Hello!

Long ago (2010), I began writing The Sun Kunoichi, a really really really long NaruHina adventure. Part of what made that fic so absurdly long was the fact that I featured flashbacks to the previous generation, with the main character being Hinata's mother, an original character of mine. However, the flashback business kind of broke down when it was overwhelming the presence of the actual present-day stuff, so I removed all of it from TSK. The readers who liked the flashbacks asked me to post them again, and so we have this fic.

Hopefully you won't have to read The Sun Kunoichi to enjoy this (or vice versa), but it is a prequel so there'll be future-references. Either way, whether it's the first time you're seeing this or not, I hope you enjoy it.

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Hikari Gaiden

Chapter One

Thirteen Years Before The Nine-Tailed Fox Attack

The wheels of the carriage rolled with their familiar imperfections, each a little misshapen in their own way. It was hard at first, but the groove was well-worn in the passengers' minds by now, and each had learned to deal with it.

Four ninja in Konoha headbands sat inside the carriage, each sparing frequent glances at their quarry.

One was a tall man, his short, spiked brown hair flopping a little as he'd been forced to squeeze himself into the small space. His face was marked with small red triangles on either side, and the pupils of his eyes were thin. There was a massive dog at his feet, which did little to help the legroom issue, but the man would never have gone without it. He was Kegawa of the Inuzuka clan, and he led the squad of ninja.

The squad were all genin in their early teens, two boys and a girl. One of the boys was tall and thin with short dark brown hair, and he frequently shot contemptuous looks at the girl beside him. This was either the cause of, or retaliation for the way the purple-haired girl kept smirking at him; it was very hard to tell with the pair. The boy was named Ando and the girl Akane, and to their credit, they had very quickly realised that arguing loudly on a very long journey was an easy way to get thrown out of the carriage, possibly off a cliff. They had thus resolved to only annoy each other in perfect silence, ignoring the regular jostling of the slightly misshapen wheels.

The second boy was Tosuda, a portly boy who came from the Akimichi clan. He was quiet and studious, and mostly kept to himself. But even he glanced here and there at the girl beside him, for she was the reason they were in the carriage in the first place.

Her hair was long and brown-black, falling over her round face and deep green eyes, reaching down to her shoulders. Her skin was slightly darker than the average for a Konoha citizen, and her cheekbones were more prominent. She was a little taller than most other fourteen year old girls Kegawa had seen, and was built stocky. She wore a maroon robe that wrapped around her torso, tied together with small clasps. Its sleeves were very long, so much that they would have completely passed over her hands and then some, if not for the way she'd bunched them up. She wore a brief, stiff-looking skirt with vibrant colours, and long black pants beneath that.

Her shoes were thick leather boots, but she held those in her arms, out of concern for accidentally stepping on the dog's paw. A little dried mud had fallen on her lap a few hours before, but she had just rubbed it in as hard as she could, claiming that spreading it out would make everything more even. She was Hikari, a royal lady of the Land of the Sun.

"Kegawa-san?"

Kegawa looked to his charge.

"Yes, Lady Hikari?"

Hikari nodded out the window, where the thick forests of the Land of Fire passed slowly by.

"Those trees are dropping their leaves, but it's spring," she said. "How does that make sense?"

Kegawa chuckled.

"That's just one of the mysteries of life," he said. "Trees in the Land of Fire drop leaves all day, every day, for the entire year. Why? I have no idea. They just do."

"Maybe it's a disease," suggested Akane.

"You shut up," said Ando. "Nowhere else in the world has trees that do that. They're a symbol of the Land of Fire's great heritage."

"Well, maybe it's a good disease," said Akane.

"How can you have a good disease?!"

Kegawa shook his head in exhaustion as Ando and Akane broke their silence. He didn't bother to stop them because their arguments inevitably blew over as fast as they started, but he wished they'd kept quiet just a little longer. The carriage would reach the village soon, and he didn't want Hikari in a bad mood. He just prayed she thought most Konoha ninja were like Tosuda, who was at least quiet, instead of those two.

His dog gave a mumble of distaste, and Kegawa patted her twice, enjoying the sensation of his fingers on her soft fur.

As he saw Kegawa look back out the window, Tosuda put his left shin up onto his right leg and pulled out his kunai. Looking over his kunai's edge carefully, Tosuda satisfied himself with its sharpness, then pushed it to his metal shin guard and carved a deep, straight scratch into it, alongside several others.

"Aren't those meant to be for confirmed kills?" asked Hikari.

Tosuda looked momentarily taken aback, then answered:

"Yeah, normally. For me, they're for Ando-Akane arguments. I figure hearing yet another lover's spat is way worse than fighting enemy ninja."

Hikari laughed, but Kegawa's stern gaze at Tosuda made the boy put away his kunai.

"Don't be so familiar, Tosuda," he reprimanded.

"Yes, Kegawa-sensei," Tosuda responded.

An hour later, the carriage stopped in front of Konoha's gates, and those inside were mercifully allowed out. Climbing up onto the side of the carriage, Tosuda, Ando and Akane began passing Hikari's luggage down from the roof, Hikari quickly joining Ando in hanging off of the side. Kegawa paid the carriage driver, then told his squad and Hikari to wait. He spied a lone blond boy wandering near the open gate, and called out:

"Come here!"

The boy looked a little confused, or perhaps nervous, but walked over to Kegawa and his squad anyway. He wore a white jacket over a green t-shirt and short pants, a satchel slung over his side. Hikari guessed he was a little younger than the members of Kegawa's squad, judging by his height and youthful face. He was holding a stack of books under one arm, and the satchel looked heavy.

"Kegawa-sensei?" the boy asked.

"Yuto," said Kegawa.

The boy frowned, looking down at the ground for a second before returning his gaze to the Inuzuka.

"I'm Minato, sir," he said.

"Sorry, Minato," said Kegawa. "I need you to run and tell Lord Hokage that Lady Hikari has arrived."

Minato's eyes flicked to Hikari, then down at her clothes. The stripes of red and yellow with intricate, ancient-looking patterns were clearly a surprise to him, as was Hikari's casual expression.

"Land of the Sun," Hikari explained.

"Near the Skybreaker Mountains!" said Minato, with the sudden excitement of somebody who knew a lot about something. "Are you wearing goatskin, or-"

"Minato, quiz her later," said Tosuda.

"Yeah," said Minato. "Sorry. Goodbye."

Hikari nodded slightly, and Minato dashed off.

"Smart kid," said Hikari.

"He's not the standard," said Kegawa. "Reads books like they're air."

"He'll probably be ordering us around someday," Tosuda added.

"Minato?" asked Akane. "He can't exactly fight."

"He can fight fine," said Ando.

"You've never seen him fight," said Akane, "don't be stupid."

"You're the one who keeps not not being stupid!"

Their eternal battle began anew, and Ando and Akane once again became of no use to Kegawa beyond the most basic of duties.

"You three take Lady Hikari's luggage to the Hyuga compound," he said, gesturing to them and Tosuda. "Be careful with it. Tell the Hyuga to meet us there."

"We're not going to the Hyuga compound?" asked Hikari, her brow furrowing.

"No," said Kegawa. "You can meet the Hokage first. Damn nest of vipers…"

Kegawa's muttering did little to ease Hikari's nervousness, but she followed him into the village anyway. She noticed that it was mostly empty of people, civilian or ninja; she wondered if the streets had been cleared so as to avoid a scene when she showed up.

Her footsteps echoed through the vacant streets as she walked alongside the jonin. She felt an urge to hold his hand, but she tightened her hand into a fist, firmly rejecting the idea. Kegawa was fatherly, but he wasn't her father. Her parents were a long way away, and she'd already said her goodbyes to them.

Don't think about that, she thought.

She was led up a flight of stairs to a large, earth-coloured building, clearly worn down by age. From the foyer that she saw, she guessed that this was the main organisational building of the village. At first she had assumed that the giant stone faces carved into a mountain were the town's centre, but then she realised that that would be sort of tacky. Kegawa led her up more stairs, then through a warren-like series of tunnels, and finally to a great room.

Light streamed in through a wide window, but the comfortable-looking chair at the only desk had its back to a wall. There was a rack of weapons on the wall, and the floor was wooden planks.

Two men stood in front of the desk. The elder was a middle-aged man with a kindly face and brown hair, wearing a very large hat and long white robes. Another man, slightly younger, had long, black hair. He wore light purple robes, unadorned with decorations. His skin was pale and his eyes were almost white, with no pupils. Hikari had seen this before, when messengers had visited the Land of the Sun. It meant he was a Hyuga - and, probably, her new father-in-law.

Her future husband, however, was nowhere in sight.

"Welcome to Konoha, Lady Hikari," said the brown-haired man. "I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. Was your trip comfortable?"

"Yes, thankyou, Lord Hokage," said Hikari, bowing. "Lord Higashi Hyuga?"

The black-haired man stared at her, his mouth thinning as he silently sized her up, but he said nothing back.

"Did you forget how to talk?" asked Kegawa.

"It would seem you will never face that danger," Higashi responded.

"This is your son's fiancée," said Kegawa.

Higashi did not respond. He cast a fast disapproving eye over Hikari, as if reluctant to admit her presence long enough to dislike her, and turned his head to the right.

"Hiashi," he said. "Hizashi, you may enter."

A pair of Hyuga boys entered through a door on the other side of the room. Hikari guessed that they were a little older than her; maybe sixteen. One wore a headband of brown leather, and one's forehead was bare, but apart from this they were exactly identical - the same face, the same height, the same shoulder-length blue-black hair, the same cautious expressions. Neither looked at Higashi, and the way their bodies turned away from him suggested a kind of innate fear.

Hikari took a deep breath. She had travelled a long way, and she needed to make a mark.

"Twins?" she said, a smirk growing on her face.

Within seconds, Hikari knew very well that she had made it count indeed. For the briefest of seconds, Higashi's expression changed from measured disdain to bewilderment. The Hokage seemed to sigh a little even as a smile played at the corner of his lips. Chancing a look at Kegawa, Hikari saw the jonin wipe his mouth and clear his throat twice to cover up his laughter.

Her sisters would've laughed.

When she was younger, her mother and father would've, too.

The last test, however, was the twins themselves. The one with the leather headband stood up as straight as he could, and remained noticeably calm and still. The one without a headband tilted his head a fraction, frowning a little as he stared at Hikari.

"I...am Hiashi," he said.

Hikari smiled broadly at him.

A few minutes later, Hikari walked behind the twin Hyuga boys, Higashi leading them through the village.

The meeting with her future husband had gone okay, considering the fact that her father-in-law seemed offended by her existence. Hiashi and Hizashi had been polite, but no amount of increasingly less subtle hints from the Hokage could get Higashi to actually speak to Hikari, so the conversation collapsed into silence over and over. At last, the Hokage suggested they leave, and the Hyuga clan leader took them out.

Leaving the village's centre, the children followed Higashi through the village. Every path and road was flanked by giant trees, fallen leaves scattering across walkways.

Behind the twins, Hikari watched as Hizashi nudged Hiashi. Hiashi looked over at his brother, and Hizashi then made a few quick movements with his hand. At first she thought Hizashi was performing a jutsu, but after nothing apparently happened, she realised he was saying something to Hiashi in a hand-signal code. Whatever he said, Hiashi didn't seem to approve of it, shaking his head. Trying again, Hizashi moved his hand around in a different way, and eventually Hiashi reluctantly spoke.

"Father?" he said.

Higashi waited a moment, then spoke.

"You may speak," he said.

"Would it not be worthwhile to permit Lady Hikari to consider the village's geographical layout before she enters our compound?" asked Hiashi.

Hikari was impressed; it took genuine talent to say that many elaborate words in one breath, and fairly formally as well. Higashi stopped walking and turned around to address his children.

"Why do you consider this necessary?" he asked.

Hizashi nodded a tiny bit at Hiashi, who said:

"I am of the opinion that the mother of future heirs to the clan should be aware of our village holdings as soon as possible, father."

'Mother of future heirs'? thought Hikari.

"Surely your fiancée is tired from a long journey," said Higashi.

"No, Lord Higashi," said Hikari, bowing to him.

Higashi shifted his head a fraction, but otherwise did nothing to acknowledge Hikari, and she saw the twins wince slightly as he did so.

"We would be safe, father," said Hiashi. "We have a bodyguard."

Higashi glanced at Hizashi for a moment.

"So you do," he said.

With this, he left the children, and they stayed in place until he was basically out of sight.

"Alright," said Hizashi, "let's go."

Hikari and Hiashi followed him as he left the path they'd been taking for a dustier sideway, Hikari slightly behind the other two. She still wasn't quite sure if she could easily tell which twin was which, being that they were dressed more or less identically.

"So," said Hizashi, "welcome to Konoha. I'm guessing Kegawa Inuzuka's squad took you here?"

"Yeah," said Hikari, wary of his interest.

"He didn't have much to say about us, did he?" he asked.

They passed the giant statue with three enormous faces carved into it, which neither of the twins batted an eyelid at. Looking up, Hikari could see the distinct likeness of the current Hokage, as well as Konoha's two previous leaders.

"He called the Hyuga compound a nest of vipers," she said.

Hizashi laughed, while again Hiashi didn't so much as smile.

"That is a decent one, Hiashi," said Hizashi.

The corners of Hiashi's mouth reluctantly curled upward, as if he was coaxing himself to laugh.

"Considering an Inuzuka said it, it is fairly witty," he said.

Giving up on his brother for the moment, Hizashi looked back to Hikari.

"That's the first thing you have to learn about Konoha, Hikari," said Hizashi. "None of the clans like each other. We're at war."

"We haven't been at war for years," said Hiashi dismissively.

"You know what I mean," said Hizashi.

"So you're fighting the Inuzuka?" asked Hikari.

"Actually, we're in multiple business partnerships with them," said Hizashi. "They're excellent shinobi – trackers, mostly – which means they can locate lost shipments with great ease."

"Marriage of convenience?" suggested Hikari.

Hizashi laughed.

"The only Inuzuka-Hyuga marriage that would ever happen," he said. "We hire them and they help us, but nobody in either clan likes one another."

"Not many Hyuga like each other either," Hiashi pointed out.

"No, Hiashi," said Hizashi, "they just don't like us."

They came to the end of a street, which opened up into a wider road.

"Any other clans I should watch out for?" Hikari asked.

"Uchiha," said Hiashi, staring forward.

"Yes," said Hizashi, "the Uchi-"

Now he saw it, and Hikari followed the twins' line of sight over to a group of teenage boys on the other side of the road, sitting on a rock.

"…ha," he finished.

The boys were wearing blue jackets with a red and white symbol on the back, their skin pale and hair jet-black. The older ones were smoking, lighting their cigarettes by performing some kind of fire jutsu. What seemed like the youngest looked up and pointed at the twins and Hikari, and there ensued a kind of staring contest-standoff across the way.

"Can't we leave?" Hikari whispered.

"No," said Hizashi, keeping eye contact, "they've seen us. Walk behind us and don't look scared."

Hikari swallowed.

"Easy enough," she said.

Shuffling behind the other two, Hikari followed the twins until they stopped a few metres away from the Uchiha. It was here that she noticed that the Uchiha's eyes all glowed a deep red. She recalled reading that there were several clans in Konoha with a dojutsu; perhaps this was the bloodline limit of the Uchiha.

One of the boys, tall and lithe with rolled-up sleeves and short hair, raised up his cigarette to the three as if he was toasting them with a wine cup.

"Hyuga," he said.

Hizashi gave a tiny nod of his head, like a miniscule bow.

"Uchiha," he said.

The boy took a casual drag of the cigarette, coughed and spluttered, seemed to consider taking another puff, then apparently thought better of it and held it away from himself, leaning back.

"I thought we told you to never come around here, Hiashi," said the boy to Hizashi.

"I'm Hizashi," said Hizashi, "he's Hiashi."

"And how am I meant to remember that?" asked the boy. "Or care?"

"Forehead," said Hizashi.

The boy looked around.

"Haruno's not here," he said.

Hizashi rolled his eyes.

"No, Uchiha, my forehead protector," he said. "Hiashi doesn't wear his."

"Fine, Hizashi," said the boy. "Not like you bother to remember our names."

"You're Izamu," said Hizashi.

He looked to the two other Uchiha. One was about the same age as Izamu, the other looked a little younger.

"You two are Katsu and Fugaku," he said.

Izamu chuckled as his fellow clan-members looked shocked.

"Wow, Hyuga," said Izamu, "you spend all night remembering that?"

"It's more of a drill from my handlers," he said. "I've been told 'stay away from Izamu and Katsu Uchiha' every day for the past month."

The boy that Hizashi had called Fugaku looked a little sullen, which Hizashi noticed.

"Don't worry, Fugaku," he said, "I'm sure you'll be well known as a troublemaker eventually."

Fugaku scowled, and muttered: "Shut up, Hyuga."

"No, Fugaku," said Izamu, poking him on the shoulder. "For some weird reason, this Hyuga isn't so bad."

"Sorry," Fugaku said quietly.

Izamu slapped him on the head.

"No," he said, "we don't apologise to a Hyuga, even if it is Hizashi. They'll get all high and mighty on us. Pay attention, man!"

Fugaku looked about ready to apologise again, but then caught himself and fell silent once more.

"You know you'll get in trouble if your dad finds out you're here," said Izamu.

"Assume he won't," said Hizashi.

"You live on assuming?" asked Izamu.

"Father follows certain behaviours consistently," Hiashi said.

Ignoring him, Izamu added:

"And if Jiro comes 'round…"

Hizashi shrugged, and sat on a rock beside the boys. Less confident, Hikari sat next to Hizashi, on the opposite side of him to the Uchiha, and Hiashi leaned on the rock, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Okay, whatever," said Izamu.

He gestured at Hikari with his cigarette.

"Who's she?" he asked.

"My brother's fiancée," Hizashi answered.

Izamu frowned.

"…Hiashi?" he said.

"I only have one brother, don't I?" asked Hizashi.

Izamu stared at Hiashi in disbelief.

"You're marrying her?" he asked, incredulous.

"Correct," said Hiashi.

Izamu smirked. Looking back at the other Uchiha, he mouthed 'Correct' in an imitation of Hiashi, and they all chuckled. Hiashi tried to make no expression at all at this, but he didn't quite manage to hide his annoyance.

"Damn, son," said Izamu. "What the hell're kids doing now to get so lucky?

My parents haven't found me a girl."

"You can't get one on your own?" asked Hikari.

Izamu seemed a little taken aback at the question, but recovered fairly quickly.

"Ah, it'd just be easier if they did it for me," he said. "Plenty'a girls around, though."

"Maybe you're not lazy," said Hikari. "Maybe you just suck at dating."

"That so?" he asked. "You want a demonstration?"

The look in his eye and the timbre of his voice made the implications unmistakable. But Hiashi didn't seem fazed at all that Izamu had just flirted with his fiancée, and Hizashi wasn't looking surprised at what had just happened. What's more, Izamu was looking at her expectantly. He genuinely thought he might have gotten a 'yes' from her.

Is Hiashi that spineless that everyone knows he won't even care? she thought.

"Don't think so," she eventually said. "You know, I just got here. I'd rather not catch anything immediately."

Katsu and Fugaku broke into laughter and Hizashi chuckled a little, while Hiashi just rolled his eyes as Izamu tried to protest.

"Hey, shut up!" he said. "Come on, I got training."

Getting up and patting down his pockets to make sure he had everything, the teens all suddenly fell silent.

A tall, broad-shouldered boy stood before them. His skin was as pale as the other Uchiha, and his extremely short hair was the same colour of black as theirs, but he was far more powerfully built. He glared down at Izamu, who shrunk back nervously.

"What the hell are you doing with Hyuga?" the boy asked.

"Uh…" said Izamu, "um…ah…hi, Jiro-"

Jiro backhanded him, knocking his cigarette out of his mouth and sending him staggering backwards.

"I leave you five minutes and you're having a slumber party with the Hyuga head's sons and some other whore?"

Hikari slid off the rock with her fists at the ready. She'd taken enough insults from Higashi, and she wasn't about to let anyone else talk like that without some kind of punishment. But she felt herself pulled back as Hizashi and Hiashi quickly grabbed her arms, and she could only watch as Jiro gestured at Fugaku.

"And you took Masaru's brother with you?" he said.

The other boy, Katsu, raised his hands in protest.

"C-come on, Jiro, he got engaged-"

"What're you putting in those cigarettes, Katsu?" Jiro thundered. "You guys brought Fugaku. If Fugaku tells Masaru, Masaru tells Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi tells Lord Noboru, and then all of us get blamed for it."

"I'm not gonna tell him," Fugaku said, louder than he had been before.

Katsu and Izamu looked pained at this outburst. Jiro was clearly someone with whom you didn't speak out of turn. This time, however, he didn't hit Fugaku, simply pointing at him harshly.

"You'd better not," he said, "or you're gonna find out why Lord Noboru sends me to fix things."

Fugaku gulped, and Jiro remained there for a while, staring at him. Eventually, he turned away, and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, you're sure gonna prove how tough you are by beating up a twelve year old," Hikari called out after him.

The boys around her all winced as Jiro turned around.

"What?" he said.

"I think you heard," said Hikari, keeping her chin high. "Jiro, is it?"

"Yeah," said Jiro, stepping back towards her. "And I got no idea who you are, but-"

There was a great flash of light from beside Hikari, and then there were three strikes at Jiro from Hizashi's hand, so quick that they all blurred into one. For a moment, they seemed to do nothing, and Jiro turned his head to deal with Hizashi. He began to raise a hand, but suddenly he stumbled, and slowly he fell to the dusty ground, like a great felled tree.

Hizashi looked down at Jiro, then up at everyone else. For a long moment, everyone just stared at him.

"…run!" he shouted, and everyone followed the command, racing away from the collapsed Jiro, passing by buildings and stalls.

"What happened to that guy?" asked Hikari as they flew past what she thought was a ramen bar.

"Gentle Fist," Hizashi said.

Hikari dodged a messenger, who was going at an equally fast speed but in the opposite direction, then asked:

"What?"

"It's our clan jutsu," said Hizashi. "It paralyses the chakra field in part of the body through touch."

Skidding to a stop, the six ninja found themselves in a crossroads, and all gathered around in a vague circle.

"Will Jiro be okay?" asked Katsu.

"I hit him pretty hard, but he should be up in a little while," said Hizashi. "In other words, be careful."

Izamu gasped for breath before he spoke.

"We won't tell anybody if you don't," he said.

"Fine," said Hizashi.

Sharing sharp nods, the Uchiha went down one path, and Hizashi led his brother and Hikari down the opposite way. Both brothers watched carefully through their Byakugan, but after a few minutes, each deactivated the dojutsu, and walked along more quietly. Still walking behind them, Hikari watched the twins, musing on what they were like.

She decided that if Hizashi was so eager to get away from his father, Higashi was probably fairly strict. Probably, neither could be themselves unless they were out of his earshot. She could even see it now: Hizashi was walking with a fair more confident stride than Hiashi, who stood quite straight but seemed stiff in his movements. She knew well enough that if you wanted to know people, you had to see what they were like when their parents weren't around.

"You know," she said, after a few minutes of silence, "you guys all didn't exactly act like enemies back there. Until Jiro showed up, anyway."

"Maybe," said Hizashi. "Maybe we'll all end up best friends and make mochi together."

Already dropped the formalities, thought Hikari. How come I'm not marrying him?

"Fine, whatever," said Hikari.

"It is as Izamu said," said Hiashi. "People from other clans and commoners seem to be most fond of Hizashi. The rest of the clan attracts a somewhat cooler reception."

"Huh," said Hikari.

Thinking further, she added, to Hiashi:

"He is pretty quick on defence."

"Oh?" asked Hiashi.

"Yeah," said Hikari. "He jumped in to save me really fast. Faster than anybody else I've ever seen."

Hiashi said nothing, but nodded politely, and Hikari forced herself not to curse in frustration. This guy was something else, all right.

I'm gonna have to be even more obvious.

She put a hand to her forehead.

"You know that Uchiha guy was flirting with me, right?" she asked.

"Izamu? Yes," Hiashi said.

"Well…" said Hikari. "Do you care?"

Hiashi took a suspiciously long time to think this through, and when he finally answered, it sounded as if he'd been practicing saying it for a while.

"I don't know what you expected when this marriage was arranged, but I can assure you that provided you are not impregnated, I am ambivalent to your personal interests," he said.

Hikari stopped walking, frozen in her tracks by her sheer astonishment at what Hiashi had just said.

"'Provided I'm not impregnated?'!" she asked. "What is wrong with you?"

Hiashi stopped and looked back at her.

"If you are impregnated, unwanted children will result," he said. "This would be embarrassing for the clan and you. If you avoid pregnancy, however, your liaisons are your affairs."

Leaving Hikari with her mouth open in shock, he added as he started walking again:

"This is ordinary for a politically expedient arranged marriage."

"Really?" she said, going after the twins. "Hizashi, are you married?

Hizashi scratched at his arm, apparently reluctant to join the conversation.

"...yes," he eventually replied.

"And would you be fine if your wife went off with some random guy?" asked Hikari.

"No," said Hizashi.

She looked back at Hiashi with a questioning face, but he shook his head.

"Hizashi's marriage is different," he said.

"Different?!" asked Hikari. "Different how?"

Hiashi sighed.

"You are…"

He swallowed, and looked at the ground as he finished speaking.

"…you are too young," he said.

Hikari stared at him. He briefly held her gaze, but then looked away and kept walking.

"Too young?" she said, running to catch up with him. "What?! I mean, you're how old?"

"Sixteen," he said, not looking at her.

"Oh, wow, sixteen," said Hikari. "You're so ancient compared to me. Maybe you'll die of old age and leave me as a grieving widow."

"I don't expect you to understand," said Hiashi.

"I usually don't understand things that make no sense," said Hikari. "You were fine with what Izamu said to me, and how old's he?"

"Seventeen," said Hiashi. "But that is his business."

They kept walking, across busy roads and quiet streets, as Hikari fumed at her situation. She was sure that she'd already met the most idiotic people alive back home, but Hiashi Hyuga had surpassed all previous records in the space of barely an hour.

"You don't care about me, do you?" she finally said.

"I never said that," said Hiashi. "I merely said you may-"

"I know what you 'merely said'," said Hikari.

"Evidently you don't, or you wouldn't be arguing with me," Hiashi said, not looking back.

She suddenly realised how cold it was here, and shivered a little bit. Behind her, Hizashi spoke.

"It'll be warmer in the compound," he said.

"Great," said Hikari.

They kept walking. Hikari kept behind, but Hizashi went alongside his brother. Although Hikari didn't know their sign-language, she got a sense of what Hizashi was telling his brother by the way he looked at him. Hiashi responded in sign language this time, until Hizashi finally gave up and sighed.

"You baffle me sometimes, Hiashi," he said.

Hikari folded her arms, staring at the ground.

"And I'm gonna have kids with you?" she asked.

Hiashi said nothing.

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