Title: Burying the Truth

Author: Spazoid

Summary: Not all secrets like to remain hidden.

Notes: This is set around when Hinata is eighteen, thus making Neji nineteen. The suffix 'nii-san' means brother, while the suffix 'sama' translates roughly into Lord, I believe; it's an honorary term.

Chapter One

First Sight

When Hyuuga Hinata finally came to terms with her status as heir to the clan, she had known there was much she had to do. She had a lot to prove, a lot to change, and the trust of a hundred to gain; she would have to protect those hundreds too and lead them with fairness and pose. Those steps were only a few of many. There was one aspect that Hinata hadn't thought about: the paperwork.

There was a lot of paperwork.

This wasn't to say that Hinata was the clan head yet- but she was taking on more duties and Hiashi seemed to think that paperwork was a good place to start (Kiba said it was because he didn't want to do it himself.) The young heir hadn't argued, merely accepted and by the time she had finished with the days work, it was late with only the glow of lanterns providing her light.

Rubbing tired white eyes, Hinata finally set down her pen and stood, wincing at her stiff form. Making sure all the papers were neatly put in order, she then softly blew out the lanterns and exited the room and into the darkened corridor. Shutting the door quietly behind her and rubbing her eyes once more, the Hyuuga heir turned to head towards her room; sleep was in order.

A soft sound, like the patter of children's foot-steps sounded behind her, and Hinata turned on reflex. White eyes blinked slowly as nothing met her gaze and a hand pressed to her temple; she must have been hearing things. But before she had even taken another step, that sound of footsteps came again and Hinata found herself turning around once more, frowning this time. As with before, nothing met her gaze.

Thinking a child has escaped the confines of their room and was trying to hide (all the Hyuuga children had been put to bed long ago), Hinata quietly activate the Byakugan, looking for the child. But no chakra met her gaze.

She was alone.

For a few minutes, Hinata stood there dumbly, looking around uselessly. Eventually, she closed her eyes and deactivated the Byakugan, sighing; maybe she was more exhausted then she had thought previously and was just hearing things. The mind had a way of playing tricks on a person after all; she may have been misinterpreting a sound. Smiling faintly at her foolishness, she allowed her eyes to open again, the Byakugan gone and her gaze back to that soft pale color. Reassuring herself she was just being silly, she glanced back to where she had first heard the sound. But instead of seeing nothing as she had presumed she would, this time she did see something.

But that something wasn't anything she had ever seen before.

They were almost like shadows… but just barely. They seemed to move of their own volition, dependent from any actual shadow. And they almost looked to be in the shape of children, their feet making that pattering sound; Hinata could have sworn that she heard giggling as well.

And above all, they were looking at her.

Hinata felt her breath hitch in her throat and she suddenly felt cold despite the late spring warmth. Rather abruptly, she spun around, moving in the opposite direction of the shadows, and consequently the opposite direction of her room. Instead, she decided that Neji's room was the best place now because, really, she had to be seeing things. There was nothing to be afraid of and the one person who could dispel such notions was Neji.

Swiftly, Hinata moved down the hallways, refusing to even dare a look behind her. By the time she reached Neji's room, she felt slightly breathless. Her hand rose to politely knock, but the door was opening before her strike could fall. Trying to compose herself, she looked up to her cousin, her mouth open to explain. But the words died in her throat and the only words that came out were a whispered, "Neji-nii-san?"

Something was wrong here too.

Neji was staring at her, his eyes cold and distant, a look she hadn't seen since they were children; it was frightening. His hitae-ate lay discarded and crumpled on the floor, his curse seal bared for all to see; that alone sent warning bells off in her mind. Neji never bared his curse seal, ever. And now Hinata was trapped between Neji looming over her and the pattering shadow children behind her; their giggling had turned to soft hushing. And she didn't know why.

"Heir of the Main House…"

The too soft voice and too formal words made the young woman's gaze snap back to Neji. He never addressed her so formally, not even since he had accepted being her protector. 'Hinata-sama' was as formal as he got and that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach grew. Hinata knew that she should be thinking logically, that maybe Neji was ill or someone had told him to address her so formally. But her gut told her it was something else, no matter how much mind protested. "…Neji? Are you alright?"

"….no." The statement was soft, but cold and filled with an emotion that Hinata couldn't understand. She swallowed thickly, unsure now; with others she could have played this off as a bad joke, but Neji didn't joke, especially not like this. When Neji spoke again, the Hyuuga heir could not quite quell her fear.

"Physically, he shall be fine. But that is not the matter at hand. Attend to me, Heir of the Main House…" Neji seemed to waver suddenly, and Hinata took a step back, preferring to take her chances with the shadows then her oddly acting cousin. The shadows seemed to melt back with her movements, still hushing each other softly. Neji- because it had to be him, there was no way- fixated his gaze back on her, cold and furious. One hand reached out towards her but seemed to stop and Hinata was fervently glad that it had.

Finally, she found her voice again, asking a little stupidly, "…what?"

Neji's face seemed to change at her word, looking conflicted; it almost appeared as if he was restraining himself. "You… your house… you must understand what your house has, down the secret needs-"

Very suddenly, Neji stopped talking and dropped his hand, eyes rolling back. He staggered and then slumped against the doorframe with a quiet groan. Hinata stood just outside his door for a minute, too shocked to move, before her head whipped around at what sounded like the whisper of robes. But there was nothing there, not even the shadows that had lurked behind her; they had all disappeared, like some bad nightmare. There were more important things to worry about as Neji started to pitch forward and despite her fear at his strange actions, she darted forward to catch him, sinking to the floor with him. "Neji…"

"Hi… Hinata-sama?" His voice and gaze were confused, the normally collected shinobi dazed and shaking in her arms. Hinata lifted her hand, pressing it to his forehead to check for a fever. His skin was cool to her touch though and she shifted her gaze to his form as he grabbed her wrist, looking up to her. "What's… going on, Hinata-sama? What's wrong?"

For a second, all Hinata could do was stare at her cousin, disbelieving; he didn't know what had just happened? He didn't appear sick either, what could have…Quite suddenly, Hinata found herself babbling to the confused Neji. "I was working… and then shadows… and then you… but it wasn't you, your hitae-ate, and I mean….", she trailed off, and then asked bluntly, "Did you take any medication?"

Neji stared at her as if she was the one who had taken drugs, but his hand suddenly released her wrist to press to his forehead and he pulled away from Hinata hurriedly and grasped his hitae-ate and put it back on. "No… no, I didn't take anything. Are you alright Hinata-sama?"

His white eyes were looking at her, and Hinata suddenly didn't know what to say; how was she supposed to explain what she had just seen? Shadow children and thoughts of ghosts- her cousin was already looking at her with an odd expression, despite the fact that he didn't seem to recall ending up on the floor. He was probably brushing it off as mission stress and maybe she should too; there had to be a logical explanation.

There had to be…

Hinata stood suddenly, fingers twisting as Neji watched her with an odd expression, one eyebrow arched. Softly, she mumbled, "I'm… I'm sorry to bother you. I'll… I'll be in my room if… you need anything."

She hesitated just for a minute before turning and swiftly heading towards her own room, only shivering once and praying, in a small part of her mind, that there would be no more shadows tonight.