Their training session was called short by a distraught Kurenai, who sent everyone home. Once home Hinata wouldn't let Saul do anything alone. She opened the door for him, wanted to eat together, even made him keep her company in the kitchen while she was making food! Saul got up to use the restroom.
"After you, Saul-kun." The girl smiled innocently, holding open the bathroom door. Saul scowled.
"Hinata! What's with you? Can't I even go use the bathroom in peace!?"
"Of course Saul-kun! You can use the bathroom in peace!"
"Hinata..." He growled. "Are you really going to try and play dumb with me?"
She froze. A few seconds passed as guilt and fear started to creep onto her face.
Hinata looked down. "Saul-kun... I'm sorry. But, you were planning to sneak out and go find Yakumo... right?"
Well if she had already seen through the ruse, there was no point in denying it.
Saul shook his head. "Hinata, you have very good eyes, but you cannot truly see if you do not understand. Listen to me silly girl; I'm only going to explain this once. Didn't it seem odd to you? Kurenai's caution during her first Genjutsu cast, the absence of Yakumo's mother, her father's excuse on why."
Hinata shook her head, still looking downcast. Saul didn't have time for this - he'd comfort her later.
He continued, "Yakumo's Kekkai Genkai has only activated in the presence of heightened emotion, acting to eliminate perceived threats to her well being. What exactly do you think might happen if she goes back to her home after what happened today, only to be resented by her mother and abandoned by her father?"
Hinata froze. Had she been so selfish? How could she have failed to see that the girl was in the exact same situation as her!
"Her kekkai genkai... I-it might activate again... Saul-kun..."
The Kurama Clan Grounds
"I told you! A demon! She's turned into a demon! You never should have allowed her to learn Genjutsu."
"Uroko! Don't say that about our daughter! She's no demon!"
"You HEARD it from her OWN MOUTH!!! What she did!!!"
"She said i-it wasn't under her-"
"Murakumo! I will not let that demon tear our family apart!"
"That's OUR daughter!!! She is OUR family!"
"From the moment she awakened that curse, Yakumo DIED!"
Yakumo sat by her bedside. She listened blankly to the shouts and screams coming from downstairs. Burying her head into her knees, she tried her best to drown everything out.
She loved both her parents deeply. Her father, who always supported and took care of her no matter what. Even though he sometimes had to keep silent to appease her mother, he would always make sure he made it up to her somehow, in secret. She loved her father. She knew he had nothing but her best interests at heart. If however, he was one day forced to choose between her or her mother. Who would he choose? Yakumo was scared to find out.
Her mother used to love her too, in her own way. The fear of what she could become twisted twisted it. She had become controlling, harsh, paranoid. All Yakumo wanted was to help her father revive the clan by becoming a powerful, beautiful kunoichi, becoming the best she could be. She wanted to prove to her mother that she was still the kind and beautiful girl her mother knew when she was growing up, even with the 'curse' she had gained.
Now all Yakumo could think about was how her mother was right. She was the demon. She was the problem! She knew there was no solution - her clan had always no choice but to kill the bearer of the curse before it was too late. She was no different.
In a sudden burst of mania, she grabbed a kunai from her bedstand. It had been a birthday present from her father. She loved it, always imagining how one day she'd grow up, never become ill again, and fight as a true ninja. Now she gripped it so hard, her knuckles went white. Wouldn't it be fitting? To use this Kunai, once the representation of what she might one day become, to do what a ninja should do? To live, to serve, to die for the sake of the village?
Suddenly her bedroom window opened. A head of brown hair poked its way in, then tumbled onto the floor. He stood up, patted himself down, and smiled at her as if he hadn't just done something outrageous!
"Sorry, I'm not really used to stealthy entrances. I prefer using the door if I can."
"S-saul!? What in the world are you doing here!"
"I wanted to check up on you... You seemed pretty upset when you left the training grounds earlier today," Saul responded. "It's what friends do, right?"
You wouldn't usually break into a friend's room at night. It wasn't appropriate to be breaking and entering, like some sort of thief! Especially if it was a girl's room! Yet, Yakumo couldn't care less at the moment.
"Saul..." She said with grievance, looking as if she was about to cry. Saul spread his arms open wide, and the Kunai clattered to the ground. Yakumo ran in and hugged him immediately.
After a while, the two separated. The girl was still sniffling, so Saul decided to lighten up the atmosphere. He bowed his head.
"Thank you for your generous hospitality in letting me visit your household, Lady Kurama."
Despite herself, Yakumo couldn't help but giggle a little.
"Saul, stop it! Your etiquette is all wrong."
"...Actually, nevermind."
He sighed. No matter what, a distraction would just be a distraction. He had to address the root cause before any real progress could be made.
"Yakumo. I want you to put me under a Genjutsu."
"What?" Her heart lurched in fear, "No!"
"Saul! I could have killed you! I'm not in control! I'm a demon! Kurenai sensei knows it, my mother knows it, even Hinata could see! You're the one who got stabbed! How can you be so..."
"Yakumo. The woman I'm looking at is no demon. We talked together in a Genjutsu world before, remember? You showed me the tulip field, talked to me about how you and your father visited that field, day by day, to cultivate the flowers. Even when you were sick you still went! Demons don't grow flowers! The love you showed when talking about your father was genuine, I know it."
Yakumo started crying, tears streaming out of her eyes as she stared at Saul in disbelief. Saul decided to push his advantage before she closed herself off.
He pressed his glowing palm onto Yakumo's head, sending them both into the world of Genjutsu. It was a copy of her room."
"Saul. It won't work if I'm not the one casting the Genjutsu."
"Really?" Saul shakes his head, "If that's so, how could Genjutsu ever be reversed? It's all about establishing the connection. With your Genjutsu abilities, I wouldn't be surprised if you were already in control. Try imagining something."
The world shifted. Suddenly they were at Team 8's training grounds. Exactly where her power first manifested. Where she first lost control. Where she first truly discovered that, she was a demon.
Author's Note: No elaborate ending notes for now sorry, I'm tired. Just going to hint though - the MC is not taking care of ID like they did in cannon. You'll have to see what Saul came up with! Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the ch.