Chap. 1: Bitter Entwinement
Snow fell from the dark night opaqueness. An icy breeze swept through the air. A single snowflake landed on a pale cheek. Light lavender eyes stared up into the speckle filled night. A second pair of eyes stared sadly into the darkness, forehead pressed into the fog covered panel, a single tear on the cheek of a worn face. Both were lost in their thoughts. Neither wanted it to be this way. And yet they were Caged.
—Earlier That Day—
"Please don't be upset. I feel my decision is best for the both of you and this clan."
"But-"
"Do not interrupt me boy. I have said what my decision is and I hope you can simply accept it. I will not put up with any arguments."
"This is our lives! We shouldn't have to put our lives away for anyone. I won't put my life away and act as if everything is alright! I refuse to do as you wish!" A searing pain welled up inside of him. A body fell limp on the floor. Tears blinded the pearly lavender eyes, attempting to force their way out.
"Otousan! P-please stop!" Hinata scurried towards the body that was Neji. "He has no reason to be treated this way! Otousan!"
"Be quiet Hinata. He knows his place and if he thinks he will talk back to me, a member of the main house; then he will be punished."
"T-t-then why did you take m-me into the m-m-main house a-and not leave me a-as I was in the br-branch house!" The pain scorched through his head. Small white foam fell out the corners of his mouth. His back arched slightly and his hands covered his forehead as if to stop the pain from coming in.
"Bozu, I treated you like my son. I've given you the best I can. If I had known you would be so stubborn I wouldn't have done any of this for you. I felt guilty that you were treated this way, with your father dying and all, but you will not be stubborn and you will marry into this family. Do you understand!"
The pain lightened. Neji's arms were shaking, but he managed to sit up, leaning slightly against Hinata's shoulder. Even in his condition he managed a glare, a small one but a glare nonetheless.
"I hope my words have gotten through to you, but I would like to see you two tomorrow just to be sure. Now, you are dismissed." With a slight flicker of his hands he turned away from the two approving their dismissal. Hinata grabbed Neji's arm to help pull him up, but he pulled away from her with a slick swap of his arm. Hinata gasped slightly and looked down towards the ground, tears welling up inside of her. Neji pushed himself off the floor, his legs wobbly as he stood, and managed to sway dizzily towards the slide doors. He flung open the door, which hit against the wall with a slight thud, and left. Hinata quietly followed behind but stopped momentarily. "That boy; so much like his father" Hinata, glanced back at her father a thin smile on her face.
---
"Neji-niisan p-please let me help you! Please." Hinata had barely made her way out of her fathers den when she had saw Neji leaning against the second story railing, pulling himself towards his room. Hinata ran over to him, only to receive a bitter glare from him. He had his hand over his mouth, but Hinata could see the blood seeping through his fingers as he attempted not to drop any of it on the floor.
"I don't need any help. Just leave me alone."
"B-but Neji-niisan, you're hurt. P-please let me help you"
"No"
"Neji! Please!" Neji looked at her blankly. Her voice had risen slightly and she hadn't said the honorific after his name. She also didn't stutter at all. "Neji I'm sorry that my father has hurt you but please. You are bleeding!"
Neji let out a sigh and gave Hinata another glare, but he nodded his head slightly. Hinata grabbed his other arm and helped him into his room. At the entrance of his room, he pulled away from Hinata gently and made his way to his bed. Nearly collapsing, he fell onto his bed, relief rubbing against his body from the warm sheets. Realizing his hand was still drenched in blood he sat up; noticing Hinata had a damp cloth in a hand that was stretched out towards him. His cold eyes stared up into her warm ones. He felt a slight singe inside of him but it quickly passed. Her hand grabbed his and pulled it away from his mouth to reveal blood flowing out through his mouth. Hinata had never seen Neji with so much blood in one place before, and it spilled down his mouth without any intention to cease. Neji scowled as the blood dripped onto his clothing and pulled his hand back up towards his mouth and leaned forward to stand up. Hinata swiped his hand away and put the cloth over his mouth. She pressed her free hand against his chest gently to push him back onto his bed. She wiped away the blood from his mouth with the cloth and pushed him to lie down on his back. Neji couldn't help but feel as though he was a child being treated by his mother from a simple scratch.
"Hinata-sama" Neji spoke through the cloth over his mouth. "I'm Fine"
"Shh, p-please." Hinata released her hand from his mouth leaving the cloth on his mouth. She put one of her hands on his forehead, and the other behind his head while she untied his headband (A/N: Sorry but I couldn't remember the actual word for his headband) and placed it carefully on his nightstand. A faint light glimmered above his eyes. Neji closed them and felt the ache in his head and body slowly drift away. He felt the tingle beneath his eyes called sleep and slowly lost conscious of his surroundings.
---
The sun was tangerine with passion of the night. The sky was a rainbow of blissful crimson. Rays of the sunset streamed into Neji's room. Neji stared towards his window, his cool white eyes glowing from the reflection on them. He sat up feeling great, though he would never admit it. He sighed at his empty room and made his way towards the shower.
---
"Hinata-neesan, what's wrong?" Hanabi stood in the doorway of her sister's room. Hanabi was smirking, knowing well what had happened earlier.
"Nee-chan, please leave. I-I'm tired. I just need some rest." Hinata looked up at the well developed 14 year olds body; placing her head back into her pillow quickly afterwards.
"Heh, suit yourself. But I did bring you some tea nee-san. I'll just leave it on your desk." Hanabi placed the china porcelain on the desk near the door and turned to walk from her sister. "I'll go check on nii-chan for you ok."
"Arigato, nii-chan"
---
Neji walked over towards his dresser. He stared at a picture of his father and him when he was young. His blank eyes filled with anger. He frowned. He hated this clan. They were good for nothing assholes. He wondered whether his father was forced into anything this irrational. If the other branch members were to be used for the pathetic wants of the main house members. Were they falsely treated kindly and then used. He growled as he turned his attention to the door as it creaked open.
"What do you want?
"...err... Nii-san, it's not very nice to be that way towards your cousin." Hanabi stared at her half naked cousin, her eyes wide. He was so muscular and well built. She bit in her lip as she scanned his body, her eyes locked on the slight bulge in the towel around his waist. She quickly turned her head, her face burning red.
"What do you want" He glared at her blushing face.
"..Hmph... fine... I want to know what happened between you, Hinata, and Otousan."
"...Why? You already know the answer"
"... Heh... well you read me like a book. But that's not the problem. I want to know why Hinata is lying in her room weeping like a baby."
"Well, I can't answer that for you. Why don't you ask her?" He sneered at her angered expression.
"Baka!" She looked into his cold eyes. "If I hadn't done that already, I wouldn't have come to you!"
"...heh..."
Hanabi threw a death glare at him, scanning his body over once more before turning away from him and walking out the door. "Oh, and father says he would like you to join the family feast tonight. Don't be late."
Neji watched her slam his door behind her. He walked over after he knew she was gone and locked the door.
—Dinner—
"Neji, I'm glad you could join us tonight."
Hiashi was sitting at the front of the long table. Neji sat next to Hinata on the other end. He could feel the unhappy stares of the many elders of the main branch. They weren't happy that he was having dinner with them this night.
"Now then, the reason I have Neji with us tonight is because I have made my final decision that in order to keep this clan alive and well, it is best that my daughter Hinata be wed to blood. And since all that is in the main family either are far too elderly to wed her or far too young, I decided Neji from the branch house shall wed her. He is a strong and talented boy, one who is called a genius, and will be capable of assisting the heir of this clan to keep it going. His blood is strong and his ability to master the Kekkai Genkai in such a short period of his life will allow them to carry on a sturdy family within this clan"
Neji glared at Hiashi's words. He wasn't alone in his glares though, because many of the elders glared bitterly at the words that came from Hiashi's mouth.
"Hiashi. We elders have heard nothing of this matter that has to do with the future of the clan. I do not approve of this decision and we elders would like to confront this decision of yours before it is conducted."
"I have decided they wed in a month from today"
"HIASHI! Did you not hear what I have to say?"
"I highly hope you will support my decision because I see it best." With that Hiashi began to eat his meal.
The air felt icy. Life seemed to cease as the black sky filled with white. Twenty-eight days had passed, and every night was the same. For three weeks snow fell from the sky only at night, piling up against the bitter ground, covering the streets of Konoha with a blanket of white silk.
The cold lavender eyes stared up into the darkness. He was lying on the roof just above his room of the Hyuuga compound. . His face was blank and emotionless but inside he was anything but that. Neji felt oddly stressed. He worried about his uncle's plans, those that involved him, were anything but for the better. He remembered when so many years ago Naruto had helped him realize that you could change your destiny but now he felt like he was back to his old self. The caged self. The one he will always have to be. A single snowflake fell upon his face, sending a chill down his spine.
Pale eyes stared out her foggy window. Forehead pressed against it feeling the iciness of the night. She couldn't sleep this night, and had been having trouble sleeping this past month. As the days peeled away, she seemed to become more and more diffident. The wedding is to be in two days and Hinata wasn't ready for it. Her life was being taken from her. Her love was being taken from her. Her hope was being taken from her. Everything seemed to be taken from her and thrown away! What about Naruto? What about him. Her mind kept replaying those words over and over again. You must give in. Give up. And for the first time in hernineteen years of life, Hinata thoroughly understood what her cousin had meant by 'being caged' because that's what was happening to her.
They were caged. Their lives intermingled with each other, destinies entwined with the bitterness of marriage. This all seemed nothing more than an mirage but they were soon to find the difference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitions: You all probably know what these mean but just to be sure:
Otousan: Formal way of the word Father.
Nii-san: Brother
Nee-san/chan: sister
Bozu: Informal way of saying 'boy' or 'kid'
Kekkai Genkai: advancedbloodline traits. Usually inherited within a clan, but notalways.
I hope you all liked my chapter. Please Review, Id really like to know what you all think of my story so far. All flames accepted.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters!
