A/N 1/2/09: My first chapter of the new year! So this ahead of schedule update is brought to you courtesy of my beta mech pencil name, who has inspired me to spend way more time on writing fanfic than I should.

Also, please go vote on a new title for this fic (the poll is on my profile). If you don't like any of the options, feel free to email/PM me an idea!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Just do it fast, Hinata mentally berated herself. Like pulling out a kunai. Everyone knows it hurts less that way, she thought as she eyed the nondescript scroll sitting before her.

The sun had not risen yet and she sat in the gloom created by the low table lamp set beside her. She had even cleared her desk for the occasion. Or at least organized all the paper, books, and scrolls to create the semblance of orderliness.

Her hands lingered over the "restricted" stamp near the center, which indicated that the information within could only be given out with the approval of a jounin. Marking information as restricted was really less for the benefit of the village than for that of the unprepared ninja who might be killed by her own foolhardiness. Of course, Hinata knew this meant that Jiraiya-sama had not given her anything with sensitive—and probably helpful for her cause—enough information that leaking it could endanger the village. Such information would have been stamped with a scarlet "forbidden."

She tugged the simple white ribbon tied around the scroll and unrolled a few inches.

The Theory and Practice of the First Level of Sealing and Unsealing: Inanimate Elements

She unrolled further and found, just as the sage had promised her, the scroll was a more detailed and technical version of his own explanation. Skimming through, she realized the scroll gave a more in-depth account of how seals worked and how one would create them more than anything else. Hinata sat back with a sigh, slightly disappointed.

Well, that was not quite what she had hoped for, but it would help. After all, developing an uncursed seal to protect the secrets of the byakugan was as much a part of her plan as getting rid of the cursed seal. On more reflection, perhaps it would make her entire plan more viable if she could figure out how to develop a new seal and convince the Main family to adopt it. Then there would be greater political pressure from the Branch to do away with the cursed seal and perhaps it wouldn't be as uphill a battle as trying to convince the clan to abolish the cursed seal at once.

There might be merits to this plan. But to do so, she'd have to look into how the current seal actually worked. There were no written records or accounts of it as far as she could determine; of course she'd keep reading those Hyuuga journals, just in case. But perhaps the more efficacious route would be to examine an existing cursed seal. Just how she would manage to pull that off was beyond her. At any rate, learning about sealing couldn't hurt and it didn't mean that she would have to stop looking for information on unsealing. And surely sealing itself would help her learn about unsealing.

With such thoughts in mind, she renewed her examination of the scroll, bearing down on the words and diagrams with all the focused attention she had developed through countless research projects at the Diplomacy Corps.

Hinata was surprised to learn that the basis of all ninjutsu was really a form of sealing. A jutsu was really nothing more than a temporary seal—channeling and shaping chakra for an instant of time and thus temporary handseals sufficed. Although few today were aware of it, handseals themselves were based on zodiacal interpretations of an ancient language called Sanskrit from long vanished kingdoms of the West where chakra manipulation had first developed. She would have to reread the scroll again just to better grasp the theory and the history itself was fascinating. But there was no time for that now and understanding the theoretical side of ninjutsu was a detour at best.

She had just reached the concluding paragraphs as sunlight flooded the east-facing window of her room:

A seal acts against the very nature of chakra by placing it where it should not be or altering pre-existing pathways. Sealing and unsealing therefore, must always come at a cost, whether for the sealer or the sealed, the unsealer or the unsealed. These principle elements of sealing discussed here apply even more at the higher levels.

The key differences are the scale on which they apply. The more powerful the seal, the greater care is needed. Just as a simple jutsu can be done without elaborate handseals, a simple written seal can be rendered in the vernacular. But for the truly powerful seal, Sanskrit, the language of the ancient religions must be called upon. Yet even with this variation in mind, the principles involved in the First Levels of sealing apply to the higher. To bend chakra to his will, one must hold fast the pattern of words.

There had been diagrams illustrating the most common seals for inanimate objects. They were indeed in the vernacular, although the characters used were the more archaic ones that Hinata had only seen in old poetry. In theory, she should be able to create her own sealing scrolls to carry weapons and paper now. She was cutting it close—she'd just have time to meet Neji-niisan for their usual morning training—but she couldn't resist trying out her new-found knowledge.

Taking one of the many blank scrolls piled on her desk, Hinata unrolled six inches or so. She found the relevant diagram in the sealing scroll. It was strange really—the characters used made only the vaguest sense in terms of content. According to the scroll, the words chosen for sealing were not chosen precisely for their meaning, but based on a combination of variables: brushstrokes direction and count, numerological calculations, and sound associations between the vernacular character and ancient Sanskrit sutras.

As Hinata copied out the words with careful calligraphy, she realized that a study of Sanskrit would be vital; the scroll had mentioned that the primary reason developing new seals was so challenging was that few had the dedication and acumen necessary to learn the ancient and difficult tongue well enough to experiment with it. She wondered if she could manage. She wasn't even sure where she could begin learning this Sanskrit; she was certain she hadn't seen any books on the subject in the Main or Branch libraries...

Hinata bit her lip in concentration; eyes closed, she placed her hand over the characters she had just written and held fast the pattern of the words in her mind's eyes, willing chakra to flow in the path created by the words as the directions had indicated. She felt the tingling sensation of chakra flowing out of her hand.

She opened her eyes and peered at her handiwork. That was odd. The words she had written out seemed to be shaking. All of a sudden, one of the characters she had written down split open and Hinata felt a little explosion of chakra sting her face.

It seemed she had put too much chakra for the seal to hold. She'd have to review that chapter before experimenting further. But there was no time for that now, Hinata realized looking at the small clock on her table. She was late for her spar with Neji-niisan!

Hinata arrived at the garden they trained in out of breath—she'd practically flown from her room—to find her cousin going through a graceful shadow dance with his ANBU katana. His face was blank, as if the motions were effortless, yet she could see his body straining as he pushed his muscles to the edge and made them balance there. She stood to the side and watched, a small surge of despair tinged with a hopeless envy washed over her. She would never be able to even touch him.

He finished a last agile movement, and nodded in acknowledgement to her profuse apology. He did not look angry at having been kept waiting and she reflected over what a long way they had come.

"Come, Hinata-sama. Let's see if you can reproduce yesterday's impressive performance. We will have breakfast afterwards if there's time to discuss your improvement."

Hinata smiled. Yes, they had come a long way.

Hinata asked for an earlier stop to their spar than usual. Since Neji-niisan had gone out of his way to express a desire for them to eat and talk together, she wanted to make sure that there was time to do so.

Over the light fare of miso soup, rice, and grilled fish that Hinata's Branch maid laid out for them in the room overlooking the garden, Neji had inquired into just what had brought about Hinata's sudden improvement in the jyuuken. They'd discussed her training with Naruto.

"It, it was as if something finally clicked for me, about how the jyuuken strike works," Hinata explained, stirring her soup with her chopsticks idly. She felt more at ease with her cousin in this one conversation than she had ever before and so she ventured before she had the chance to think through and therefore second guess the idea that had been percolating in her mind since early this morning.

"N-neji-niisan," she ventured in a voice so nervous that it got Neji's full attention. "I-I w-wonder if I could t-talk to you a-at some p-point about s-some...research I am w-w-working on." How she could possibly ask that they meet outside the Hyuuga compound subtly she did not know, but hoped that the desperation in her eyes would convey the need for secrecy.

Neji had wondered what was preoccupying his cousin lately, but it was not his nature to meddle in the affairs of others. She rarely looked well-rested, constantly buried in books, spending much of her time in the Hyuuga library. He knew it could not all be work related and had speculated that she was working on a new jutsu of some sort. Any shinobi worth his salt attempted to develop a signature jutsu. The process was time intensive and often frustrating. Thus, while such attempts at developing new jutsu were common, success hardly was. Her nervous request, the unstated desire to meet elsewhere, seemed to confirm his suspicion about her project.

He did not know how he felt about the request. It was at once presumptuous to think that he would help her with such a project considering their history and also a great sign of trust considering their history. She had earned his trust and respect over and over since that moment. He wondered, fleetingly, what he had ever done to earn hers and it was this thought that decided him.

"After I return from today's mission. In three days, Training Area 11."

Hinata breathed a little sigh of relief. Not only because Neji-niisan had agreed to at least hear her out, but also because his ANBU team was scheduled to leave this evening; his mission would at least give her some time to figure out how to broach the topic of cursed seals and how they work on a deeply technical level with her prickly cousin.

Now that she had potentially set into motion one element of her plan to rid the Hyuuga of the cursed seal, Hinata was a bundle of nerves. Until now the plan had been confined to her, then extended to Naruto-kun. She'd hardly revealed anything to Jiraiya-sama. But if she really wanted to study how the cursed seal worked, she knew she would have to involve others. Neji-niisan as the Branch member she was closest to was the most logical choice, but that still did not make the whole mess any better. And she'd have to eventually get some experts in the field involved too. How could she do all this without tipping her hand and getting executed for treason or disowned by the clan?

Well, restricting her plan to developing a new Hyuuga seal for the Main family while explaining it to her co-conspirators would help with the treason charge. But if she framed her goal as a method of merely protecting the Main family, would Neji-niisan even be willing to help her? Would he be resentful if she simply claimed her goal was to create a new seal that would protect the Main family? Would it look to him as yet another betrayal in a series of never-ending betrayals of the Branch by the Main? Or would he be able to read the implications for the Branch house such a plan would inherently possess?

With all these frantic thoughts running through her head, she was a mess at work that morning, but fortunately no one commented, although they certainly noticed. After misplacing the same file for the fifth time, Hinata forced herself to take a deep breath and think only of the reports in front of her.

It helped a little. Just take it in small pieces, she scolded herself. That's how you got this far. Before her pessimistic streak could take over and reflect that she hadn't gotten very far at all, she reminded herself that she still had three days to plan out her meeting with Neji-niisan and think out the next phase in her plan.

Lunch Time Errands: Part One

Sakura waited outside the hospital, tapping her foot in impatience. All those years with Kakashi-sensei as her jounin instructor had made her even worse at waiting patiently. But fortunately, Naruto, also having been on a team with Kakashi-sensei knew just how much the lack of punctuality tended to annoy her.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Can we get this over with quick? I haven't had lunch yet and I have to go—"

"Don't worry, this'll be quick," Sakura interrupted, a self-satisfied smile on her face. Grabbing an arm, Sakura dragged a resigned Naruto back to the same clothing-store lined street.

"But we looked at all these yesterday, didn't we?"

"What're you talking about? We hardly went into a handful. But you can stop looking so miserable now! I went back yesterday after work and picked out something I think will work. I asked them to hold it so you could try it on and make sure it fits."

"Man, this makes me just not want to go to Shino's party or whatever. It'd be easier to just go on a mission or something instead."

"Quit grumbling. Come on."

Sakura had thought long and hard about their conversation from the day before. She hadn't given a second thought to taking the chuunin exam while Naruto was on his training trip. In many ways, she'd felt a relief at being left behind by both her teammates—as if she'd finally found room to grow and develop on her own without worrying about both their towering shadows. She'd not even paused to think what it would mean for the memory of Team 7 to take the exam again, this time alone. And Ino and Chouji had needed a third teammate to get through the prelims since Shikamaru was already a chuunin and it had seemed to make sense at the time to enter with them.

It felt like an undeserved luxury now. For Naruto, making chuunin would be another definite step towards his lifelong goal and yet he was putting it on hold—because of Sasuke, because of the promise she had made him take, because of Team 7.

But she couldn't change the past. Nothing had taught her that more firmly than Sasuke-kun's defection. But that didn't make her helpless now. No one had taught her that more clearly than Naruto. Apologies, expressions of regret, those were meaningless. Or at least, meant less than results. Working as a medic-nin, she knew the truth of that more than most; comforting words often felt hollow to a patient until signs of recovery became evident.

She'd never paid much attention to Naruto's financial difficulties when they had been genin together. She'd been too busy being disgusted by his ugly clothes (although from what she could discern, his love of the color orange seemed to be genuine), cheap lunches (although, again, from what she could tell, his love for ramen seemed to be true), and at times unwashed body-odor to think out the cause. And much to her embarrassment, she hadn't realized it even now until the reality of the matter had struck her in the face yesterday.

As she made Naruto turn around so she could check the fitting on the suit—a dark brown three-piece (the unusual color had made it somewhat more affordable), with an orange tie she'd picked out separately with a fond smile for Naruto's idiosyncrasies—Sakura conceded it would be a small gesture. But better to start somewhere rather than nowhere at all.

She turned to the hovering clerk as Naruto grimaced his boredom into the mirror. "Yes, we'll take it. Can you deliver it once the alterations are complete?"

Before the clerk could rush off to mark down the order, Naruto's blunt voice exclaimed, "Hey, wait a minute Sakura-chan. We talked about this yesterday. I can't afford anything like this."

Sakura turned back to her teammate. She was glad beyond words that Naruto had gotten over his infatuation with her, otherwise she'd never be able to bring herself to respond without dreading Naruto's overblown and misguided reaction. "You don't have to. It's a gift." She smiled. "From me."

The completely stunned look on his face was funny but also sad. As if he'd never expect her to be capable of doing something like this. "I can't take this Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled and said carelessly, "Think of it as an early birthday present."

A frown marred his face, "No, this is just charity. Do you even know when my birthday is?"

The clerk had wisely walked off with a mumbled "I'll check again when you're ready" but Sakura couldn't help feeling all the eyes trained on them. The other customers, the staff, they were unabashedly eavesdropping.

Sakura flushed in embarrassment, "Well...sort of...ok, not really. But I couldn't think who to ask. Kakashi-sensei can barely remember what time it is now, so that was hopeless, and Tsunade-shishou was too busy. So, when is it?"

"October 10th."

"Oh." She did not have an answer to that. "The Fourth's memorial."

But Sakura could be as hardheaded as Naruto when the occasion required—which tended to be around Naruto himself. "That still makes it an early birthday present. Besides, we're teammates."

"So? I don't go around buying you things. And Sasuke sure as hell didn't go around buying either of us—"

"Aren't you listening to me, Naruto?" There was an edge to her voice now. That last remark would sting if she let him complete it. Couldn't he see she wasn't the same stupid, ignorant girl she'd been back as a genin? That she understood at last, to her sorrow, the meaning of teammates because of Sasuke-kun's betrayal? "We're teammates. So we're supposed to help each other out, work together, do things we can't do on our own."

Something of the desperation in Sakura's voice made Naruto pause. His pride had chafed a bit at just how token her offer had been initially. He didn't need or want pity from his friends and that is just what her gift had felt like. But it seemed there was much more to this. "Ok," he agreed at last, and trying for a lighter note, "I'll make it up to you by giving you the coolest missions when I'm Hokage."

"Ugh. You can keep the coolest missions. They probably involve lots of explosions. Besides," Sakura added, teasing back, "I just don't want to delay our mission to get Sasuke-kun back because Shino's future-in-laws had their scorpions maul you for showing up to the engagement party in training gear."

"I'd like to see them try!"

Lunch Time Errands: Part Two

Hinata organized her copies of Naruto-kun's housing files as she waited for an appointment with one of the property law experts on the Village council. She'd met Matsuda Kaneshiro through the town council meetings she had to attend as a scribe and chuunin honor guard of the Hokage. Matsuda Kaneshiro was one of the youngest members of the civilian representatives to the council and his ambitious nature as well as his know-how and expertise were well-known. She hoped to use all three to her advantage.

Based on his reputation alone, Hinata knew that if it was at all possible, Matsuda-san would try to use this housing mix-up to strengthen his position on the housing committee. But to do so, he would have to make sure the problem got as much attention as possible, which hopefully would lead to it being resolved as fairly and quickly as possible.

The secretary ushered her into the spacious office, and Matsuda-san rose to greet her. "Hyuuga Hinata-san is it?" he asked, peering down at the form she'd filled out earlier in the waiting room. "I don't believe we've met?" he asked with a frown as he tried to place her face in his memory.

"I record some of the Hokage's town council meetings for the Diplomacy Corps."

"Ah! I'd thought you looked familiar. Now, Hyuuga-san, how may I help you?"

"I would like some legal advice regarding a confused housing situation on behalf of..." she was about to say "Uzumaki Naruto," but had a moment of doubt—perhaps it was unjust of her to think Matsuda-san would treat Naruto-kun with the same unfairness, neglect, and malice she'd observed as a lovesick Academy student trailing after Naruto-kun secretly—and so, concluded lamely with "a friend."

Matsuda was an astute man. After all, he hadn't gotten as far as fast as he had without paying attention to such things. But he merely raised his eyebrows at this peculiarity in her noticeably failing to name the claimant and remained silent as she explained the situation in greater detail. The girl was, after all, the potential Hyuuga heiress and he could gain some political clout by assisting her.

"I see, my dear," he responded as he pored over the housing record, property holdings, and death certificate of Tanaka Jiro, Naruto's landlord. "You've done some very thorough research here. Hang on just a moment while I have my legal aides confirm some of these records."

That old instinct for success never failed him, he gloated internally as he left the room briefly and set his legal aides scampering. "Make it snappy and accurate," he ordered them.

If the girl was right, this could be blown into the biggest housing scandal of the year and would guarantee him the chairmanship of the housing committee if he could frame himself in the role of whistleblower. But he had to make sure the Hyuuga girl didn't go to anyone else. He'd have to convince her he'd get the best deal for her.

He returned to his office and seated himself with aplomb. "Now, as I said, that's some fine research you had there, but we want to confirm everything and make sure it's watertight. And if it is, if you leave this case in my hands to settle with the town council, I can assure you that all the back rent—six years worth of rent!—will be returned to the tenants as no one was overseeing the buildings and keeping up safety codes etc. If there's no will on file—and given that no one has come forth in these six years, I'm sure you're right that there is none—means that the man didn't have anyone to bequeath his possessions to. Sad, but not uncommon in your line of work," he added with a deferential gesture at her forehead protector.

"So, if you leave this case with me, I'll assure that the building is reclaimed by the village and made part of the new public housing initiative, which will help decrease the rent for your friend significantly in addition to that backlog of rent he'll get back. And if all this goes through, most likely one of the current residents will be named supervisor and made responsible for repairs and such, with some monetary compensation for his troubles, and all rent paid by tenants would become revenue for the Village. So really, it would be in the best interest of your friend to entrust me with—"

There was a light knocking on the door and a young woman entered bearing a hefty folder. "Here, sir, are the files you asked for." Hinata looked at the woman in surprise. It had taken her hours to assemble all that information and it looked like Matsuda-san's legal aides had pulled it all together in less than half an hour. But then again, they were experts in the field and knew where to look.

Matsuda turned to Hinata apologetically and said, "A moment while I have a word with my staff."

He ushered the younger woman out and closed the door behind him, asking in a quick whisper, "Do the client's documents check out?"

"Yes, it's all as she says—dead landlord, no clear legal claims, no oversight. It's unclear right now who to pin this on, but probably Public Safety and Housing and Property Committee" the aide ticked off each department on her fingers, "and perhaps Ninja-Civilian Affairs too, for gross negligence. But it's the tenant I'm worried about, boss."

"Tenant?"

"Yes, tenant as in singular. Something might be fishy here."

"Well, it's no surprise—the building's a small one anyway and after years of disrepair, it's no surprise if people left. Do you think there's a whiff of scandal around the remaining tenant we could get splattered with? A criminal or something?"

"Well, no. But privacy protection laws were invoked by the Third. So we know he's not a criminal, but not much else. Doesn't state his name or anything. Maybe we should check—"

"I've no time for this. The Hyuuga heiress is waiting and if that tenant's got her support, it can't be all that bad. I need to convince the girl we're the best offer." He hurried back.

"I apologize for the interruption, Hyuuga-san. Now, as I was saying, I think I can make your friend the best offer if you agree to leave this case solely in my hands. You would have to agree not to consult elsewhere."

The last part in particular made Hinata hesitate. No one in the Diplomacy Corps in their right mind would accept such a proposal. "But what guarantee would I have of any of this?"

He had hoped to avoid this, but the girl seemed shrewd. "Ah, well, I'm afraid I can't guarantee the outcome per se. But I can guarantee my full support. In fact, how's this? The next regularly scheduled town council meeting won't be for another month, but as you most likely know, we're convening an emergency budget meeting for water and sanitation next week. I'll make sure that we make some time at the end to bring this up before the council."

"And" Matsuda-san added in the tone of one conferring a special favor as he pulled out a blank sheet of paper and rapidly began filling it, "your friend can appeal directly to the council. I've written out my recommendations on how this issue should be resolved—returning backlogged rent, making the building public housing, and assigning a new supervisor—and signed them. With my written recommendation as an expert in the laws involved and the personal support I'll add at the meeting, everything should be resolved smoothly."

Hinata didn't care for his airs, but frankly, this was all was more than she had hoped for and she smiled as she thanked the man.

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Hyuuga-san. Keep in mind your friend will have to come to the meeting and make the appeal on his own behalf. I will see you next week, if not before then at some other town council affair." They both bowed in parting.

Hinata remembered, on her way out, to ask the secretary to send the consultation fee to her Diplomacy Corps address rather than to the Hyuuga compound. No sense in making that storm break any sooner than it had to.

It wasn't until after dinner that Hinata had an opportunity to track down Naruto-kun and explain matters to him, what with another Diplomacy Corps mission of transcribing a Hokage meeting, training, and research.

The summer sunset was just fading away into dusk even though it was already late in the evening as she walked towards his apartment. But she knocked at his door to no avail. Hinata stood in front of his door unsure of what to do. She been so excited to share the news with him, she hadn't expected Naruto-kun to not be home. Well, she decided, taking to the trees, she'd take a quick look in the Training Areas before giving up.

Fortunately, the strategy paid off. She found him sprawled on some rather abused ground in the middle of a clearing that surely had not been there earlier that day.

"N-naruto-kun?"

"Mmph."

"Are you ok?" Kneeling over him, she examined the cuts and bruises scattered over his body. A basic medical jutsu revealed chakra exhaustion. She tried to help him sit up, but he waved her off faintly.

"What happened?"

"Why can't I get this wind elemental chakra thing down, Hinata-chan? I've been trying all day and it's still just crap."

"All day? You mean non-stop?"

"Stopped for lunch."

"Come on, Naruto-kun, I'll help you get up. You should really get something to eat."

"Just let me stay here a little longer. Ugh. Muscles feel like limp, soggy, ramen noodles..."

She sat down beside him, pulling her knees up to her chin. "I looked into your housing situation. You might be able to get some of the rent back."

Naruto smiled up at her sluggishly, "You're the best, Hinata-chan!"

"But you have to go to a town council meeting next week and present your case there. A man named Matsuda Kaneshiro should help. The Hokage will be on your side, but it's good to have someone on the council with you too."

"Won't you come with me?"

"M-me?"

"Yeah, after all, none of this would have happened without you."

Hinata felt her cheeks burn at the compliment and pressed her face against her knees.

"Ready to get up?"

"Five more minutes."

Hinata laughed softly at that. "I can imagine what you must be like in the morning," she replied. Hinata tilted her head back and faced the summer sky. "I haven't looked at the stars in so long."

Naruto turned to face her with a quizzical expression. "What do you mean? They're always there."

"It's a Hyuuga training technique. Activate the byakugan and stare for an hour each night. The star chart you make each evening becomes more and more detailed and complex and your byakugan stronger and stronger." After a small pause, she added in quieter voice, "I, I was never very good at it. "

"Doesn't sound like a lot of fun. But you know, I used to watch the stars too—with Old Man Hokage when I was a kid. He'd try to teach me their names and told me stories about them. But those constellations things always looked bogus to me—it's just a pointy line, not a bear or whatever." A silence, and then a heavy sigh. "I kinda wished I remembered some of them now, though."

Hinata could almost feel the loss and regret in Naruto-kun's voice. "Look," she said, settling down beside him and pointing to the northwest, "there's the swan."

The sad look faded from his eyes a little. "How's that a swan? Just looks like a crooked plus sign."

"The horizontal line's supposed to be outspread wings and there's the neck and tail." She sketched out the shape in the air with her fingers.

"Then the left one's sorta bent and its neck's crooked. Maybe it's turning back to see who's chasing it and..."

Hinata continued pointing out the constellations she had memorized wretchedly during that training where all she seemed to do was fail, never seeing the furthest away stars, the faintest constellations as she should have been able to.

Laughing at the hilarious improbable stories Naruto-kun made up about them, she felt as if the stars must somehow be different, her feelings were so changed towards them now. It was just like Naruto-kun, to be able to change the stars themselves for her.

To be continued...