Ch57. Seeing all

Hinata Hyuga felt like shit.

She was excited to go outside of the village on a mission. And heavens, she had no idea how her teacher had managed to persuade her father to allow her to go!

Even the looming fact that she would need to end the lives of bandits only slightly dampened her excitement.

That was a week ago.

Spending time in the wilderness was pure torture. And Ren enjoyed their suffering immensely. Hinata took the challenges quietly, but Ino? The bimbo just made everything worse by adding loud complaining to the list of irritating things to deal with.

Worse yet, Ren deliberately made them avoid every town or village where they could get a proper, good hotel room with amenities and a freaking working toilet. He was fully set on showing them how to survive in the wilderness because that was apparently going to be a big part of their missions in the future.

Hinata never thought that out of all things she would miss the toilet the most.

At least, catching some animals was not very hard with their training and her eyes. Ren also taught them a bit about makeshift bonfire cooking fit for this kind of situation and it was desperately needed.

Well, he did so after letting them eat badly cooked, bland meat for two days while watching them with heavy amusement as they forced it down their throats because they would need the energy.

Hinata hated her teacher for it just a little bit.

Especially when she remembered how he confiscated everything from their personal storage seals before their trip.

Ino called it a total dick move and after the week she had just experienced, Hinata had to agree.

It was not... cool. 

But after two days of badly cooked meals, Ren decided to take pity on them and showed them where to find herbs they could use as seasoning. And Hinata eagerly learned every bit of knowledge he shared with her.

She got a newfound appreciation for her eyes. With Byakugan, finding edible mushrooms, herbs, and wild berries was very easy. Yet, the first two days she had not even considered doing it.

And that made her see the whole trip in a new light. The purpose of this outing was for them to get experience. To learn new things. Having Byakugan was useless without proper knowledge. You can see all you want but if you don't know what to look out for, it will not help you at all.

So, no matter how much she hated camping in the wilderness, shitting in bushes, hunting for food, and having her sleep time cut in half because of course, she was on watch duty during half of the night while Ino took the other shift, Hinata quietly took it all, only complaining and cursing in her mind.

On the third day, she noticed that her teacher was still in pristine condition while both she and Ino had ruffled clothing, were visibly tired with bags under their eyes, and didn't smell particularly well.

Observing him with her Byakugan and trying to see his secret, Hinata noticed that Ren had some seals she had never seen on his body. Seals that... vanished the waste and piss directly from his insides.

Hinata remembered she felt something explode in her head as she turned on her heel and smashed an overpowered gentle fist strike into a nearby tree trunk, causing the entire tree to topple over because of how pissed she was right there and then.

She understood. She really did. The bad stuff was a part of the experience. But sage dammit!

That was the first time she considered using her medical ninjutsu to resolve her problems. Every book warned from haphazard experimentation but Hinata was so done with this shit. She made her digestive system more efficient. It didn't help much but instead of having to go to the toilet every day, now she only needed to do it once every four days.

Needless to say, Ino was mightily jealous and Hinata got her ego boost when Ren praised her for her efforts.

It was worth it.

On the fourth day, she even created a way to make her body sweat less! It was no glorious achievement. But after being allowed to only take a brief bath during their stop at a river on the second day, Hinata appreciated anything that allowed her to reduce her smell.

Even Ino begged her to apply it on her and Hinata did. Because she was a good teammate.

Of course, the bastard who enjoyed their suffering was not sweating at all. Either he had just that much stamina or, the theory Hinata was more inclined to believe, he came from hell to torment good and upstanding people like her.

If only, Hinata thought with a sigh. He most likely simply had some seal or technique to do away with such a mundane concern.

And once again, she was irritated that he didn't share it with them only to feel bad a few moments later about it. Because as a clan ninja, Hinata knew that her teacher did not need to share anything with them.

She knew she was just being irrational and unreasonable.

The fact that he shared his gravity seals for training purposes and his personal co-op shadow clone technique was already extremely generous.

Their teacher was simply amazing and much to her secret amusement, he didn't even realize it. He was always so genuine with them.

And seeing him so lost when he finally figured out that both Ino and she had hots for him was downright adorable. Hinata would cherish that moment for the rest of her life.

Byakuan was a mighty tool. Especially in the hands of somebody who knows medical ninjutsu. Her clan really had no idea what they were missing out on because of their pride.

It was the same problem as with looking for herbs. 

Yes, people with Byakugan can see inside human bodies. They can see muscles, veins, nerves, organs, bones, brains... everything really. But her clan members only focused on the chakra network, happy to disregard everything else as unimportant.

After all, you need to understand what you are looking at to make use of it. They simply did not understand.

Hinata was honestly happy that Ren made her focus on medical ninjutsu. And sometimes, she hated it too.

Because there was just no hiding in front of her eyes.

She could see how people would move based on how their muscles twitched before they even started the motion. She could see bio-electricity coursing through the nerves and brain. She could see the heart beating and every other organ working. She could see much, much more than that.

And based on that? She could deduce a lot. She could even tell how people felt at times.

For example, Ino was full of shit and tried to act all aloof and cool but Hinata knew the Yamanka girl was insecure. She knew when the bimbo lied. And she lied a lot.

She boasted and puffed her chest out like a peacock when she actually felt inferior. And she hated it with passion. It was why Ino spent so much time practicing in her mindscape. Why she was so driven to train herself to the ground.

It was downright irritating to hear Ino praise the ground Uchiha walked on during the past few months. Because Hinata could literally see that the girl was lying through her teeth. That she was not all that interested in the duckbutt-haired brooder.

And whenever Ino did that in front of Ren in some misguided desire to get his attention without even realizing what she was doing?

Hinata wanted to punch her across the face.

Because she saw how aroused Ino usually was in Ren's presence. That she was secretly swooning over their teacher as much as Hinata did and she couldn't even fault the bimbo for it.

On the upside, Hinata forgave her father for being an absolute prick. Because with her medical knowledge and her Byakugan, she finally got a proper confirmation that he did care for her under his stoic resting bitch face.

Just as she got a confirmation that her grandfather truly could not give a damn about her alongside the rest of the clan elders.

Or that many branch family Hyugas were afraid of her.

Or the fact that several of her female classmates started to feel jealous of her since she grew her hair out.

And much to her quiet horror, the fact that Uchiha Sasuke could get an actual boner.

When looking at her.

Hinata shuddered. She could have happily lived without that information but her Byakugan did not discriminate.

Honestly, the Uchiha was not the only boy who had a boner when looking her way. Many did. In the academy. As she walked through the streets of Konoha. Even in her own home.

It was as disturbing as it was a confidence boost at the start. But now? Now Hinata didn't have any more fucks to give. It was just part of her life.

It wasn't anything special. Mizuki was aroused by her too. As was Iruka slightly aroused when looking at Ino. Their kunoichi class instructor had hots for Sakura, but only until the pinkette opened her mouth. Then it turned into irritation.

Naruto did not really love Sakura. He said he did but his body reactions disagreed with his words.

Sasuke and Naruto did find each other attractive and they both found it extremely disturbing. It was always amusing to see it when they glared at each other.

Iruka genuinely felt sorry for Naruto and wanted to help him.

Mizuki hated him with a burning passion.

At least her cousin Neji's hate boner for her did not contain any actual boner. There was only genuine hate.

Hinata could see a lot with her eyes. Not everything was pleasant.

Focusing on her chakra and refining a small bit of it into yang chakra, she let it wash over her body, easing its fatigue as she secretly thanked the Akimichi clan for unknowingly showing her how to mold yang chakra.

Ren was right. The secrets were all there for the taking. She just needed to grasp it.

Suddenly Ino tripped on a root and as she flailed her arms while falling down, she managed to grab Hinata, causing her to widen her eyes before she was pulled down onto the ground by the blonde.

Groaning, Ino apologized but Hinata just closed her eyes with a pained grimace.

"Ino... there was shit in the grass where we fell." She dryly deadpanned, making the blonde shriek like a banshee.

Sometimes, she truly hated being able to see so much.