---
Three Days After the Forest Trail Incident
Konoha General Hospital – Civilian Wing
The room was quiet.
Bandages covered Rafael Gojo's arms and ribs. He lay still, eyes half-open, staring at the ceiling. The scent of antiseptic stung his nostrils.
The fight still replayed in his mind.
Three boys. One girl. A Hyuga.
And him—a no-name orphan, throwing himself into a fight that wasn't his.
Foolish? Maybe.
But necessary.
Not for heroism.
For strategy.
For loyalty.
---
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
Soft. Hesitant.
Then the door creaked open.
Hinata Hyuga stood at the threshold.
She wore a dull grey kimono, too big for her frame. Her fingers fidgeted nervously. Eyes flicked up, then down.
"I-I heard you were here…" she whispered.
He sat up slowly, ignoring the dull throb in his ribs.
"You came."
She nodded.
A pause.
Then she held out a cloth bundle with both hands. "O-onigiri. I made them."
Rafael took them. "Thank you."
Her eyes widened slightly. "You're… not angry?"
"I'm not kind enough to be angry," he said flatly. "I helped you. You owed me nothing."
"That's not true."
He looked at her.
She was trembling.
"I… I don't want to be weak," she said suddenly. "Even if my clan says I am."
He took a bite of the rice ball. Chewed thoughtfully.
"They're wrong."
Her breath caught.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Rafael asked. "The moment before they attacked. You analyzed it. You just froze."
"I—I was scared."
"You still saw it."
Silence.
"Most people don't even get that far," he said.
Hinata looked at him, and for the first time, her eyes didn't flinch away.
He nodded once. "Train with me."
Her mouth opened slightly.
"Only if you want to grow," he added. "I'm not going to beg you."
A long pause.
"…Okay," she whispered.
---
Elsewhere — Hokage Tower, Observation Room
High above the village, behind tinted glass, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in silence.
He watched the two children in the hospital room below.
"So… he makes his first ally," he murmured.
A flicker of chakra. Danzo Shimura stepped into the room, as if summoned by the words.
"You're watching him," Danzo said. Not a question.
Hiruzen didn't turn. "And you are too."
"He's… interesting."
"Unremarkable chakra. No bloodline. And yet he changed the path of a Hyuga heir."
"Perhaps it wasn't the girl's path he changed," Danzo replied.
A pause.
"I want him under observation."
"He already is."
Danzo's voice sharpened. "You're shielding him."
"I'm watching him," Hiruzen replied coolly. "Like I do all potential assets. Or threats."
Danzo folded his arms.
"I saw the look in his eyes," he said. "He's not like Naruto. Not a fool driven by dreams of acknowledgment."
"No," Hiruzen admitted. "He's something far more dangerous."
---
Hyuga Clan Council Chamber – That Same Night
"I want the boy punished."
The elder's voice echoed sharply in the circular hall.
"He laid hands on Hyuga affairs. Intervened in clan discipline. Blood was drawn. His own and theirs."
Hiashi Hyuga sat quietly at the head of the room, unreadable.
"He defended Hinata," a younger councilor offered. "From clanless aggressors. Are we really reprimanding him for protecting the heiress?"
"He is a civilian!" spat another. "We don't reward commoners for touching Hyuga women."
Hiashi's gaze was ice.
"I have spoken to Hinata," he said. "She requested to… train with him."
The room went silent.
"She what?"
"She requested to train with him," Hiashi repeated.
"She's impressionable," the elder snapped. "Corrupted by sentiment."
Hiashi rose slowly to his feet.
"She is my daughter. The next heiress. If her instincts tell her to learn from him… then she will."
No one dared object again.
But the fire of clan pride simmered quietly.
---
Abandoned Storehouse – Training Spot
One Week Later
"Focus your breath."
Hinata exhaled slowly, palms open in front of her.
"Feel the chakra in your limbs, not just your core."
She trembled, but steadied.
Rafael watched her, arms crossed.
"You're taught to attack in straight lines. Palm strikes. Precision."
Hinata nodded.
"That's good against straightforward enemies. But what happens when someone moves like this—?"
He dashed sideways suddenly, appearing behind her.
She gasped. His palm tapped her shoulder.
"You die," he said flatly.
She gritted her teeth.
"Again," she said.
He almost smiled.
---
That Night — Rafael's Room, Orphanage
He lit a candle.
Then unfolded a piece of charcoal-wrapped parchment.
A map of the Elemental Nations.
He circled three places.
1. Konoha — Current base. Civilian background. Weak social power.
2. Hidden Grass (Kusagakure) — Confirmed Uzumaki presence.
3. Border of River Country — Site of missing kunoichi transport, circa 12 years ago.
He marked two red stars:
Karin Uzumaki — captive, likely in Kusagakure medical labs. Used for healing.
His mother — origin unknown. A weak chakra signature, taken for life-support jutsu.
"I'll get them out," he murmured. "Not now. But one day."
He looked toward the candlelight.
"Bloodlines shouldn't be harvested in cages. They should be... thrones."
---
Danzo's Root Bunker
A masked Root agent knelt before Danzo.
"We've confirmed his interest in Uzumaki records. Requested old mission archives. Accessed sealed clan scrolls without permission."
Danzo's eye gleamed.
"He's seeking something."
"A girl. Possibly two."
Danzo stood slowly.
"Uzumaki blood. Of course."
The silence thickened.
"He is not impulsive," Danzo murmured. "He plans. Watches. Moves only when he's ready."
"And his allegiance?"
"Unknown."
Danzo turned to a set of files.
"But we will find out."
---
Moonlit Hill Outside the Village
Rafael stood at the cliff's edge. The wind ruffled his black hair.
Hinata sat beside him, bandaged knuckles in her lap.
"I lost again," she whispered.
"You'll keep losing," he said. "Until you stop hesitating."
She looked down.
"But I don't want to hurt people."
He turned to her. "Then protect something worth hurting for."
She stared at him.
He didn't look away.
"You," she said suddenly. "Are you building something?"
His lips curled faintly.
"An empire," he whispered. "One built not on bloodlines… but on loyalty."
Hinata was quiet.
Then softly:
"I want to be there… when you do."