Making Up

The next morning.

Uchiha Ao arrived at the gates of the Hyuga Clan carrying several gifts.

"Clan Leader Ao, I've kept you waiting!" Hiashi Hyuga, having received word from his guards, immediately came out to greet him.

Upon seeing the exquisite gifts in Uchiha Ao's hands, he laughed heartily. "Haha, Clan Leader Ao, you're welcome here anytime; there was no need to bring gifts."

Uchiha Ao handed the gifts to a Hyuga clansman, then looked at Hiashi Hyuga with a smile. "I've come today to discuss a few matters with you, Clan Leader Hiashi. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course, of course." Hiashi Hyuga gestured with his hand, though the smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. "Please, come inside, Clan Leader Ao. Let's head to the front hall to discuss this over tea."

Uchiha Ao followed Hiashi Hyuga into the front hall. As soon as he sat down, he took out a sheet of paper and spread it across the low table.

"Clan Leader Ao, this is?" Hiashi Hyuga stood up to look, seeing that it was a map.

"Danzo is not dead. You are aware of this, aren't you, Clan Leader Hiashi?" Uchiha Ao continued.

"Naturally." When Hiruzen Sarutobi had previously ordered Danzo's execution, they all knew it was merely a body double. The ninja clans were essentially aware of this; only the civilians, ignorant of ninjutsu, believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi had actually executed Danzo.

As for why they didn't expose him?

In truth, they had wanted to, but the Uchiha Clan Leader hadn't been willing.

If they had exposed the truth and the Uchiha Clan had simply walked away, they would have been left to face the wrath of Hiruzen Sarutobi alone.

"You bring this up so suddenly, Clan Leader Ao. I assume it's not just for idle chatter?" Hiashi Hyuga asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I sent people to track Danzo. Take a guess at where he went."

Hiashi Hyuga replied calmly, "Since you ask, I assume you already have the answer."

"Honestly, Clan Leader Hiashi, why won't you play along?" Uchiha Ao said, half-jokingly, before pointing a finger at the map.

The Land of Demons.

"Why would he go there?" Hiashi Hyuga asked, puzzled.

He knew a little about the Land of Demons; it was just an ordinary country with almost no ninjas.

What was Danzo doing there?

"Clan Leader Hiashi, you may not be aware, but the Land of Demons actually suppresses a demon," Uchiha Ao said, lowering his voice. "That demon possesses the ability to make people fearless of death, and Danzo is currently planning to break its seal."

Hiashi Hyuga's pupils contracted sharply. The teacup in his hand trembled slightly, and tea spilled over the rim, staining the table with dark water marks. "Are you saying that Danzo intends to control that demon to create an undead army?"

"Exactly so." Uchiha Ao nodded.

In truth, he didn't care much about the so-called demon, Moryo.

Even with its immortal body and super-regeneration, its strength in the original story was only near the Kage level.

It would be easy to deal with.

He simply wanted to use this crisis to push the reputation of the Uchiha Clan to the pinnacle of Konoha.

He was even hoping that Danzo would release the so-called demon Moryo right now and bring it to Konoha.

Elsewhere.

Hyuga Hinata had just woken from her sleep. She thought she had heard the voice of Ao-kun.

She looked around—well, she must have misheard. How could Ao-kun possibly be in her room?

Rubbing her throbbing temples, she walked to the corridor, intending to get something to eat.

The familiar voice drifting from the distant council hall made Hyuga Hinata's eyes light up.

Her feet moved toward the sound of their own accord.

Peering through the slightly ajar door, Hinata saw the Ao-kun she had been thinking about so much.

"Ao..." Hyuga Hinata was about to push the door open to greet him, but then she remembered what happened yesterday.

Her eyes dimmed involuntarily.

Forget it. Ao-kun surely doesn't want to see me. I shouldn't disturb him and Father.

Hyuga Hinata pulled back her hand, turned around, and left.

Inside the meeting room.

Uchiha Ao sensed a presence of chakra outside the door and glanced over instinctively.

He spotted his little Hinata outside, though she didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

Uchiha Ao turned back to Hiashi Hyuga and said, "Clan Leader Hiashi, we've discussed most of what needs to be said. I'd like to go see Hinata."

The trivial matters were finished; it was time for the real business.

Hiashi Hyuga nodded from the side.

His mind was entirely occupied by the thought of the immortal demon, and he hadn't paid any attention to Uchiha Ao's words.

A faint, imperceptible smile curled the corners of Uchiha Ao's lips as he turned and stepped out of the council hall.

The wooden floorboards creaked faintly beneath his feet. Following the lingering traces of Hinata's chakra, he found her curled-up figure at the corner of a corridor blanketed in a thin layer of snow.

The girl's thin kimono wrapped around her shivering frame, her hair dusted with snowflakes, and the frost on her eyelashes trembled slightly with each sob.

"Why are you hiding here?" He pulled off his outer robe to drape over her shoulders, but Hinata turned her head to avoid it.

Uchiha Ao froze for a moment.

He did not quite understand why Hinata was resisting him.

Uchiha Ao gazed at Hinata's cowering back, and the words Uchiha Tekka had spoken yesterday suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Why didn't the Clan Head come back with Miss Hinata?"

Oh, I see. It seems Hinata must have gone to my house to look for me yesterday, but she couldn't find anyone.

Uchiha Ao immediately understood the reason, so he crouched down and slowly embraced the girl before him.

Hinata stiffened in his arms, her entire body taut like a bowstring drawn to its limit.

Uchiha Ao rested his chin against the top of her head, the lingering scent of jasmine in her hair mingling with the cold, crisp air of the snow as it drifted into his nostrils.

"Hinata, it was my fault yesterday. I should have sent someone to notify you."

Uchiha Ao said slowly.

Hinata, held in his arms, did not speak.

"Actually, I was suddenly summoned by the Third Hokage to the Hokage Building yesterday to discuss some matters."

"You know, as the Clan Head of the Uchiha, some things are beyond my control." The warmth of Uchiha Ao's palms pressed through the thin fabric against Hinata's back.

Hinata bit her lower lip, feeling a pang of self-reproach in her heart.

She had actually misunderstood Ao-kun.

"Hinata, I'm sorry." Uchiha Ao rested his chin on the top of Hinata's head, his voice carrying a hoarseness he hadn't even noticed himself. "I should have explained it to you beforehand, making you search for me for so long."

"Actually, the main reason I came today was to apologize to you, but I heard you were still resting, so I had to speak with Clan Head Hiashi about some matters first."

For a heartbroken little girl.

The next day is often spent sleeping for a long time.

"Ao... Ao-kun." Hinata's voice trembled slightly. "I'm the one who should be saying sorry. You're already a Clan Head, yet I keep pestering you."

"Not at all, Hinata." Uchiha Ao pulled her closer, his palm rubbing slowly against her back in an attempt to drive away the chill from her body. "You have never been a burden to me."

Hinata's eyelashes fluttered, and she turned to embrace Uchiha Ao.