414. In the afterlife, Yondaime and Hizashi have a conversation about Naruto and Neji.
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Hyuuga Hizashi sat silently under a beautiful willow tree, gazing thoughtfully at his son. The young boy was seventeen years old now, and a powerful Jounin of Konohagakure Village.
Hizashi's brow furrowed, though, at the boy beside him. The boy with his arm around him. The blonde boy who was rapidly becoming more and more powerful, already more so than the deceased Hyuuga's precious son.
Hizashi couldn't say he liked the thought of such a reckless boy having so much influence over his son. He had witnessed the Chuunin battle between his son and that other boy. He had witnessed how the younger had so surprisingly defeated the older. He had witnessed how that blonde boy had completely redefined his son's entire manner of thinking.
Hizashi won't deny it, he watched the match with relief, glad that his son had finally realized the error of his previous philosophy. He had been proud when the young boy had thought all that he had that day in his name.
Hizashi had also been proud of his brother, too. His brother, dear Hiashi, whom he missed with all his heart, as he did his son.
But he was still protective of his son, and, like any other parent would be, was still very reluctant to break the familial bond he had with the Jounin, even in death.
Hizashi sighed and stood, gliding calmly away from the tree as his child moved to sit under it, followed by his giddy puppy of a lover. Once at a fair distance, the man turned and fixed his eyes upon the pair.
Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji. Lovers now for one year. And yet his son's eyes still lit up whenever he saw the other as though it were only their first day partaking in this supposed bliss (supposed being Hizashi's adjective for the relationship, he was still reluctant to be so accepting).
"Uzumaki and Hyuuga," the man thought aloud, though heard by no one.
"An odd pair." Hizashi turned to see Namikaze Minato approach him. The man looked exactly like his son. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, the slightly tan skin, all of it was his son's. He was just an older and more mature version of the young boy.
The deceased Hokage walked up to Hizashi and stood peacefully beside him, watching the two lovers with a smile. Hizashi watched that smile carefully. He had always been an observant man, had always been able to read the hidden meaning within the hidden meaning, but this smile confused him. This smile was something he wasn't really able to discern, no matter how hard he tried. It was a mystery.
Minato turned to the Hyuuga and the smile disappeared, replaced with a look of contemplative solicitude. Hizashi held his gaze as long as he could, which, to his credit, was fairly long. But, at long last, his will heaved a great sigh and he turned away with a small laugh.
"I was much better at that when I was younger," he mused a little wearily. Beside him, the smile returned to the Hokage.
"Your son seems to have inherited that ability," he said, and Hizashi turned to the man with an arched brow.
"And that's all you can say?" he asked. It wasn't an accusation, it was a simple question. Minato continued to look at Hizashi and shook his head.
"What else is there to say?" he inquired a little stiffly. The corner of the Hyuuga's lips pointed skyward.
"Perhaps what you feel?" he suggested. Minato gave a chuckle.
"And where would that get me?" he returned. Hizashi gave an elegant tilt of the head, for Hyuugas never shrugged.
"Do you think I would know that?" he shot gently. "Are you going to pretend to be affronted by a simple suggestion? A gentle urging?" The blonde man turned his attentions fully, now, to his conversation partner.
"Now, why would I pretend to be offended by a simple suggestion?" he asked, quoting Hizashi.
"Again, do you think I would know that? Why a man I never knew would pretend to be offended by a simple suggestion?"
"You don't remember our days as friends in the Academy? If your simple suggestion does not offend me, then this most certainly does." At this, Hizashi laughed. It was a sound very reminiscent of his younger days, and Minato basked in it while it lasted.
After a moment, Hizashi sobered and both men turned to gaze at their sons, now sitting under the willow tree, the epitome of serenity. Naruto sat with his back against the twisted trunk of the tree and Neji sat with his back against Naruto's chest, his body fitted snugly between the Uzumaki's legs. Naruto's arms were wound tightly and protectively around Neji's midriff and his head was buried in the young brunette's long hair. Neji's head was relaxed against Naruto's shoulder and both boy's eyes were closed.
Hizashi and Minato felt an inkling of guilt at intruding on such peace, even though neither boy was aware of their presence.
"It is an odd pair," Hizashi agreed quietly as he sat. Minato nodded as he followed suit.
"And yet, I half expected him to fall in love with a Hyuuga," he exclaimed. "Though not this one. It's a little surprising." Hizashi shook his head.
"About as surprising as it is obvious," he said seriously. The blonde looked at him curiously.
"Must Hyuugas always speak in riddles?" he asked, half in jest. The other laughed.
"Is there any other way to speak?" he challenged. Minato grinned and closed his eyes, his head pivoting back around to face Naruto and Neji.
"Come now, enough of that," he chided gently. "is it possible to have a serious conversation with you?" Hizashi raised his eyebrows.
"Apparently not, as I only tend to speak in riddles," he said sternly. "It's not as though you know what to make of our sons either." He fixed his harsh eyes on the Hokage and the younger shifted his own eyes to lock with them. He was instantly solemn.
"You sound reluctant," he noted accurately. Hizashi's jaw tightened and his white eyes narrowed.
"Am I wrong to be so?" he queried. "When my son first met yours, he was filled with bitter resentment and furious pain. It was wrong of him to treat his family and clan as he did, however, to allow one boy to have such power over him? It makes me worry. And I am reluctant.
"Especially when I consider that boy's almost obsessive desire to find and bring the Uchiha back to the village, a more than lost cause." His speech finished, Hizashi instinctively looked down and away from Minato, so used to averting his eyes from the clan elders when he propositioned change or voiced his doubts of the clan's traditions to any of them. There was a silence.
"...You look much better without those frown lines, you know." Hizashi cast an odd glance in Minato's direction and didn't respond. The man was smiling at him in that way of his and the Hyuuga couldn't really find anything to say. So he pivoted back around to further speculate his son and the boy's lover. However, Minato wasn't done.
"It is true, I think, that Naruto doesn't really know what he's talking about half the time," he conceded softly. "But then, he has more of an idea than Neji. Maybe more of an idea than anyone I've ever known. I don't think it has anything to do with the level of power he has over your son." Hizashi sat quietly for a moment, his face relaxed, his eyes shut. Minato regarded him with an unreadable expression.
"Perhaps," Hizashi began slowly. "But, then, when is knowing what you're talking about the same thing as speaking wisely?" Minato's brows knitted as he considered the Hyuuga's meaning.
He had known during his short days at the Academy that Hyuuga Hizashi was an introverted philosopher of sorts. The boy always looked for unseen meanings, hidden beneath everything, even the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings. From what he had seen, sometimes the mental journey led Hizashi to something brilliant and so simple it was impossible to believe. Sometimes, though, the thought was fruitless.
He hadn't really been joking when he had asked Hizashi why Hyuugas always spoke in riddles. It had always puzzled the Hokage, the way Hizashi spoke, the things he believed in and his morals. He had made it a personal goal of his to figure the young boy out, but he had never achieved that goal and still hadn't, to his death, and to that very day.
And, as he sat beside him, watching the simple features of the still beautiful man that held so much convoluted thought, Minato realized that he was no closer to reaching that goal than ever before, perhaps even farther.
Sighing softly, the blonde man turned his gaze upward, sparkling cyan eyes watching the cerulean sky.
"Uzumaki and Hyuuga," the man beside him spoke, now looking skyward as well. "An odd pair." Minato smiled.
"Not that odd."
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Always wanted to write that one. I apologize if it's short and doesn't really explore much of anything. But the point of this oneshot is to just barely scrape the surface of these guys' feelings and to make you guys (the readers) think about other possible things they could be thinking while the conversation transpires.
Not really meant to be slashy (with the exception of Naruto and Neji) but if you see it that way, then great! Cuz I love slash! ;D
Thanks to all those who read, R&R, if you would.