Howdy, everyone!

If you've read the title of this update, you'll know I bring bad news. Mystic Eyes of Reincarnation hasn't seen any progress in more than a year, and each passing day I feel it less likely I'll ever retake it. This is my attempt at bringing some closure to it all. Because up and disappearing is a douche move, and I've been a douche for long enough, I'd say.

For those who want to know about the plot for the rest of the story, I'll include my notes here. Please take notice this aren't drafts or even outlines, just me up and telling you what would've happened, without any narration. That and a couple of fragmented scenes I had already written and chose a shame not to share.

If that's not your cup of tea, it's been a real blast to have you with me this long and you can stop reading at the line. For those who will take a look at what Hinata's future would've looked like, it's been a blast all the same, but feel free to scroll down and keep reading.


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Land of Snow

So there was some idea about showing off the new and improved Team 7, as they braved the snow shinobi without Kakashi. This was intended to be hard. They are much stronger than in canon, especially Hinata, and I can only assume the Kakashi shown in the movie was still getting back into proper form after letting himself go soft for years, but still.

Besides that, there were two important points I wanted to make.

1- The generators: Okay, do you guys remember how the movie ends? The massive heat generators that melt the snow and turn the land into the Country of Spring? Anyone with a minimum knowledge in any of the related fields can tell that's… stupid. For one, the amount of energy you would need to warm up a small country would be beyond staggering.

For another, once the temperature goes up, the snow would melt, tons upon tons of stationary snow would turn into liquid water, and flood down to the sea, dragging with it all the soft soil, leaving only bedrock where nothing can grow behind. That's without considering what the floods would do to any settlement in their way. Since there was snow everywhere, their way would be everywhere too.

Hinata comes from a future where there's no Land of Snow, or Land of Spring, or nothing. Because it was all destroyed during the floods. All the advanced technology of the place is gone forever, just a barren no-man's land valuable only to dig up minerals. Her plan is to stop that nonsense for ever happening and, if at all possible, to repurpose the massive energy generators for something actually productive.

2-Karin.

Way way back during the Chunin Exams, I mentioned something had changed radically by having Team 7 arrive at the tower with time to spare. That is, there was no Sasuke to save Karin. She did survive though. Disillusioned with her team and having had to survive by herself, she decided to rely on no one, deserted during Orochimaru's attack and fled to Snow Country, where she found by luck the hideout of a Seal Master from eras past, and has spent her time ever since studying the trove of information and knowledge.

Hinata as Tenko will try to recruit her, but fail. She'll show herself amenable to working on lease, though, and is ultimately tasked with finding a way to exploit the energy from the generators in a productive fashion.


Sasuke's desertion.

This was an arc I thought long and hard about, what to keep, what to change, figuring out who would still act the same way they did in canon, who wouldn't, and how it would change the events.

Orochimaru wouldn't try to tempt Sasuke with power, knowing he was too loyal to his team, but he still wants his body. The initial offer would've been made regardless, only for a different one, a dagger at Naruto's sleeping neck, to be made when the first was rejected. In this story, Sasuke will leave because Orochimaru's agents have proven themselves willing and able to reach and harm his loved ones if he doesn't.

The rescue team would've changed, most notably Hinata would be included, and Shikamaru wouldn't. There's a reason for that.

During the chase, they encounter unexpected resistance, because someone is helping the Four. More of Oto forces, working together with ROOT operatives disrupt the mission enough that Hinata is forced to remain behind to neutralize them. Danzo has decided this is the perfect occasion to rid himself of the troublesome Heiress.

While ROOT is overcommitted ambushing Hinata, Tokage infiltrates their HQ to assassinate Danzo. Which he manages with insulting ease by demonstrating knowledge of his Reverse Four Symbols Sealing and triggering it remotely. "Good bye, old man. Your old paranoia did you in."

After leaving the complex, Tokage removes his lizard mask, and Shikamaru disappears into the transit.

This is an outline of the Hinata vs ROOT & Oto I had already written.


"Skin pierced by a million crystaline shards, she roars in pain, feeling a surge of primal rage and power. The wounds heal so abruptly the needles are launched back, sending a bunch of minor pests out of commission. The boiling blue, paler than ever, stretches towards the source of pain and its presence fades with a loud snap.

Something is changing, she's not the only one who feels the boil now. Anyone touching the pale blue gets scalded, quickly recoiling with a pained expression. Good. The boiling blue stretches again, forming thick tendrils that seem to search the pests by themselves.

Sharp pain, something has pierced the boiling blue again. She lowers her gaze to inspect the tanto protruding from her chest and, without even acknowledging the presence of a blade lodged through her heart she twists around, hand hitting a head and making it explode like a rotten melon.

The blood covers her, and her nose picks something worrying. The boiling blue knows this smell. Her eyes lower to the headless body still convulsing on the floor, and her hazy sight focuses on a small shape peeking from the small backpack it carries. A picture book.

It's the ink brat! Why? How? She's killed him. He tried to kill her. It was his fault, no he was lost and needed guidance, he'll never get that guidance now. She killed good people again, no the pest wasn't good people yet, it would've been in time, it should've been in time, she's denied fate, she's killed Naruto-kun's friend! It's her fault things are turning for the worse again what was the ink brat doing here he never was one of the snake creep's puppets what's going on what's going on wha-

A sharp thud breaks her panic, the pests took her moment of weakness to attack all at once, and their weapons have hit bone. Yet she's unharmed. An armor of bone protects her body, and she knows there's something wrong with this. The [Demon Fox Cloak] is about to take her over. Just… there's no demon fox, she's no demon, it is no demon.

Tenko smirks, eyes crazed. She cannot be taken over by herself, what's she panicking about? Now is not the time to panic, anyway. It's time to rampage! Her face! Where is her face? The seal on her wrist forms a small smoke cloud and her mask pops in her hand. As she dons it, the chakra tails rise high in the sky, raining then over the pests, piercing flesh and bone with the same ease. The bone armor vanishes for an instant, and all the stuck weapons fall to the ground before she rearms it.

It's ROOT, It's Danzo and his soulless army confabulating, fraternizing with the snake creep like good old friends. Tenko roars, not waiting anymore for the enemy to close in and charging herself against them like a tide of burning blue. Then she kills.

She rips bones and tears muscle, she pops skulls and rips organs, she bathes in blood, and she's too enraged and hurt to even think what it looks like. She wouldn't care anyway. She only knows each throat, each heart she crushes brings relief to her out of control emotions, so she keeps up. She keeps up even when the back of her eyes burn, her muscles cry in exhaustion and her healing factor refuses to keep up, skin peeling away under the strain of her own technique. She keeps up even when her lungs can't and her body cries for a rest. She keeps up even when her heart falters, the beatings of her life becoming erratic.

But the enemy keeps coming, and she can't rest until they're all destroyed. They're weaker now, anyway, the creeps must have run out of elites. A knee buckles and a step falters, and suddenly she's on the ground trying to catch her breath and painfully conscious now she's stopped, getting in motion again will be impossible.

A single figure stands before her, kunai in hand. And when she looks up to her would-be executor, she sees a smile no human can make. Lips splitting the whole face in an uneven, curved-up line, showing rows and rows of sharp white teeth. Half of the body pure white, the other half pure black. The shock is enough to snap her out of her frenzy.

-"Zetsu."

The smile widens. It's not just Danzo, it's not just Orochimaru. Even the Akatsuki, or at least the part directly controlled by Madara, joined efforts to take her down. And they have succeeded, it seems. She's out of everything.

-"Not everything, hime."

Toneri-kun… The sensible, loyal and reliable Toneri-kun, burdened by the weight of actions he never took and misdeeds long forgiven by the victims. And now that Kurama was gone forever, her last true accomplice. But he can't do anything either, except maybe providing comfort in her last hour. Without chakra, even the mighty [Tenseigan] wasn't but a funny pattern on her eyes, and she's been running on fumes for hours now.

-"For hours indeed, look East, hime."

With great difficulty, she turns away from the pale plant monster, and the action almost causes her to black out. It takes a moment for her sight to focus on the horizon where the moon peeks out. It's been so long already? If she really held the whole day, that would be a legend-worthy feat. But it doesn't matter, she'll die a failure, resting in a nameless grave.

-"It was a great ride, hime, but it's time for all to turn into one."

Yes… all return to the Earth, and maybe she'll finally manage to rest. She's so, so tired…

-"Not that hime. Naruto is still in danger, you haven't fulfilled your promise to me."

But what then? She's been defeated, and she's out of options.

-"Out of options? No… not yet, hime. Let me guide you one last time."

Toneri-kun fades from her mind. Not away, but within. The person made out of memories from a darker time melts into her, his knowledge and feelings accepted as her own. She has no time to feel sad, she has no time to feel alone or cry. Because one of the sealed doors in her Inner Garden gains the mark of the Otsutsuki and opens with a mighty creak, filling her with so much chakra it BURNS!

With an agonised cry, she jumps back on her feet, muscle tissue reconnecting and skin growing again as she enters [Chakra Mode] almost without thinking, so much power flowing through her veins she doesn't know how to spend it. The monster's eyes widen, and the relaxed enemies turn against her once more, projectiles raining from all directions.

[Nirvana] surges in short bursts, deflecting everything. And for the first time in the whole day, she feels her mind clear. This is all a distraction, they're separating her from her team and she's fallen for it hook, line and sinker. What's been of Sasuke and Naruto-kun while she wasted her time trashing pawns?

No, not all is lost, even now their plan has obviously failed, the army of zetsus isn't retreating. They still need time for whatever is happening elsewhere. They still can't afford for her to rejoin her team. And maybe, if she's really lucky, nobody outside this killing field knows for sure Hyuuga Hinata is Ichibi-no-Tenko.

-"Let's keep things that way, shall we?" -The smirk returns to her lips, showing a confidence she's far from feeling. Appearances have always been her best armor, the seal inside her cranium tickles as she calls forth the skills of a dear friend to shape a labyrinth of illusions- "[Matoi: Heiankyo no Akumu (Fear-clad Apparition: Nightmare of the Old Kyoto)]"

An illusionary world of mist, poorly illuminated streets and translucent walls overcomes reality, trapping everyone in the area. She starts a one-sided massacre. There's no time to lose, but no margin for mistakes. Not a single one of these monsters must live to tell today's tale.


Meanwhile, Naruto catches up with Sasuke, and they fight. This time, things are different from canon. This time, both of them fight with the conviction they're saving the other. This time, Naruto wins. It's not easy by any means, and, even without using the cursed seal (he's oh, so tempted), Sasuke and Daigoro prove more than a match for their teammate.

But, unfortunately, right as Sasuke admits defeat, a shadow falls over Naruto, knocking him down. Obito has decided to interfere so things keep going the way he wants them to be. It takes some effort to convince Sasuke to flee the scene, but once he does, he's alone with Naruto.

Pondering over his unconscious form, he debates the merits of simply killing him and waiting for the Fox to reform. That's how Tenko finds them.

This part is a bit fragmented, never got around gluing everything together.


She must hurry to Naruto-kun. Too many things have changed and he was way too close to death the first time around. As much as she'd like to believe in him, the enemy has proved more than capable of adapting. This is also a milestone in Sasuke's life and there's a good chance Obito is keeping tabs on the events, if she plays her cards right...


She needs to end this swiftly and brutally. Now that her Toneri-kun is no more, and all the power of this timeline Toneri-kun flows through her through the seal, she has the tools to accomplish it. The [Moon Buster Blade] should remain a hidden trump, just in case someone manages to implement the [Infinite Tsukuyomi], but the [Truthseeker Orbs] should suffice for this.


"Toneri… kun?" -It's him. Sprawled on the ground, staring with his eyeless gaze into the clouds of her Inner Garden. Weak, decrepit even, barely bleak skin stretched over bones, but it's him- "I thought you were gone! Why… how?"

-"There's a last gift I wanted to grant you, but I hoped it could wait for a long time yet" -With great effort, he turns his face towards her- "Ah.. I really wanted to see your love bloom. Too bad."

-"Don't do it! Whatever it is I don't need it! I'll figure out another way! Just… don't leave me alone!"

-"Alone? You have friends now, hime, you no longer need the voice of a loser inside your mind. Just… remember your promise to me, alright?" -She wants to deny it, he's not a loser, he's the bravest, most loyal man she's ever met. But the words catch in her throat. This is it and she knows, nothing she can say now will change it- "Hime… no, Hinata. Give 'em hell!"

The Inner Garden collapses, maybe for the last time, leaving her in front of her impossible enemy. Just he doesn't look that impossible anymore.

-"You want war, Uchiha Obito?" -She taunts. Don't lose your cool! Smile and keep smiling! Keep your façade, Tenko is always in control. Don't let your enemy see tears or know how shaken you're inside- "Just make sure you didn't bite more than you can chew!"

She makes a throwing motion with her right hand and a single, black sphere springs at his face. His single, visible eyes practically oozes smugness. Tenko smiles with confidence, but not even that clues Obito of the danger. He trusts too much in his technique. His sense of danger has dulled after so many perfect battles, after so many have seen their hopes shatter and their certain hits fail to connect. Nothing has ever hit him though his perfect defense.

That trust crumbles now as the [Truthseeker Orb] shatters his mask, piercing straight through his eye. Before he can get over the shock, another eight orbs are pounding his body. Even if her attacks can reach him she doesn't get her hopes up, half of Obito's body is made up from the absurdly resilient [Hashirama's Cells], so chances of finishing him off before he recovers are slim. Still, maybe she can force his ultimate trump card if she pushes hard enough. The key is not letting the pounding up, so he cannot teleport away.

The eight [Truthseeker Orbs] beating his body elongate into thorns, piercing his body. The remaining two have positioned directly above and underneath him and violently expand with crushing force,

-"Not yet, not yet~"

With a twist of her hand, the expanded orbs' surface roughens, and they begin to quickly spin in opposite directions, grinding anything in between into a fine powder. Only then she relents, retreating the orbs as she makes a supreme effort to not break into gasps. It's been one-sided, swift and brutal. The only way she can be sure.

The first strike took his original eye, sealing [Kamui] away, and that should've done it, but she couldn't be sure. Obito took part on the Uchiha Massacre, nothing kept him from taking any spare eyes. So she made sure his body remained impaled at all time by at least one orb. [Izanagi] is insanely powerful, but so are the [Truthseeking Orbs]. They are simply too real to be done away via delusion.

Now that the adrenaline-induced frenzy passes, memories of things that never happened flood her mind. Images that are not really images, but come from some other kind of sense. This cannot be but shards of the timelines Toneri-kun lived before this one, the timelines where she failed.


From the eyes of Toneri-kun (and what experience it is, to see the world as him), she watches herself and Kurama from behind, the three of them facing Yakumo together inside her Illusionary World. Apparently that scared the Ido monster into desperate measures, and Hinata was rendered vegetative by some kind of mental attack.

Deprived of any means to interfere with history, she sank into despair and stopped fighting.

DEAD END


In the forest of Death, she watches helplessly how Orochimaru deems her a worthy subject and brands her neck with the Cursed Mark of Heaven. No matter what she tries, it's impossible to get rid of it before the second exam ends. The Hyuuga Elders won't accept the humiliation of a criminal marking the heiress as his and they end up pressuring Father into disinheriting her.

Unfortunately, the Caged Bird Seal reacts poorly to Orochimaru's Curse Mark and she suffers a painful and gruesome death.

DEAD END


In the forest of Death again, she makes the mistake of allowing Naruto-kun to be sealed by Orochimaru. When she repels him with the [Shinra Tensei] the three of them fall unconscious.

That was one short attempt.

DEAD END.


She watches herself trying to make the Exams and the Invasion go exactly as they went the first time around, but it's too late. She's left too many clues and the jumps can't take Toneri-kun far enough into the past anymore. In the end, the Hell is unavoidable, it only remains to make the most of it.

Laying over the smoldering remains of a burned down village, she gives up on this timeline.

DEAD END.


Without a way to prevent White Zetsu from fleeing the battlefield, Hinata's identity as Tenko gets revealed to her worst enemies. The Hyuuga are utterly destroyed in an attempt to smoke her out. Hanabi and Father die, along with the few friends who defy Hokage Danzo's orders and try to help them.

A method to keep the secret must be developed.

DEAD END


She watches herself leaving the village, Tenko in the run and Hinata officially dead. The only one who knows about her being alive outside her Hyakki Yagyou is Hanabi. Somehow the Hyuuga Elders catch wind of this, and in a matter of days Danzo is in the know too.

Hanabi is used as a hostage to capture her. It's all the Elder's fault.

DEAD END


She watches herself crying at Father's funeral. After the Elders were eliminated, he concocted a plan to expose and confront Danzo during a village Council. It worked, but Danzo didn't… take it quietly. Without Father to hold the weight of the Clan until Hanabi comes of age, she cannot leave Konoha.

Everything comes down crashing, in time.

DEAD END


She watches herself kneeling in front of the sheer numbers of her enemy. Where so many have failed before, Zetsu have succeeded simply by allowing her to rampage to exhaustion. Without a trump card to recover her strength once the monster becomes overconfident and careless, everything is lost.

Seems like this timeline's Toneri will need a visit, after all.

DEAD END


Shikamaru does a good job anticipating the moves of her enemies. Too good, in fact, and he underestimates how dangerous they can be. It's all her fault. For some reason, his death hits deep, and she cannot bring herself to put anyone else at risk anymore.

Incapable of trusting her secret to those who could've helped her, it's only a matter of time. Shikamaru must be brought into the real know.

DEAD END


She watches herself being perfectly guided by Toneri-kun all along the journey, she makes no mistakes at all. A perfect development brought for by foreknowledge and determination. But Toneri-kun is growing weary and, idolized as infallible, Hinata fails to get friends willing to call out on her when she's being stupid.

Once he's gone, it's a matter of time before she makes a deadly mistake.

DEAD END


She shakes her head at the flood of memories. Not all of them are bad, but every timeline before has ended bitterly. That's the whole point, she guesses. She wouldn't be here if any prior attempt had been successful. How many times has Toneri-kun braved the tides of fate alone, just to help her realize her ambition?

A slight shudder pulls her from her reverie. Audience is coming and she still has a role to perform.

-"Well, that's another mastermind down. That should round up some things in the future." -She doesn't plan on allowing Pein's attack on Konoha, nor anything that derived from that. But if fate manages to be a bitch again, at least Obito won't be getting in the way this time around- "You are late to the party, Kakashi-kun."

Indeed, Kakashi has just landed behind her, [Sharingan] ready and killing intent flaring.


Sasuke arrives at the rendezvous point, only to find an underground base burning under black fire. He won't put all the pieces together for a long time, but when Hinata was put under the [Tsukuyomi] she used the chance to pass vital information to Itachi. When Orochimaru made a move to get Sasuke's body, his brother… took exception.

All the masterminds are dead or neutralized. Pain is still at large, as is the Akatsuki as a whole, but they are a somewhat long-term threat and can be dealt with in time. Madara won't be resurrected, Black Zetsu isn't alive to keep scheming, nobody will unseal Kaguya.

There will be a short scene where we see Kabuto surviving Itachi's attack. Instead of trying to become Orochimaru as he did in canon, he puts his sights on Tenko.

The biggest problem thought is that the reason Naruto was killed in the original timeline is still unresolved. Now with Toneri and Kurama's memories and what they've pieced together Hinata realizes the true culprits were the Daimyos. In a world where the Hidden Villages weaken each other in wars, the power of the nobles is being swiftly rendered irrelevant. Their solution was to dispose of the man who was making it possible and arrange it so they'd blame each other, restoring the status quo.

It's not a problem that can be solved by killing the Daimyos either, whoever replaces them will end up taking the same measures. What this calls for, it's a political change, a revolution.


-"Yes, there was a lot of risk and I almost lost important people today. Some of them, I really should've known better than just trust fate to keep them barely alive again. But overall I'm… disappointed."

-"Black Zetsu, Obito… along with Madara they were the greatest threats of the original timeline and now they're dead. With all the plots and traps in my way, with everything they threw my way to try and silence me today, they fell almost too easily. I feel like I've grossly over prepared since I came back."

-"And, on the other side, now that I know what killed Naruto-kun in the old future, it all feels kind of pointless. I can't hardly overpower human nature with just superior jutsu after all.


We're left with vague plans for the last enemies remaining from canon, and an altogether different challenge for the future.

THE END.