Waiting in Ambush

Moonlight flowed like water, spilling across the earth and draping it in a veil of silver. A breathtaking ink-wash painting unfolded before Hyuga Gen's eyes.

"The moon is beautiful tonight. With moonlight this bright, the Cloud Village people probably won't come tonight."

Hyuga Gen muttered to himself.

A moonless night with high winds was the perfect time for murder. Tonight, clearly, was neither dark enough for murder nor for kidnapping. In truth, a dark night wouldn't make much difference to the Hyuga Clan, either. Once they activated their Byakugan, nothing could hide from them. Any night would do.

Hyuga Gen sat in a tree with only his head poking out. Xiaojin sat beside him, seemingly asleep. As for why Hyuga Gen showed only his head, it was because the rest of his body was tucked beneath Xiaojin's wing.

It was a little cold at night, after all. Who wouldn't love a giant feather blanket that came with its own warmth? Hyuga Gen had naturally snuggled right in.

Xiaojin was nearly four years old now, and had changed quite a bit over the past few years. Most of all, he had grown fast. Sitting together, he was now more than a head taller than Hyuga Gen.

His dream of becoming a "Divine Eagle Hero" had come true. Well, perhaps he should call himself the "Golden Eagle Hero"? It had only happened once, but he really had ridden on Xiaojin's back while Xiaojin took him for a flight.

After that, he hadn't wanted to try again. Not for any particular reason—he'd just lost his nerve. At first, it had been fine, and the scenery was beautiful. But then Xiaojin got carried away. Hyuga Gen knew Xiaojin wouldn't put his life in danger, but he'd still been scared half to death.

Anything could happen. What if something went wrong? He'd become the most gruesomely killed person in the Ninja World. So ever since then, Hyuga Gen hadn't let Xiaojin carry him in flight.

Gazing at the bright moon in the distance, Hyuga Gen saw that though it wasn't quite full, it shone clearly enough to make Hyuga Hiashi's mansion visible nearby.

Yesterday, after dinner, Hyuga Gen had returned to his room. Once he'd made sure the house was quiet, he'd sneaked out and come here.

Unable to think of a good plan, and unwilling to do nothing, Hyuga Gen had brought Xiaojin along to lie in wait.

When he reached the area near Hyuga Hiashi's mansion, Hyuga Gen had suddenly seen the light: perhaps he'd been overthinking things. Waiting for the rabbit to run into the stump was actually a pretty good plan.

In Shippuden, after the Cloud Village envoy was killed by Hyuga Hiashi, Hiashi had angrily gone to demand an explanation from the Cloud Village. They'd turned the blame back on him, and that was what eventually led to Hizashi Hyuga's death.

But what if Hyuga Hiashi killed the Cloud Village kidnappers without making a fuss? To be extra safe, what if the kidnappers disappeared from Konoha immediately after he killed them?

The more Hyuga Gen considered it, the more feasible it seemed, and the more determined he became to keep watch. So he'd stayed until now.

The result was just as mentioned earlier: the Cloud Village kidnappers hadn't shown up, and Hyuga Gen was now thinking about leaving.

Then again, before the peace treaty was signed, someone would surely be keeping an eye on them. It would be hard for them to carry out their plan.

Hyuga Gen figured the Cloud Village was most likely to try the kidnapping on the day before they left Konoha. That would minimize the risk, and if they succeeded, they could return to the Cloud Village together.

Still, better safe than sorry. Hyuga Gen decided to keep watch again tomorrow. It was only three days, after all.

With that in mind, Hyuga Gen decided not to wait until dawn. He wanted to go back and catch up on sleep. Besides, there wasn't much time left before daybreak.

And so Hyuga Gen and Xiaojin sneaked back home.

"This child says he wants to sleep and won't eat breakfast."

Hyuga Hui said to Kamen with a helpless look.

"It's fine. Let him be. We'll eat without him."

Kamen seemed entirely unsurprised and replied calmly.

Before long, Hyuga Natsu came looking for Hyuga Gen. They were naturally going to train together today and practice Rotation.

"Big Brother Gen, wake up. Big Brother Gen?"

Hyuga Natsu poked Hyuga Gen's face with a finger and called out to him.

She had been waiting for a while, and when she saw him still sound asleep, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Natsu, let me sleep a little longer," Hyuga Gen mumbled. He rolled over as he spoke, seemingly half awake and half asleep, aware that Hyuga Natsu was calling him.

But when Hyuga Gen rolled over, Hyuga Natsu caught sight of something standing at attention. She knew what it was, and her face turned a little red.

She no longer pulled back Hyuga Gen's blankets like she used to. She knew her Big Brother Gen was a bit of a pervert and seemed to like sleeping naked.

Hyuga Natsu remembered how, last time, Hyuga Gen had stood there completely naked and solemnly told her about the benefits of sleeping nude. Her face grew even redder.

"Big Brother Gen, get up already! The sun's up, and there's something I don't understand. Get up and show me again."

When Hyuga Natsu saw that Hyuga Gen still wasn't reacting much, she pulled out her ultimate move and pinched his nose.

A moment later, Hyuga Gen suddenly reached out and pulled Hyuga Natsu onto the bed. Looking at her flushed face so close to his, he teased her.

"Natsu, you woke me up first thing in the morning. How are you going to make it up to me?"

"The sun's already up," Hyuga Natsu said softly, looking at Hyuga Gen with little conviction.

"I don't care."

Hyuga Gen played the rogue, leaned in, and gave her a look that said she knew what he meant.

Hyuga Natsu's face turned red as she leaned over and kissed him once.

"This side too."

Hyuga Gen turned his face to the other side. With her face still red, Hyuga Natsu kissed him again.

Hyuga Gen didn't suddenly turn his head to take advantage of the kiss and steal one on the lips. He'd done that before, but he didn't dare now.

It wasn't that he was afraid. It was just that as he got older, his passions grew stronger, and Hyuga Natsu was becoming more and more beautiful. She was incredibly alluring to him. If he kissed her on the lips, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself. After all, they were only ten.

After the kisses, Hyuga Gen got ready to get up and, as if no one else were there, threw back the covers.

"Ah! Big Brother Gen, you're being a pervert!"

With that, Hyuga Natsu fled from the room.

"It's not like she hasn't seen it before," Hyuga Gen muttered. With Hyuga Natsu shouting so loudly, he knew he was bound to get an earful later.

Sure enough, as soon as he stepped out, Aunt Hui gave him a piercing look, followed by a long lecture. Fortunately, Kamen wasn't there. If he had been, he might have dragged Hyuga Gen outside for a fight.

Sometimes Hyuga Gen even wondered if Hyuga Natsu was actually Kamen's biological granddaughter, while he had been picked up somewhere.

They arrived at their usual spot, and the new day's training began. Hyuga Natsu asked Hyuga Gen for help with a few things she didn't understand, then got down to serious practice, as though the embarrassing scene that morning had never happened.

It was another perfectly ordinary day of training. Meanwhile, the Cloud Village group seemed to be wandering around everywhere, clearly fascinated by Konoha.

Of course, in the shadows at the corners, a few furtive figures kept appearing and vanishing. Someone was clearly keeping an eye on the group.