Inspiration: Medieval myth of Erec et Enide by Chrétien de Troyes. French quote comes from a modern rendition of his work.

Note on pairings: Mainly NejiHina, with slight NaruSaku, references to NaruHina and NejiTen, and what can be viewed as KibaHina.

Note on format: Written in the ubiquitous twenty truths format (slightly modified), though it was not an LJ challenge or anything of the sort, and there are actually twenty four.

Too Much

«Il l'aimait trop.»

translation: "He loved her too much."

1. Hiashi wanted a leader, and he did not believe Hinata could be one. Hanabi, maybe. But he could not rely on a "maybe." What he wanted, in truth, was Neji. His brother's son was a genius, and Hiashi wanted a genius to succeed him. He didn't have one, so he set out to make one his.

2. Neji had no family to protest (of course Hiashi would not protest his own proposal), and Hinata always did as she was told by her father. Thus the marriage contract was drawn up, and the two principal parties had no say, had no choice, as their destinies were carefully intertwined by an outside entity. In fact, they were betrothed before Hiashi even told them they were to marry.

3. Hiashi was completely satisfied with his choices. Hinata would inherit the clan leadership in title only, becoming a figurehead for Neji (whose accursed seal Hiashi could not remove without some kind of intervention, and he was not about to wait on the distant hope that the Uzumaki brat would become Hokage without even knowing if Naruto could keep the promise he had made); Neji would understand inherently that this was what his uncle wanted all along, and that this was the best way of achieving his ends. Hinata (he did love her in a strange and distant way) would understand her father was furthering the ambitions of his clan when he betrothed her to someone who had tried to kill her. He also hoped, vaguely and subconsciously, that she would also see that Neji would be a good husband because he was strong and he would be loyal if nothing else.

4. Best of all, Hiashi thought with pleasure, any children borne of the alliance would inherit pure Hyuuga blood, untainted by an outsider's inferiority, and thus could not possibly be lacking in abilities (he hoped). They would have a genius for a father, after all.

5. Telling Hinata and Neji wasn't as difficult as Hiashi expected. Neji (blessed curse seal that he wore) was incapable of disobeying his uncle if he did not want to die. Hinata, on the other hand, did not even faint (he had thought it probable), though her cheeks burned (with embarrassment or shame he did not know), and she had to hold her head down to hide the start of tears.

6. Hiashi imposed restrictions on the young "couple" (he did not know what else to call them) immediately. Contrary to the type of rules he would have given a young man and woman in love, Hiashi gave them rules to prevent them from forming attachments to anyone else. Hinata's training would be supervised by Neji at all times. Hinata was not to leave the Hyuuga compound without Neji, ever, unless she had explicit orders from the Godaime regarding a mission. Oddly enough, Hiashi did not feel Neji's movements required such close supervision. Besides, he would constantly be at Hinata's whim (that curse seal proved useful for many things because even though Hinata would never think to use Hiashi would and Neji knew it, no matter how his uncle tried to make up for the past) and wouldn't have many opportunities to be by himself. Hiashi simply commanded that Neji's training with him continue, only now Hinata was required to be present in the hopes that close observation might allow her to attain some portion of her cousin's skill.

7. Hinata's teammates made their feelings on the whole arrangement very clear when Neji appeared on their training ground with Hinata after the betrothal was made public knowledge outside the Hyuuga clan. Kiba and Akamaru growled at Neji while Shino watched with an impassive stare. If Shino hadn't cared, he would have looked away. However, neither acted because Hinata was shaking. Instead, Kiba threatened Neji with death, promising Hinata that one word from her and he would gladly give her Neji's head. Akamaru voiced his agreement with a vicious bark as Shino looked on, the sunlight glinting off his sunglasses. Neji acknowledged the threat by dismissing it with a small grunt. Kiba glowered, his eyes hot and furious, and Shino's hands came out of his pockets slowly and deliberately. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were surprised when Neji then made a threat of his own: "Hinata-sama is mine now, and I expect her to be treated as such. If you insult me, you insult her." The words were uttered without passion and Neji did not set consequences for any breach of the rule he gave them, but no one asked for specifications because Neji's eyes held a fury of their own (even if it didn't seep into his words). Hinata shook the entire training session.

8. Kurenai showed her concern by appealing directly to the Godaime who, frustrated herself, explained that she had no legal right to interfere in marriage contracts within a clan, especially when the clan's Elders had all approved of the match (one of Hiashi's greatest triumphs, though they saw his reasoning as clearly as he did). Kurenai then attempted to speak with Hiashi himself, but she didn't make it past the entrance to the Hyuuga compound.

9. Neji's teammates did not openly express concern for him (because thankfully Tenten had taken the responsibility to explain carefully and slowly to Lee and Gai all the things that would be wrong about that, and Lee and Gai's grasp of the serious situation prevented any outbursts about the Springtime of Youth), but they tried to coordinate their training with Kurenai's team so Neji could fulfill his familial duties and continue his normal training as much as possible. Tenten also gave up on Neji entirely as a romantic possibility. (She had not yet begun the launch of her coup as she had planned anyway.)

10. Though she was sure Naruto still didn't know about Hinata's severe crush on him, Sakura kept Naruto away from Hinata for Hinata's sake as much as Naruto's, because Naruto understand too little and Hinata understood too much and Sakura understood them both. And because Neji would not look at it the way Sakura knew it was, no matter what lesson he had learned from Naruto at the Chuunin exam.

11. Every training session they had Kiba glared at Neji as though his eyes were capable of burning a hole in Neji's middle. Shino's annoyance was much more subtle, but still there. Kurenai was still trying to gain an audience with Hiashi, but it seemed as impossible as attaining the moon, and Kurenai was quickly losing the energy she needed for such an endeavor. Eventually the Godaime told Kurenai to give it up for the remainder of her pregnancy and there was a sense of defeat hanging over Team 8's training field.

12. Kiba tried to catch Hinata alone, day in and day out, but Neji was always with her. It made Kiba angry because he thought Neji was too rigid, too stiff, and too hard. He worried that Neji would be cruel (he certainly had been in the past) and that Hinata, even if she tried to stand up to him, would still walk away almost dead (because he had seen it happen before). Once, when he had thought he had found Hinata miraculously alone, he opened his mouth only to find she wasn't alone after all. And then Neji was pulling Hinata away from him forcefully. Kiba's blood boiled and he didn't see that though Neji's grip was forceful, it was also careful. Kiba didn't see it, but Shino did. And Shino decided that the time to speak wasn't now, so he didn't point it out to his irate teammate.

13. Kiba didn't see a lot of things, like how the isolation dividing his teammate from her cousin was slowly migrating and isolating them together from everyone else. He didn't see that in their shared isolation there was no one else to hold on to, and so they began to cling to each other. He didn't see that the goals behind Hiashi's rules were being realized slowly and surely and irrevocably. He didn't see the two cousins training late into the night on their family's private grounds, didn't see that Neji carried Hinata when she fainted with exhaustion (because she had to train with her teammates and Neji), didn't see that Neji's hostility towards her teammates was actually a manifestation of weakness (because jealousy is a weakness).

14. Shino was beginning to see a lot of things (since he had always been the one who held back and waited it wasn't a surprise really). One day he noticed that Hinata's shaking had stopped. Another, he noticed a shy, phantom smile appear on Hinata's face when Neji looked at her to praise a certain movement. Later he realized that Hinata watched Neji's face, and not Kiba's, when Kiba criticized Neji yet again (out of spite). Finally, one morning, he saw Hinata's withdrawn face and trembling lip as Neji left her at the Hyuuga compound alone because he was being sent on a mission and Hinata was staying behind. They did not touch, and Shino didn't think Neji saw what he saw, but he knew that in the end Hinata was meant to be loved and that Neji needed forgiveness.

15. Shino got to Kiba while Kiba was trying to get to Naruto who had already been had by Sakura (because Sakura was no fool). Kiba was in the middle of explaining to Naruto why Neji deserved things worse than death while Naruto was hanging tenaciously to all the things Sakura had already filled his head with. When Kiba asked what Sakura had ever done for Naruto that made him so loyal, Naruto just muttered something about kissing and not telling. Kiba was shocked and Naruto threw his arms behind his head and chuckled languidly, embarrassed but clearly pleased with himself. Shino took the moment as his own and interrupted Kiba, pointing out with logic (which infuriated Kiba) that Neji was a good man and he had not chosen this life just as much as Hinata had not chosen it, and therefore he would make the best of it with her. Kiba's shock grew because Naruto seemed to agree with Shino, saying that Sakura had said much of the same (because everything Sakura said was the truth to Naruto).

16. Not long after that Naruto saw Hinata in a crowded street. Luckily for Naruto, he was not alone (because Hinata certainly wasn't). Sakura sucked in her breath apprehensively. Naruto was walking right up to Hinata as though things were the same as they had always been. Sakura ran after him, cursing him all the way. Hinata blushed when Naruto hailed her while her dark shadow glared. Naruto greeted Neji with the same enthusiasm he had given Hinata as Sakura caught up with them. She thought about murmuring apologies, but Naruto had begun wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Neji while Hinata's entire face turned pinker than Sakura's hair. Veins in Neji's temple were milliseconds from bursting, but Sakura saw Hinata tug at his sleeve before she wacked Naruto as hard as she could (which meant Naruto would be down for at least a minute). Sakura hurriedly bid Neji and Hinata goodbye before dragging Naruto away. When they reached a secluded place, Naruto was rubbing his head indignantly, but Sakura was already trying to make Naruto understand he could not do what he had just done and why. Naruto continued to look confused, so Sakura quickly changed her attack plan by reminding Naruto how he had felt when he found Sakura with Shikamaru and had mistaken their rendezvous for a date. Naruto understood immediately and asked, incredulously, "You mean, Neji loves her?" Sakura nodded, though in her head she answered with Too much

17. The wedding, when it finally came, was grand even though Konoha was still dealing with Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Akatsuki. Hiashi wanted it that way. Neji and Hinata were both slightly nervous (actually, Neji was less than slightly nervous and Hinata was much more than slightly) because of all the things they had never done but would be expected to do soon. Later that night, after the festivities (where hardly anyone but Hiashi and the Hyuuga Elders had felt festive), Neji and Hinata were left in the wing of the Hyuuga compound that had been prepared for them. They stood awkwardly, their ceremonious robes hanging heavily, stiffly, from their shoulders. The weight of it seemed to finally break Hinata (she was more scared than she thought), and in spite of herself, she sank onto the floor and cried. Neji watched her for a moment before taking a place on the floor next to her and letting her cry into his shoulder.

18. When Hinata woke the next morning, she saw that she was still wearing her formal attire, though sleeping in it had made it a little less stiff. Her face was squished into Neji's shoulder, and they were still on the floor. Hinata twisted a little (because his robes were only a little less stiff too) and remembered she had been married yesterday. She felt like crying again, and when she realized how angry her father would be if he knew she had spent her wedding night crying all over her groom (because hadn't he made it clear that he expected an heir?), she did cry again. Her silent sobs woke Neji, who thought he understood her dilemma, and Neji was perfectly capable of sympathizing. In this one way he was more than willing to rebel against Hiashi for giving him something he never asked for (something he shouldn't have had the right to give away) and something he wouldn't take until he wanted it for himself and not for Hiashi's diluted motives. Eventually Hinata stopped shivering and weeping (she had cried herself to the point of exhaustion again) and fell asleep. Neji knew it didn't matter because no one would disturb them. Hiashi had regulated them to their wing for one week.

19. When the week ended, the new Hyuuga couple returned to training. They were no longer required to train together and didn't for the sake of their teams. Everyone was awkward around them (Shino and Kiba and Tenten and Lee, though Shino least of all because he understood some of it). Kiba was disgusted because Hinata's trembling had returned. Lee and Tenten noticed that despite his new intensity, Neji talked less than he did before. Also, Neji was late for every practice because he started dropping Hinata off at her team's training field every morning. When Neji returned for Hinata each evening, he was formal and distant yet took Hinata's hand in front of Kiba and Shino while Hinata blushed furiously. They returned to their lonely wing each night, training together (without the strain of their teammates who couldn't understand what even they didn't understand) before falling asleep, exhausted. Of course, Hinata still cried herself to sleep every night, and Neji still let her.

20. Months passed and Konoha changed. Neji and Hinata were both sent on more than one life-threatening mission, but in the end the village was better off. The issues of Sasuke and Orochimaru had finally been dealt with; though eliminating Akatsuki was still in progress, but time would take away Akatsuki's prestige, especially as Naruto and Sakura sought them out, one by one. In the wake of a (slightly) more peaceful Konoha then, Hinata fell asleep for this first time since her marriage without crying, but before she did, she promised Neji (while in his arms) that she would find a way to remove the seal on his forehead. The night was dark, and no one heard her words but Neji.

21. One evening a few days later, Neji appeared earlier than normal on Team 8's training ground. Hinata, surprised, missed one of Kiba's movements and took the brunt of a vicious blow. Neji was at her side instantly, glaring at Kiba (again) despite the fact that Kiba hadn't done anything wrong and that it really was Hinata's fault for losing concentration. Neji helped Hinata to stand before he informed her teammates that her training was done for the day. Kiba sulked and Shino accepted it. (He had very much come to terms with all of it by now and was trying to help Kiba do the same.)

22. A month or so after this, Hinata stopped coming to morning training sessions altogether. She did, however, show up in the afternoons, but she was easily tired and seemed to be losing speed. She told Shino and Kiba that she had been feeling sick. A few months more and Hinata's "sickness" had revealed itself in the form of a swelling belly. Kiba berated himself for not recognizing why Hinata's scent had changed sooner. Neji took over Hinata's training entirely, not really trusting her teammates (or anyone else, for that matter) to be conscientious enough about her condition. A month more and Hinata did not train at all. Hiashi gloated every moment he could; his was finally getting his heir. (His disappointment that Hinata had not conceived before now was quickly forgotten.)

23. The last month of Hinata's pregnancy was spent in her bed. The Godaime, afraid of complications (because Hinata was still quite young and she had always been a little fragile), had ordered Neji to keep her there. Neji followed her orders without question. (Neji was not as stoic as everyone thought and he certainly knew that any suffering Hinata had would be his fault.) When he was assigned a mission two weeks into Hinata's bed rest, Kurenai made sure Hinata didn't strain herself more than was necessary. When Neji returned a week later, he was thankful. Early in the morning the day after he returned, before the sun had begun to rise, Hinata whimpered in pain and Neji took her to the hospital because it was time. Sakura, assigned to help Hinata deliver the baby, assured Neji that the Godaime would certainly come if it became more than Sakura could handle. Naruto waited outside the room (more for Sakura then Neji or Hinata, but he was there for them too), and Hinata told Neji he didn't have to sit with her if he didn't want to. Neji responded by taking Hinata's hand. Hinata, grateful, didn't say anything else, but she squeezed Neji's hand tightly with each contraction. Twenty three (bloody, painful, joyous) hours later, Neji and Hinata had a son in their arms. There were, thankfully, no complications, and the entire House of Hyuuga (once they had heard) praised their ancestors and celebrated. A son, Hiashi thought, was the glorious outcome he had hoped for.

24. Four years later a little boy who had Neji's face and Neji's eyes and Neji's genius practically begged his mother to let him fight Uncle Shino or Uncle Kiba or Uncle Naruto, or—best of all—his father. He had enough of his father in him to have unshakable confidence in his abilities and enough of his mother to show his feelings. Hinata laughed quietly at his insistent tone, and reminded him that he would train with his father when Neji returned home and that he wouldn't fight anyone till he was a little older. Hinata's young son, dissatisfied with his mother's answer, continued to demand a sensei and would have carried on if not for the stern shadow that appeared at his back. The little boy's prattle stopped, and he turned to see that his father's face said Enough. Neji then looked at his wife over the head of their child, and his wife's light smile and light blush and downcast eyes seemed to say He can't help but adore you. Neji's features softened a little. After all, Hinata was meant to be loved and to love, and Neji needed forgiveness and to forgive.