Sour Oranges
A fan fiction by Sequ3stered
Author's Note: Repost. This fic, as is everything I have posted so far, is really old. Like years old. It was inspired by Death by Wasabi—Fireworks and Birthday Parties—and made me want to write a Hanabi thing of my own. I was also inspired by a plate of extraordinarily sour oranges my mother handed to me and forced (gack!) me to eat. I have revised it slightly and have put it back up for viewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Duh.
Thoughts: '...'
Dialogue: "..."
Flashbacks: Italicized
The simple pleasure of eating a sweet fruit, crushing tiny strawberry seeds between her teeth, blowing out cherry pits as the taste ran races around her tongue—that was pure delight.
There was an orange.
Hyuuga Hanabi's hands unpeeled it quickly; she couldn't wait to let the sugary flavor meet her impatient mouth. There were seven sections in the orange. Seven chances to make a mini-paradise of her thoughts and momentarily release her from the clasp of insane expectation and guilt.
Was it her fault if she was superior to the heir to the clan? So was Neji-san! 'But he is elder, unlike me,' came the thought. Hanabi banished it with the first slice of her fruit.
She nearly let the contents between her lips fly out to greet the ground. It was sour! The tang was as sharp as the hue, which she now noticed to be more yellow than the preferred orange. It refused to let go, causing tears to form in her eyes. It took all of her self-control to chew and swallow.
Six more segments of hell.
Placing the pieces unto the plate before her, Hanabi leaned back and brushed the thin, irritable strands of dark hair from her face.
She returned to the unhappy conversation she'd been having with herself. 'My sister…why is she so weak? She left all the weight of a powerful heir upon me.' A bitter sensation rolled upon her, creating a grim expression on her young visage.
"But…I also enjoy this…'burden,' for it brings…privileges. My father favors me over my sister. He expects me to continue to get stronger and always be above her. But what if she gets better? What if she eventually earns the title she already has?"
Hanabi had not considered this before. Inferiority would not be her cup of tea. No, she'd never let them take away her power. 'To keeping my title,' she thought. A toast. And she forced the next part of the fruit into her mouth, chewing with displeasure.
Once that was done, she sighed, attempted to wash the sharpness from her tongue, and thought, 'To my family.' Hanabi winced, but toasted once more with the orange, bowels screaming with the wish to remove the unwanted contents from her stomach.
"Wait, wait, Hanabi-chan!" The impudence! She whirled about, only to see a young boy from the academy stand before her, waving merrily. "See what my mother gave me! See?"
"You're showing that off to everyone, aren't you?"
"Yeah, so?" The tiny ring was adorned with false gold and sprayed silver. It was a repulsive bit of jewelry.
"I love it. My mommy gave it to me!"
Mother. Mother. Her mother had always been reserved and quiet, never giving either daughters affection; never mind an actually token of her feelings. She was a tool; all wives were. Childbearing and taking care of the house affairs were her only jobs. She was not required to love anyone. Too many years of quiet servitude had hardened her, torn out her heart, and replaced it with stone.
Hanabi snatched the ring and threw it to the ground. Her lips summoned saliva and she let it fly from her mouth to the item. "Idiot. Not everyone cares about such stupid things." Her foot greeted the treasured object with sharp twist. It dug into the dirt. Half of her was disgusted with her crude behavior, but the other part could care less.
The boy howled.
"Why? WHY! MY MOTHER GAVE ME THAT!"
The Hyuuga began to walk away from the unsightly being.
"Why are you so mean! What's so cool about being cruel? Why do you like being mean so much?" His sobs halted briefly so that he could hear her answer. If she were to give one.
Hanabi wrenched her head backward to hold the boy's eyes with all the gravity and hatred of a Hyuuga.
"It is what my mother gave me."
Family. What family? Her sister was no family, either! Hinata had begun to avoidHanabi far before she'd become a Genin.
As soon as she shoved the next segment down, tears began to squirm out of her eyes from the taste of it and the memories.
'Sister! Why…why have you abandoned me? I used to admire you…but you left me alone to deal with Father's eyes…if you truly cared…you'd face him with me…'
Her throat screamed for mercy when she ate the next one. The hopelessness burrowed deep into her heart and the fruit disappeared, the tears biting each other get to her chin.
'I have a sibling. I have a mother and a father. We are related by blood. This is a family. There is not supposed to be love in there.' Hanabi took the last piece and scrutinized its texture, its color, its size, as though searching for a response—an agreement—anything.
"Why mourn for what has already happened? This taste…this feeling…this emotion…it will only get worse. I must bear with it. I can't let myself fall into the abyss that is known as the Hyuuga Clan. I will toast my future and my family. For I have nothing else. I will love them."
And the fruit she put into her mouth was the sweetest orange she had ever eaten.
—End—