to check on Hinata and Sakura, but after only one step, a tall figure suddenly blocked her way.
Hyuga Chio crouched beside Sakura, activated his Byakugan, and reached for Hinata's foot. Hyuga Toshio stood in front of Ino.
With a frown, he said in a low voice, "Young Miss of the Yamanaka Clan, please go inform the newly formed Security Force at once. Young Miss Hinata may have been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?"
Ino cried out in shock. Then she looked up at Hyuga Toshio's grave expression and immediately sobered. She nodded and ran home.
"Don't let her go alone! Escort her straight to Lord Hokage!" Hyuga Chio shouted.
The Young Miss Hinata standing motionless before them was an illusion. All that lay on the ground was an opened scroll. It contained several pieces of glass with a small amount of chakra in them. The light reflected off the glass formed an image of Hinata Hyuga that looked utterly real in every way except that it had no physical body.
It was a Genjutsu cast with the help of a scroll. In all of Konoha, only a few members of the Uchiha Clan knew how to use something like this.
Countless thoughts raced through Hyuga Chio's mind. The Uchiha Clan had been wiped out, and the culprit had already left the village, becoming a notorious S-rank Rogue Ninja. There shouldn't have been anyone left who could use this jutsu.
Hyuga Chio picked up the scroll, then grabbed Sakura Haruno by the back of her collar and leapt into the air.
"So you can come with me to see Hinata's father. Don't worry, okay?" he reassured her, hoping she wouldn't struggle.
By the time he reached Hyuga Hiashi, Hyuga Toshio had also arrived before Lord Hokage.
"Ino, don't be nervous. Tell Grandpa Hokage what happened." Inoichi Yamanaka had been in an office nearby. As soon as he received the message, he hurried to his daughter's side. Facing the stern Hiruzen Sarutobi, he quietly tried to comfort Ino.
"Um... I was going to buy a present, then go visit Sasuke-kun..."
At the same time, Sakura was facing Hyuga Hiashi, quietly recounting what had just happened.
"So I brought Hinata along..."
"So Hinata went missing while you and Ino Yamanaka were arguing?" he asked sternly.
"Y-yes..." Sakura lowered her head as tears began to patter onto the ground.
Her friend had suddenly gone missing, and Hyuga Hiashi's imposing presence weighed on her. Even the strongest nerves couldn't withstand that kind of pressure.
"Don't blame yourself, little girl. Lord Hiashi won't hold this against you."
A cool voice sounded beside her. Sakura turned around with red-rimmed eyes and saw a strikingly beautiful woman in a white robe, carrying a sleeping little girl in her arms. Barefoot, she passed by Sakura and hurried over to Hyuga Hiashi.
"Clan Head, the Third Hokage has already begun organizing the Anbu to search," she said.
"What about the Barrier Team? Has the person who took Hinata left Konoha?" Hyuga Hiashi asked.
"The Barrier Team is monitoring the perimeter closely. So far, no one has breached the barrier and left Konoha." After answering Hyuga Hiashi's question, the beautiful woman added, "Toshio is being punished, and Chio is helping Lord Hokage. Once they find the Young Miss, he'll come and accept his punishment too."
"Forget the punishment. Have Toshio join the search for Hinata. Tsuki, take Hanabi and stay by my side. We're going to see Lord Hokage together." Hyuga Hiashi frowned and began issuing orders one by one.
The first priority was finding Hinata. Every member of the Hyuga Clan who could use the Byakugan had to join the search.
But with everyone spread throughout Konoha, the Hyuga Clan Compound would be left vulnerable.
If the person who had taken Hinata came to the Hyuga Clan Compound now, Hanabi would be in danger. So Hyuga Hiashi would personally escort Hanabi to the safest place in all of Konoha: the Hokage Building.