Obligatory Disclaimer: The series Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own the OCs, picture, and this story.

An Important Note

I've tried to make this as canon-compliant as possible in regards to the timeline, but for some things I will be manipulating canon for my own whims, partially to make sense of the timeline itself (which is sometimes confusing even with hours of reading the wiki and lining up character ages and events, etc.) and partially to make my life easier. Just go along with it and don't worry about it too much.

Please enjoy.

Chapter 1: Of Silk and Tea Sets

{in which our protagonist finds herself in a different world in every sense}

In my first life, I had been the type of girl who came home right after school to complete her homework. The type to work ahead of schedule. I never went out after dark when I was younger, not because I wasn't allowed to, though I wouldn't know, would never now, if my mom would've let me. Even in college I had never been the type to go out and party. And it's not as though it was something to brag about, like in that 'not like other girls' kind of way.

It was just how I was back then.

I did what I was told and never rebelled, not even through my teenage years. After all, my mom, a single mother at that, did everything she could to provide for my siblings and I. It was the least I could do for her; to make her burden lighter. I suppose it was just in my nature to be obedient.

So it was with a great deal of irony that I was named Junko, 'obedient child', in my second life; and even more ironic that I was born into the prestigious Hyūga clan.

I didn't come to that realization until I was two years old. I wasn't the most observant during the first two years of my new life but considering I was spending all of my mental power trying to control my bowels and other faculties, I had a lot on my mind. As well of the culture shock of completely changing ethnicities, it was a lot to take in. And that's putting it mildly.

On the day I realized, I had been sitting in my high chair while my father tried to feed me. It was a fruitless effort on his part as I ignored the spoon he was holding to my face in favor of staring at my mother's back. My tiny baby attention span was obsessed with how her silky dark hair swayed with every movement. The rays of light streaming from the kitchen window caused shades of dark red to simmer through her tresses.

If only she'd come closer so I could grab onto them…

"Junko." My father Daichi poked at my cheek lightly with calloused fingers and I turned toward him with a whine.

The milky whiteness of his eyes caught me off guard. I had seen them several times before, peering over at me from the edge of my crib when I'd wake up in the middle of the night, but that day it was like I was seeing them for the first time. I blinked, reaching for them. A smile bloomed across his face as my pudgy fingers grabbed at his cheeks.

"Can see tou-chan?" I asked with my limited vocabulary. I moved my fingers lightly, or as lightly as I could with my poor motor control, underneath his eyelids.

I knew that he could see to an extent because he would always catch me the few times I had escaped whatever crib or pen I was placed in to explore our home. I remembered thinking that he could've possibly had a visual issue, especially with the bandage that was always wrapped around his forehead. For whatever reason, the idea that eyes that pale didn't exist unless they were damaged was so prominent that I peered closer, maybe hoping to find some way to fix them.

My father's brow furrowed and he frowned as he lifted me up into his arms.

"Of course Junko," he said. "Why wouldn't I?"

I wiggled slightly in his hold, ignoring his question. "But eyes not like kaa-chan?"

At the mention of her name, my mother Kimiko turned from her position at the sink, wiping her hands off on a dish towel. She had light colored eyes like father, but unlike him she had dark pupils in the middle of light honey eyes. The way eyes were supposed to look.

"You have the same eyes, Junko-chan; they are a part of your heritage," my mother said, running her hands through my hair as she took me from my father. She walked me to the hallway where a mirror hung suspended on the wall.

The sight that greeted me was startling. Even though I was aware of how different I was now from my last life, seeing my new self held by this woman that was now my mother (and yet was not, could never be my mom) caused me to gasp aloud. The tiny body reflected in the mirror had dark hair that curled slightly around a too pale face. The wide eyes that stared back at me were as pale and pupil-less as my father's, with the slight honey tint of my mother's.

I reached out and touched the reflection, staring deeply into the pale eyes that stared back.

"You're a Hyūga, Junko-chan," my mother's voice chimed softly in my ear. "Those eyes signify that you are a member of the clan."

"An honor that should never be forgotten," my father's voice came next as he joined us behind her.

I was only slightly aware of the look my parents shared as I continued to stare at the girl in the mirror, the new me, when one thought crossed my mind.

Oh crap.

Now, I'm no stranger to the Naruto series. It had been an obsession of mine between the ages of twelve and thirteen; I had spent middle school embarrassingly thirsting over Sasuke Uchiha. Regardless, thinking about the past wouldn't help me now because I didn't even know where I was in the timeline.

Had Naruto already been born?

Had the Uchiha clan been massacred?

Heck, the Chūnin Exams and Suna-Oto Invasion could have passed for all I knew.

I thought about this while I let my eyes rove over a chart of the chakra pathway system. As time passed after my revelation, nearing my third birthday, my parents had taken steps to prepare me for my eventual ninja training. I don't know if I had much choice in the matter but I took their words and not so subtle propaganda about serving the village and, probably more importantly, upholding the image of the clan without complaint. At least verbally.

Mother helped accelerate my education, constantly reading to me and having me read back to her. That was the easy part. But the lessons in kanji, katakana, and hiragana were extremely difficult to handle even with my head start of twenty-one years. She was a great teacher though and always helped me through my mistakes. As I wasn't physically ready for actual training, my father started helping me remember all 361 tenketsu of the body in preparation of using the byakugan. He also had me doing hand exercises disguised as games to prepare me for hand seals.

Back in my old world, most would likely see this as child abuse with the whole training your toddler techniques that could kill, essentially turning them into killing machines. But my adult mind was grateful for the stimuli; there wasn't much an almost three-year-old could do in a home ran by ninja, especially in the home of the Hyūga.

Mother was brewing tea in the kitchen while I studied on the deck just outside. The fragrant smell of semi-sweet herbs flowed beyond the open sidling doors to where I had been seated on a cushion for the past hour staring at the diagram. In my past life, I would've been sprawled along the wooden planks while reading but appearances were everything to the Hyūga, and sprawling was not Hyūga-like nor lady-like. While Mother was more lenient to my mistakes in proper etiquette, Father always corrected me without fail, even when he was on the other side of the house.

The byakugan was a terrifying thing.

I rose from my seiza position, stumbling slightly when the blood began to recirculate through my legs. I could hear my mother chuckle lightly from the kitchen as I shook out my legs, but as I turned towards the room she had her back to me, focused on her task. I toddled my way to her and brushed invisible dust from my light blue yukata, clutching the scroll to my chest.

Mother was the most interesting person I had come into contact with in this new life, and not just because she was the only person I interacted with on a daily basis. I hadn't known the Hyūga to mingle much outside the clan in the animated series, but then again, the series didn't really focus on them all that much anyways. Like with most nobility in my old world, there was a high chance of marrying within the family, in order to keep clan secrets like the byakugan safe. That was a bit worrying, but I wouldn't dwell on that until I reached puberty again. If I made it that far.

Anyways, Mother was an anomaly in the mostly homogeneous appearance of the Hyūga. Since the Hyūga were all about keeping appearances, it made sense that they'd let her into their inner sanctum, as she was from the Senju clan, who I had learned were distant cousins of the Hyūga. It was a very curious thing to do, but when I asked her why she married my father who was from the branch family, she'd just smile and tell me it was a long story for another day. I guess when you're basically the ninja equivalent of royalty, nobody really tells you what to do.

I made it to where she stood at the stove, but as I opened my mouth to ask her a question about chakra, a door slid open nearby. The distinct baritone of my father's voice, along with another older male voice came from the hallway. Quickly and without a sound, my mother disappeared before I could get in a word, and after a few moments, I stumbled to follow after her into the living room. I wasn't very graceful. She had the low table already set with tea and some light snacks before I reached the doorway.

She had somehow also collected my cushion from the porch, dusted it off, and had it placed in its usual spot when my father and an older gentleman appeared behind me.

My mother folded into a respectful bow at my side when the elder entered the room, which I copied out of habit.

"Good afternoon Hideyoshi-sama," she greeted politely. She straightened as he gave a nod in return and I did the same, sliding closer to her. The aura that radiated off the elder was noticeably strong; one that commanded respect and subordination from others. I didn't like it.

"It is good to see you are well Kimiko-san," the elder Hyūga replied, his cold pale eyes regarding me with the briefest of glances before turning back to my father.

"I suppose the child's lessons have been going well." It was more of a statement than a question, but the quiet dismissal and doubt it exuded made me clutch the scroll I had tighter to my chest and my eyes to narrow. I would've glared at the old man if not for the light touch at the back of my neck. A warning.

I looked up to my mother as she reached down to take the scroll away from my grasp.

"How about you go and play in your room for now Junko-chan." It was an order with a smile and I fought the urge to pout. I wanted to stay with her, but I nodded and gave her a small smile; gotta keep appearances you know.

"Okay, kaa-chan," I replied.

I walked towards the still open doorway where two other men I had not noticed come in with my father and the elder stood. They were strikingly similar in appearance, with the same long dark hair and pale Hyūga eyes. Twins? Both men stared at me as I passed. I paused and stared right back unblinkingly, the smallest act of defiance, before giving a brief bow and continuing down the hall.

Soon after that, my third birthday came. Apparently, third birthdays were a big deal to the Hyūga and so it became a huge affair, larger than I had expected, with many members of both sides of the clan present. The party was held in the main part of the compound and as for most parties for small children, it was mainly for the adults to gab to each other. For the Hyūga, it meant talking about the politics of the village and the clan. Adults were pretty much the same regardless of what world you're in.

I was sitting amongst other children my age as they chewed on toys and babbled to each other. Children in this world grew exponentially more quickly than children from my old one, which I assumed was due to the presence of chakra, but children were still children. With my prior life experience, I was way ahead of all the others in the pen, who dropped things and clumsily ran into each other. But it was nice to see that the Hyūga weren't as strict as I once believed since the children were quite normal. Guests came by to look at me and bring gifts of goodwill while I made work of deterring the other children's attention away from me and to each other until I was unbothered. I could hear my name being repeated several times amongst the babble of words, many of which I was still learning.

The room went silent when that familiar, frighteningly cold chakra from before appeared in the room. Hideyoshi appeared through the throngs of people, and before I knew what was going on, I found myself in the arms of my mother. From my new perch on her hip, I could see that the room had become completely divided, the most noticeable distinction being that one side had bandages or hitai-ate secured around their foreheads while the other went without. The Branch Family.

The weight of their eyes on me became heavy as Hideyoshi spoke.

"We are here not only to celebrate the third birthday of Hyūga Junko, child of Daichi and Kimiko." Why am I not surprised that there was something else? "We are also here to declare her addition to the Main House as potential heir of the Hyūga clan."

Wait, what?

A murmur ran through the crowd, though it seemed no one was surprised. However, there was a shift in the atmosphere; although it hadn't been all that joyous in the first place, it had become more stifled and somber. Not even the other toddlers made a sound.

"We are all aware that this is only a brief respite in the ongoing attacks from Iwa and Kiri." He continued. "As it stands, a number of our clansmen will be sent to join those out on the field soon, Hiashi and Hizashi included."

Another, louder murmur traveled through the crowd. My mother's grip on me tightened as the duo and Hideyoshi's eyes glanced over in our direction, and I clutched the sleeve of her silk kimono in response. This could mean nothing good.

"As it is custom with the third birthday of the heir or heiress of the clan, we shall now commence with the placing of the juinjutsu."

The silence returned as several young children were brought to the fore where Hideyoshi stood, between the ages of five and ten. I even noticed a child get pulled from the pen I had been placed in with the others and a cold spike of dread sank in my stomach. The elder turned and gave a nod to my father who stood silently near us.

I could only enjoy the warmth of my mother's arms for a moment longer as she gave me a light squeeze before handing me to my father.

"Be strong Junko-chan," she whispered to me as I was carried away, following behind the line of children who were being led out of the room by Hiashi and Hideyoshi.

What had I gotten myself into?

Posted/Edited: August 12th, 2016

Aesthetic changes: September 3rd, 2016

Minor changes in sentence structure and grammar fixes: January 22nd, 2017