[Hyūga Tamiko]

The gentle afternoon sun hung low in the distance as a lone student remained out in the training yard of Konoha's academy. As the other school children would flow out of the academy and onwards to whatever recreational activities they had planned for the rest of the free time that they had, one of the small handfuls that had opted to stay behind was a young member of the Hyūga clan. She remained busy practicing her strikes on a training dummy out in the yard with her back to everyone as their footsteps faded into the scenery of Konoha.

"Again!" She said to herself, going through the same practice of a formless style. It grated her about how much she wasn’t picking up the Gentle Fist as easily as everybody else. They told her it was far too much for her at the moment, but Tamiko could only stubbornly

Her footwork wasn’t too impressive. She was young and inexperienced, two words that never seemed to leave her be when reading the reports of her tests and practical exams. Despite the calm demeanor that she showed in all aspects in life, it drug under her skin like nothing else could. A proverbial knife that only dug deeper the further she got into her academy life. Her knuckles were red from the hours of punching, yet she continued her drills.

"Ah…gain…" She stopped to catch her breath, her Byakugan fading as her chakra resources were already low from the constant state of training without a break. Tamiko let out a cross between a sigh of frustration and a huff of indignance. She sat down on the bench nearby, wiping her forehead of sweat while trying her best not to pass out like last time. She had seen the academy nurse enough times as is.

[Hyūga Raika]

488 words Hyūga Tamiko

Raika had been "suggested" (or rather told) that she should go and see one of her cousins that was currently in the Academy, so she could perhaps help little Tamiko learn how to use the Main House's signature Taijutsu and see how she's getting along with that method of combat. She's somewhat surprised to see that all the other Academy students have already gone home, leaving Tamiko by herself at the moment while she's smacking into the training dummy again and again. Raika herself had managed to leap up and watch while her arms were holding her up on the wall. It would have been humorous had it been anyone that wasn't solidly built like Raika was. Although her form was actually all over the place, the Genin found herself feeling quite proud of her little cousin punching at the dummy until her knuckles were red, and she decides to go around the wall to actually enter the Academy, maybe give her some pointers, even though she was sure that the Academy teachers had likely already given her some instruction.

After making it all the way around to enter the training field, she smiles when she sees Tamiko resting on the bench and wiping sweat from her forehead. She'd been able to tell from watching over the top of the wall that the young girl had at least learned to activate her Byakugan, and that was a very important step to starting her on the path towards learning the Gentle Step, even though nearly all of the techniques in that fighting style would likely be far outside of her league at the moment. She could still work towards that method of combat, starting now.

"Hey there, lil cuz. You're doing a good job, you know that?"

Despite calling Tamiko her "lil cuz", she otherwise spoke to the young student as if she was an adult, remembering how she had grown up being treated like a child and despising those that engaged in speaking to her as if she didn't know anything. Raika still feels somewhat protective of her younger family, and she reaches over and rubs a hand along her back, soothingly, letting her relax a little and aiding just a bit with her breathing.

"At this rate, you'll be kicking butt in no time."

Raika herself was still wearing her coveralls, having finished only the warm-up when she'd been approached to go and see Tamiko, interrupting her planned workout. Her long, straight hair was still pulled back in a ponytail, and her upper body was still wearing the dark gray tank top that let her musculature stay visible. She was also wearing the Hung Gar rings on her wrists and ankles, more from habit than because she really expected to do any training at the moment. Her headband, as always, hung loosely tied around her neck as she towers over her cousin at a size of 6'3".

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

She was tired, exhausted mentally and physically from her inability to nail down the clan's signature style, despite being woefully under prepared for it. It only proved to make her further annoyed as the girl would huff and stomp her feet on the ground. "It's not fair! Everyone else can do it just fine, but I'm the only one struggling!" Tamiko whined, leaning back in a quiet frustration. But it was only by the sudden familiar voice that the teen would jump back and nearly fall out of her seat on the bench before quickly regaining her balance and jumping back up to face her older cousin (and all around buffest Hyūga), Raika. The mask that had slipped down was instantly refreshed as Tamiko continued to regain her more calm and stoic composure.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there. It's been a while, Raika." Tamiko moved over to the woman, her eyes glued on the pillars of muscle that were her arms, currently rubbing her back some and Tamiko looked back as best she could at them. One thing that she always liked was that Raika seemed to always talk to her like a fellow adult. Most of the clan and other people in general seemed to think that one way to keep the younger generation in line was to talk to them like kindergarteners and shove in as much of a condescending tone as possible. So out of most people, Tamiko was at least a little more honest with her.

"I was just practicing Jyuken again, trying to get an early start to learning it as a Genin. The way everyone else uses it makes it look like child's play." Her tone was more reserved and tended to keep an emotionless but peppy tone throughout her speech. She was saying things in the way a refined master might, but without the refinement or the mastery. Her eyes went up towards the taller Hyuga as she noticed the attire Raika had on. "Are you training as well? I thought somebody like you didn't ever need to do stuff like that. You're like one of the strongest Hyūga."

Hyūga Raika

[Hyūga Raika]

403 words Hyūga Tamiko

Raika always wanted to provoke an honest reaction or response from Tamiko, so despite the tone that the younger Hyuuga would take, she rather felt that Tamiko was her favorite cousin, not that she'd ever tell any of the other members of the Hyuuga such a thing. It'd probably break Honno's heart, and it'd probably bring a lot of undue attention to Tamiko if she told any other member of the clan. She pats her cousin on the shoulder when she says that it's been a while since they've spoken, and Raika nods once, her big smile showing that she's also happy to see the young Academy student again.

"Practicing Jyuken only gets easier with time and perfect practice. If you think about it, every day is going to be easier than right now."

Raika almost feels like laughing when Tamiko seems surprised at her choice of clothing, as well as her apparent surprise that she's training, and she feels quite a bit of pride welling up inside her when she's called the "strongest" Hyuuga. She should really make sure that her cousin is aware of the fact that it was less than true that she's the strongest of their clan, but... Well, a little basking in the praise wouldn't hurt too much, would it? So she takes a breath, somewhat delaying the inevitable before she lets Tamiko know that it wasn't really all about physical strength.

"Oh, cuz. I'm not the strongest Hyuuga- just yet. Now don't get me wrong, I could box with Hitomi!"

The Genin throws a few jabs at the air, hopping from foot to foot like an acrobat, but then she drops the boxer's stance and shrugs.

"Strength isn't just about physical power, though. And besides that, Hitomi has been training a lot longer than I have. That's the secret, Tamiko: even though I'm one of the strongest fighters of the Hyuuga clan, I can't be the strongest unless I keep training. And even when I get to the point that I am the strongest, I have to train to keep myself that strong."

She gives Tamiko a wide grin, flexing one of her arms in a curl to show off the definition and the tone of her arm muscles while she describes how she has to keep training. The Genin is at least hoping that it helps to motivate her younger cousin to keep working on training.

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

"But that's what everybody says..." Tamiko said, huffing at the piece of advice given to her. It had been one of many that was constantly shoved down her throat, regardless of the situation. One of the many reasons why she preferred to solve things herself instead of asking for help. There was some irritation, but thankfully, Raika was close enough to her that it wouldn't show. "If that's the case, why don't I get better the more I practice? I've done this for a week straight and I can't make my Byuakugan last more than two minutes!" She was frustrated and fed up of being the inferior Hyūga of her clan, crossing her arms over her chest with a childish pout.

Raika went on to explain how she wasn't the strongest Hyūga persay, but seemed to enjoy the compliment either way. Tamiko had always dreamed about fighting about as good as Hitomi could. It seemed so unreachable given the disparity in age and skill between them. But the more buffer cousin of Tamiko's would elict a laugh from her. That brief moment when her guard was fully let down and allowed herself be be a teenager again without restricting her emotions. She beamed happily up at Raika, her younger hand reaching to gently prod at the solid muscle that Raika had in envy.

Her eyes traveled along the ridges of the end result of dedication and persistence. "Wow, I wish I had muscles like yours, Raika." she tried to mimic the pose that the older woman had taken, though she was still somewhat young to start building up mass, or at least as much as her cousin had. "If you wouldn't mind, um, could you maybe..." The words wanted to come out of her mouth, but her pride wouldn't allow it. Tamiko looked flustered, eyes going every which way but towards Raika as she fumbled to try and stitch her thoughts out in a more congruent shape.

"W-Well, I mean, since you're here...If you wouldn't mind training together and...showing me how you do things?"

An absolute knife through her heart.

Hyūga Raika

[Hyūga Raika]

501 words Hyūga Tamiko D-rank exp training: 3/8

Raika smiles when Tamiko complains that she's just repeating what others have told her, although Raika knows this because it's true, at least it was for her. She gives her younger cousin a bright smile when she demands to know why her Byakugan never seems to last for more than two minutes regardless of how much she practices, and then she reaches over and puts a hand on her head, being very gentle and careful not to put the weight of her arm fully on the younger Academy student's head before she sends gentle waves of chakra into her, letting her feel how her older cousin's chakra flows through her chakra pathway system and then exits back out through her various tenketsu points.

"You should be able to feel that, even without the Byakugan active. Your chakra pathways are working if you can feel it, right? So don't worry too much about advancing so fast, you've got everything working just right, so it's only a matter of time before you get it going."

Then she has an idea, and she wonders if Tamiko might actually be straining her eyes too much by focusing too hard on keeping her Byakugan activated with her chakra, which she'd had to learn the hard way herself. Of course, because of the political maneuvering of the Hyuuga clan, Raika had been given much more personal lessons on the Hyuuga's techniques, and it seemed unlikely that Tamiko would be named heiress with how poorly that had worked out for them in Raika's own case.

The Genin is brought out of her musings to the sound of her favorite cousin giggling with delight at the muscular flexing, and she feels just a little self-conscious as Tamiko remarks that she wishes she could have muscles like hers. Then she tries to flex herself, and although she had more muscle than some of the other more studious kids her age, she certainly didn't have any level of mass or tone that Raika had. The older Genin lets Tamiko stumble over her words for a bit, trying to let her find the courage herself to ask what she wanted before she begs to have them train with one another, and Raika eagerly agrees.

"Sure thing! You know that any time you wanna train with your big cousin, you only have to ask. But just one thing first... Activate your Byakugan for me."

As Raika asks this of her cousin, she activates her own doujutsu, watching to see how Tamiko is using the Byakugan to maybe see if she can find out what might be going on with her use of the Byakugan. Contrary to popular belief, there was more to the Byakugan than simply learning how to activate it, because it requires a lot of development and knowledge to be able to use it effectively, and although Raika was only a Genin, she was rapidly becoming the go-to expert on how to utilize the Byakugan from some of the younger members.

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

Raika's hand fell on top of Tamiko's head, the younger girl's expression remaining in that fed up state. Like many students, she wanted to master things that would take lifetimes to achieve. Such was the curse of youth. She closed her eyes and felt the gentle touch of Raika's chakra flowing inside of her chakra systems. Indeed, she could feel it but it didn't make the taste of a bruised ego feel any better. "But the village needs my skills now! How am I supposed to become as legendary as the first Hyūga if I can't even use a stupid first level Jyuken technique right?" Once again, Tamiko showed genuine emotion for Raika, a clear difference in the way she presented herself to people. It was as close to genuine as Tamiko could manage.

At her agreement to her train, the academy student beamed up at the older girl. "Really? You'll help me train some?" She was eager to get started right away, even after blowing away all of her stamina on training by herself prior to Raika showing up. The request before did surprise her, although she would naturally comply. Tamiko stood up before Raika and took a moment to compose herself before activating her Byakugan. Veins bulge out on the side of her head and the younger of the two could see the chakra circulation of one another. Everything seemed normal now, and Tamiko couldn't exactly see what might have been holding back her training.

What her cousin could see was an influx of chakra pumped towards her eyes and head. The flow was uneven and left her other tenketsu points dry of chakra, as barely any could be detected flowing down to her hands and feet. The flow of chakra near her head was drawing in far too much for simply maintaining the Byakugan. It was an unnecessary resource drain that would explain a lot about the lag in training that Tamiko had been experiencing. It was a common mistake no doubt, but one that would indeed hamper one's ability to master their clan's highly coveted treasure.

"How does it look, Raika?" Tamiko asked, hopeful that she could be given some instruction on how to improve her skill with her clan's dojutsu.

[Hyūga Raika]

536 words Hyūga Tamiko D-RANK EXP TRAINING: 4/8

Raika is certainly relieved that Tamiko's chakra pathways weren't hindered themselves, but she remembers herself feeling this way when she was younger, but Raika had had no one to vent this frustration out to, and this had led to these feelings building up inside her. She'd been able to repurpose those feelings into fuel for her own journey of self-improvement, but that journey had taken a bit of a hard turn whenever she'd acted out. The Genin was aware of the changes in the clan's atmosphere when she'd come back, but whatever happened while she was away had been neither quick nor easy for most of the older members of the clan. Emotions would still need to be bottled for the purposes of clan politics, at least for now, and that had led to Raika feeling resentment for her clan instead of gratitude for teaching her their clan techniques.

It really was better, in Raika's view, for her cousin to be able to vent all her frustrations to a confidant, and she was more than glad to be that trusted adult, even if she was still a Genin at the age where most ninja her age were getting up to Chuunin or even Special Jounin status. Being a Genin let her be a bit closer to Tamiko. She's happy to see that Tamiko is still able to activate her Byakugan, but she's pumping far too much chakra into the doujutsu, causing it to light up as brightly as the Uchiha's Sharingan does whenever their own eyes activate. In such a little body and with such low chakra reserves, for an Academy Student, it meant that she couldn't use her chakra anywhere else. Her Jyuken might hit the right places, but with no chakra to expel from her palms, there would be no damage.

"Yer doing really well, but I found yer problem! Go ahead and deactivate 'em again."

She waits for Tamiko to comply before she goes about explaining what's going on and why she might be having this issue, considering to herself how she might help Tamiko to train at least in the Jyuken. When she'd been Tamiko's age, she'd gone much farther in the studies for the Hyuuga's Taijutsu, but she'd also been personally trained by masters of the art, and harshly focused on to the detriment of her emotional and social upbringing.

"What's goin' on is you're using up all your chakra to activate the Byakugan and keep it goin', but it really shouldn't be draining ya so much. What I wantcha to do is practice activating the Byakugan with as little chakra as possible; failing to activate it is still a success, because then you stop and try again with just a lil bit more chakra the next time, see? I had to learn to do that myself, because I ended up with the same problem."

Although this was true that she'd had to train for the same scenario, she'd been half Tamiko's age when she learned this lesson. She wonders to herself what her aunt and uncle have been doing to help Tamiko prepare for becoming a ninja, but decides that she's better off not getting too involved with those two.

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

As Tamiko continued to hold the Byakugan, she could feel the strain on her body as her sight continued to see through the walls of the academy up into a certain point. But regardless of the discomfort, the younger cousin would hold out for Raika to see what she was doing wrong. Her observation lasted for a few moments but she was instructed to cut it early. Tamiko took a breath and cancelled the flow of Chakra to her eyes and ending her usage of the Byakugan. Raika spoke up about what she had been doing wrong, as the younger cousin looked expectantly at the larger girl. Her answer did come as a shock.

"I didn't know that you could even do something like that!" Tamiko said as she thought back to the method she was using to direct the flow of chakra throughout her body. It was the standard practice that all shinobi had been taught when going through the motions of first learning about chakra control. Breath in, expel, breath out. "So just activate it with as little chakra as possible. Sounds easy enough." Tamiko gave a confident nod of her head at Raika's tutoring before getting started.

She'd adopt the same proper posture. Back at a perfect ninety degree angle and controlling the flow of her breathing. Then, she'd try and dilute her system with as little chakra as possible to order herself to activate her dojutsu. The first attempt proved to be a big nothingburger. She barely expelled any chakra and nothing happened. But it was her first shot at this exercise, so nothing ventured, nothing gained.

the second attempt, she put a modicum of chakra into the activation. The same effort as before: straightened up posture, breathing, and then activating it...and still nothing. The third try, she decided to put more. Standing up straight, controlling her breathing and a sudden activation. The Byakugan had activated, but she was fairly certain that this was too much, given the slight pressure on her eyes. So she tried again. And again. And again. Each time it was too little or too much.

It was the eighth or ninth time when Tamiko's patience had run dry. In front of Raika, she stomped her foot in frustration and growled under her breath. In rare display, she had forgone the stoic personality and acted...more like a teenager that couldn't do something they wanted. "Why can't I get this?" she whined. "I'm trying my absolute hardest not to overload it and it's not working!"

[Hyūga Raika]

304 words Hyūga Tamiko D-rank xp training: 5/8

While Tamiko tries to use a minimum amount of chakra to activate her Byakugan, Raika watches closely, seeing herself in Tamiko's trial and error for activating her Byakugan with as little chakra expenditure as possible, knowing that it's going to take her at least as long as it took Raika to be able to minimize her usage of chakra for the doujutsu. The attempts are getting closer and closer, only gradually, but she can tell that Tamiko is on the verge of a breakthrough when she has a bit of a fit, which is definitely understandable after trying so hard over a dozen times. Raika has to hold back a giggle at the sight of her younger cousin having an average teenager moment. Instead of chastising her like most of the Hyuuga might have done, especially the main house family, Raika lets her get all that emotion out of her, finding it refreshing to not have some emotionless machine-like efficiency freak.

"You're getting really good at it! Besides, this is gonna help you in the long run, and it's always better to learn it yourself. Then you'll have muscle memory to fall back on when you're in a crisis situation and you need your Byakugan right away."

Raika nods sagely and pats Tamiko on the shoulder again, rubbing across her shoulders back and forth in a soothing motion. Hopefully it would help her to relax a little bit more, and at least Raika wasn't pushing her to not take such a firm stance like that while she was activating her Byakugan; for now, it only mattered that she train to be able to activate it without expending so much of her chakra reserves focused only on keeping the doujutsu activated like that, and they could work on activating it on reflex some other time.

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

Tamiko hadn't realized she was making a fool of herself until she was midway doing it. The day to day anger and emotions pent up for so long since she discovered that this inability to master just turning on dojutsu. After the three second long tirade, she'd wince, as if preparing for some lecture or lesson about ruining the facade of the calm and self important Hyūga. After clearing her throat out and adopting her usual stance, she'd frown and keep her gaze to the ground in shame. The ideals of old were still installed so deep inside of her. "I apologize. I've just been at this for so long...A Hyūga that can't even master their Byakugan is no real Hyūga." Her head was hung low and all seemed to be against the young teen.

"Mm?" Her head picked up as Raika's hands fell onto her shoulder and began to rub and offer words of encouragement. The older woman didn't chastise her or say how inadequate she was compared to the other active shinobi in the clan. Tamiko's expression said it all. Confusion spread through her veins as she watched Raika rub her shoulder. Wasn't she going to get upset? Raika offered her words of encouragement and seemed well versed in her skills. "You're not...yelling at me? But I failed the task you gave me..." With her continued support, Tamiko would continue to try again. Her vigor was renewed and seemed to put in some more effort into her attempts.

Tamiko tried and tried again, just simply trying to activate the Byakugan as she had before. Her attempts were still largely unsuccessful to regulate how much energy she was putting into her attempts, but she was slowly getting better. Through the sight their clan’s eyes gave them, chakra was slowly inching forward through her systems into an even flow. It wasn’t as perfect as somebody of Raika’s current position, but it was improvement. The pressure on her head had all but disappeared as she managed to slowly improve her concentration. She could feel the chakra making itself known in her body again, although the constant switching back and forth was causing her to slowly experience fatigue.

It took another ten or fifteen attempts this time, before she’d exhale and need to stop to catch her breath. Raika could see that she was almost there. The final try had been so close to a near perfect flow of chakra, at the cost of her expending a lot of her chakra in such a short time by her many activations. Tamiko had to sit down, trying to catch her breath while the girl rubbed her temples. It felt like there was a vice squeezing both sides of her head, trying to pop her eyes out.

[Hyūga Raika]

502 words Hyūga Tamiko D-RANK XP TRAINING: 6/8

Raika smiles at Tamiko when the expression is written clearly on her face, as she was probably quite used to being chastised for any and every failure by the little training that the Hyuuga clan had already tried with her. She remembers clearly the self-doubt that they implanted in their younger charges, especially for emotional outbursts, but she felt that Tamiko should know that her Genin older cousin wasn't anything like that. But she doesn't want Tamiko slacking off either! So she'd better make it clear what she expects out of her younger relative.

"No, hon, I'm never going to yell at you, as long as you give it your best effort. That's what it takes to get muscles like mine, too, you know."

Raika watches her little cousin keep trying again and again, each time getting closer and closer to getting it just right. In the meantime, the Genin kept her own Byakugan active so she could watch her progress while she goes through a light workout, ensuring that while her own cousin is busy working up a sweat through constant chakra use, so was she; if Tamiko was going to be putting in effort, then her big cousin ought to be doing at least as much work as the Academy Student was. There was no way she was going to let Tamiko think she was going to be going through it alone.

When Tamiko finally stops to rest, Raika heads inside for a moment before coming back with a bottle of ice-cold water, handing it to her to keep her hands busy while the Genin's own hands slip to either side of the little teen's head, expelling chakra gently into her chakra network to somewhat revert the flow for a short while and helping to alleviate the pain she's probably getting from so much intense focus and turning her Byakugan on and off again so rapidly. The clan's doujutsu wasn't really meant to be trained this way, but she was getting very close.

"You're almost there! And once you get it perfect, memorize exactly how much chakra you use when you activate it, and next time, we can get you practicing to use that much chakra every time. At the rate you're going, you'll master the Eight Trigrams before you even leave the Academy."

Not that Raika thought they'd let her learn such jutsu while she's still in the Academy, but having the Byakugan would certainly greatly improve her training while she's there. And besides, although she wouldn't admit this to Tamiko herself, helping her with training the Byakugan in this way was really helping the Genin to better understand how chakra overuse might cause someone damage and how she can best heal it using what she knows about chakra and the human body already. At the very least, with Raika there, Tamiko wasn't going to get herself hurt nearly as badly as she would be if she were going it alone or with another member of the Hyuuga family.

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

Tamiko tried more and more, again and again as her eyes were switched on and off. The acts were mentally exhausting for such a young body but she continued still. Her breathing was harsh and overexertion was showing to all who viewed on. Her hands shook as they made the proper signage in order to try one last time. Unlike the other times, this one was different. A wind blew through the academy as she'd activate the Byakugan perfectly this time. Unlike the others, her chakra control for this time for perfected. She had kept a minimal amount of chakra to maintain her Byakugan while the rest of it was all full force inside of her. She turned over to look at Raika for her judgement.

Once it was given, Tamiko found her second wind. "Yes! I did it! I did it!" She jumped around in her celebration. It had been so long since she could say that something came so easy to her! She laughed and then ran to wrap her arms around Raika and squeeze her as tight as possible. A long cry from the stoic and calm girl that Tamiko had always been trained to be. After a few seconds of hugging her cousin, she looked up with her dojutsu still active. "Thank you so much! You're the best, Raika. I owe you one!" that youthful glee in her eyes, filled to the brim with excitement despite her clan's teachings. It was nothing short of what many Hyūga were taught not to be.

"I wish Mom and Dad were as helpful as you were..."

[Hyūga Raika]

330 words Hyūga Tamiko D-RANK XP TRAINING: 7/8

Raika lets out a squeak of glee, the kind of noise one would not expect from such an imposing and often intimidating woman, when the Genin sees that her younger cousin has perfected the activation of the Byakugan, although now it would take a lot of training to get the activated dojutsu to use that enhanced sight to look further than 10 meters; that stress could be taken care of at a much later date. For now, the Hyuuga girls celebrated with a great big hug. Another little surprise for Tamiko, most likely, was that she wasn't crushed by the older woman's hugs. Despite her looks, Raika was, in fact, capable of a mother's more delicate hugs.

"I'm so proud of you! One step closer to being a rowdy Main House upstart like me!"

She lets up on the hugging a little when Tamiko seems to get a little bit disappointed that her parents weren't going to be the ones that could be as helpful as Raika was, but she redoubles her hugging with a great big bear hug instead, after a moment.

"Then I'm just gonna have to be there for you like an aunt, aren't I? Shoot, I'm old enough to be your aunt, I guess."

Raika can't help but to let out a bit of a giggle at the fact that this is likely to be true, and she sighs as she relaxes a little, glad to see that she's getting better at teaching others about the clan's techniques. From Jounin to Academy Students, Raika was probably making a bit of a name for herself by teaching other Hyuuga clan members, and she wonders for a moment if this Shigure person she'd heard muttered by the older relatives had done something similar to get their consternation.

"And remember, if you're ever in trouble, as long as you call my name, I'll come running. And I'm pretty fast, too. Now, what do you wanna eat? It's my treat!"

”

by Pinn @ THQ

[Hyūga Tamiko]

Tamiko laughed more, hugging the older Hyuga with all of her might as her tiny body bobbed up and down while she remained busy being excited about what the future could hold now that she had all but mastered her eye's activation. "I really wanna start a team with you when I'm a Genin! You can be the super strong one and I can go super fast! Or I can be the brains like Hitomi! I wish I could hurry up and grow up! It feels like I've been studying at the academy for an eternity now." she groaned, rolling her eyes while being put back down on the ground. Ironic, considering that she was in a position where the young tended to meet their demise more often than note. But to Tamiko, all she wanted was to serve like the rest of her clan.

The offer to be more supportive of her than her parents was well received by Tamiko, the academy student awkwardly fumbling over her words as she'd nod her head along. "I...uhm, thank you!" the girl said, "They're just so...I could be the best cook in the world and they would still criticize everything I did. Even when I'm training back at home, they're scolding me about every little detail. It's like they want me to be the next clan head with how much stuff I'm doing." Her troubles weren't exclusive to her, as Raika likely knew about how strict the Hyūga could be when it came to anything. But still, Tamiko would greatly appreciate the support more than the muscle girl knew.

"Food? Definitely!" Tamiko said, her stomach letting out a fierce growl, the teen smirking up towards her. "I'm starving. I could eat everyone's lunches in class." The girl joked, walking away alongside her cousin, young Tamiko beginning her journey, one step at a time.