A/N: Instead of studying, I update. What do you want me to tell you, you gotta set your priorities straight.
A huge thank you to my beloved SabakunoAngel that force-feeds me inspiration.
So funny thing about chapter 1, TFH gets all the follows and favorites, while my other story gets all the reviews. Barely a few hours/days after I published chapter 1 of The Forsaken Heirs, The Glam Show got plenty of reviews.
It seems the GaaHina clan is stronger than the SasuHina, what a disappointment. Unless you guys want to prove me wrong :P Come on SasuHina fans, prove us all that GaaHina got no shit on you.
I owe LookingForEmile, I Liked The Story, Guest and SarahNia some homemade dinner, a beer and then some (no, no, not that some, unless …). Your reviews were mind-blowing, flattering and certainly undeserved, but thank you! To all those that followed and favorited, you blew my mind. It was a tempest of love, I still can't believe that what I got with 4 chapter of TGS, I got with one of TFH.
Enjoy the chappie, some SasuHina, a lot of KōHina and all my love.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
The Forsaken Heirs
Chapter 2
The Beauty of Broken Things
By
Voyna
To his greatest horror, the Hyūga compound had almost become a second home. Had anyone ever told him that he would be marching through Hyūga streets, be force-fed Hyūga food and ever bow to any Hyūga officials, he would have Mangyekō'd that loonie's head off.
But here he was. Uchiha Sasuke, the last Uchiha (hopefully not the last Sasuke), the dark prodigy, the Avenger and dangerous Konoha ANBU, walking towards the main family's mansion (it was just a very big traditional wooden building, it didn't deserve the title of mansion, if you asked him). As he had been doing every other day for the last two months.
Who would have thought that drafting a prenup would take so long?! Well, count on the Hyūga to make all types of complications. For the past two months, they had been discussing the renovation of the Uchiha compound. He hadn't even thought about the compound. Could he just have the girl?! Without all the add-ons.
Fact was, Hyūga Hinata was coming with a lot of add-ons, and he wasn't thinking about her breasts (well, not only) and the multitude of colorful and intricate kimono he had seen her in. For example, they were expecting for him to move out from his apartment (a.k.a throw his bachelorhood and freedom out of the window) and move into one of the ritziest suites in downtown Konoha.
Their little jewel (funny, they seal the girl, roast her brain cells and then start treating her as if she were gold) could not be imagined to live in a crummy apartment in a crummy part of town, right? The renovation of the Uchiha compound was another add-on, plus her dowry that had shocked him. Ok, he would have been shocked if he hadn't been immune to virtually everything. Uchiha Sasuke was simply immune to life.
It felt as if they were paying him to just take her away. He didn't need the money. And it was a good thing because as soon as the amount had been mentioned, the little heiress, feisty tiny thing who seemed to have a sister complex, had demanded for him to sign an agreement that his fiancée would administer the dowry as she saw fit.
Funny how things went. Konoha had locked him out of the Uchiha Clan's funds and here he had the Hyūga heiress battling teeth and claws for him not to touch a penny of her sister's dowry. They were all lucky Uchiha Sasuke wasn't a money guy.
Sometimes the Uchiha had the impression it was the heiress that he was marrying and not her sister. Hinata and he had exchanged about three words in two months. And he planned very much not to exchange any at all once they were married. Her unconfident, quivering voice made him want to punch something.
There was nothing that aggravated Sasuke more than a lack of confidence. No, in fact there was only one thing that made him more livid than wishy-washiness. Naruto. That was it. No wonder people thought the two of them were an item when Sasuke mixed the dōbe in his thoughts about his fiancée.
All this bullshit was honestly taking a toll on his health. His mental health. He felt like he couldn't concentrate on anything. Lucky thing Ono was under control these days. The last few times he had been sent on the field, it had been to hunt down some Ono terrorists. Idiots that proclaimed some ideology along the lines of power to the people. Revolutionaries. Sasuke had been there, done that.
These past two months had been calm. Training with the ANBU. Getting fucked over by the Hyūga. Eating and showering somewhere in there. Sleeping as little as possible since the in-laws made sure he had homework to do for the next day. Everyone was strangely nervous though. As if something big was to happen. Not that anyone told Sasuke.
Kakashi smiled too much. Naruto jumped too little. The ANBU shifted two nanometers too far. Hyūga Hiashi became grimmer by the day, Hyūga Hanabi clicked her tongue more, heck even those Elders Sasuke had mistaken for mummies breathed more than the usual.
The only unchanging ones were the servant and the fiancée.
Kō, Sasuke had made sure to learn his name. The heiress had gotten accustomed to him and only showed annoyance at his apparition. No more deadly intents.
However the servant's mood had not changed one iota. Whenever he was called to Hiashi, Sasuke made sure to have a good grip on one of his kunai. The servant was a danger. And Sasuke was returning him the unspoken threats.
As weeks passed by a certain doubt had wormed its way into Sasuke's thoughts. Could that Kō be …
No, Sasuke was positive that the soldier had had long hair. Long, dark hair. That was the last thing Sasuke had seen before he had been blinded. And he was quite sure he had killed the shinobi. His hand had penetrated the man's stomach and he had sent a wave of chakra through it before he collapsed.
The Hyūga who had stolen his victory …
Before Sasuke could let his dark musings ruin his already bad mood further, a Branch servant ran out of the main family's mansion and accosted him.
"Uchiha-sama, since you are early, the Elders would like to invite you to drink tea with them. Please follow me."
With the Hyūga, there was no would you like. The only people that would like were the Hyūga. You could translate that to obey or die. And Sasuke certainly wasn't early. There was nothing in the world that could force Uchiha Sasuke to be early for a meeting with the Hyūga. In other words, Hiashi didn't have time for him and had arranged for the mummies to keep him busy.
Joy. But he followed nonetheless. The mansion was just as labyrinthine as the Hyūga Hall and Sasuke would have been hard-pressed to tell you where the washroom, any of the twenty washrooms they must have had in there, was.
The servant, who wasn't the servant (thank Lord), motioned for Sasuke to kneel in front of a shōji. All that kneeling, entering, kneeling was getting the best of Sasuke's knees. But he obeyed. They were training him well, he had to admit. However, by nature, he was more polite than most of his peers. A spank by Fugaku's hand had a way to set a man on the right path for the rest of his life. Or not.
Once inside, Sasuke was greeted by only one Hyūga Elder. The grandfather. The dangerous one. And it took all of Sasuke's self-restrained, as he seated himself in front of the old man, not to shiver from revulsion. He wasn't disgusted by the man's appearance, he held his own against age, but by his eyes. Cold, unchanging eyes, glazed like those of a dead fish.
Hinata's eyes. With those thick, long eyelashes and that slight tint of lavender in their middle. Nice to know whose genetic luggage he could thank for the next eighty years of misery he was facing. Not that Sasuke planned on making it that old. If he made it passed twenty-five, he would be quite happy.
"Young man. It is a joy to see you in such good health. Youth is a blessing. And it is most kind of you to keep a poor elderly man company."
Yeah, right. That poor elderly man could most probably go against Kakashi-būchō and hold his own. But Sasuke refrained from commenting. The shōji to the inner garden was wide open and the cold light of an autumn day seeped into the Elder's alcove. The tea on the table made sophisticated fumes roll around them.
Hyūga eyes as seen through fumes seemed even eerier. Sasuke had noticed that this particular Elder had the bad habit of staring right at him. He was evaluating him insistently. But even that was better than Hinata's indifference. She had that way of looking at him through her eyelids, while keeping her eyes seemingly turned towards the ground.
Hyūga never stared directly at people, unless they were quite secure about their position of power over them, like that Elder. No, they usually kept their eyelids lowered. However, their heads were always turned towards the interlocutor to pay him some respect and show that they were listening. Of course, they stared right at you through the skin of their eyelids, but you just had to convince yourself they were truly staring at the floor.
However, Hinata's head was always set straight and she never turned it towards Sasuke when he spoke. As if she had no interest in what he was saying. In fact, he was quite sure she never listened to anything that was being said by any of the parties.
She was living in her own world. And he would have to make do. Whatever, he preferred that to an Ino or a Sakura that you couldn't shut up.
Soulless porcelain doll with the coldest fingers that had ever touched him (ok, touched his hand, inadvertently at that). What Hyūga Hinata was in a nutshell. A shaking porcelain doll.
"It seems we will have some rain."
The elder pointed at the sky, visible through the leaves of a big weeping willow at ten feet from them.
And here we go. They would go through all the meteorological previsions for the next three years.
Today was Sasuke's lucky day. During the training he had had one of the ANBU girls he'd fucked some time ago break into tears and accuse him of being a womanizer that had abused her innocence. What innocence?! Then he had come home to find that the neighbors from above had had some damage to their piping. His kitchen had been soaked. Hello fungi. And now, he had a decrepit, potentially delusional mummy hitting the weather subject.
Kill him now. If you can, that is.
"Young man, have you ever wondered how seasons are similar to shinobi? Spring is the birth of a strong will. Ideology blossoms and the body develops. Summer is the time of work. In the summer of his life, the shinobi is fully developed and it is time for him to reap the fruits of his labor. It is a great period of struggle and of questioning. Fall is the beginning of the end. The body gives in to age and wounds, however the mind is strong and it flourishes in beauty and color. Finally comes winter. Death. And that is where the similarity ends. Because, unlike the seasons that are reborn, the shinobi is no more. At least so they say."
The eyes of the Elder bore right through Sasuke's. The fumes of tea hazed the young man's mind and those eyes felt like cold daggers being pushed under his eyelids. The Hyūga must have developed a new method for lobotomy. Stun people with an overly philosophical weather speech.
"But sometimes a shinobi can be reborn as well. From his own ashes, like a phoenix. As long as he has the patience and the will to start anew."
The Elder took a sip of his tea and motioned with his head at Sasuke's cup. Sasuke ignored the unsaid message. He would drink when it fucking pleased him. For all he knew, it could've been poisoned. Wouldn't be the first goddamn time the Hyūga came after his ass.
As if reading his mind, the carnivorous smile that was etched on the old man's thin, wrinkled mouth stretched.
"It is truly a shame you did not succeed, Uchiha-san."
Not the right thing to say. By a long shot. Sasuke's back straightened immediately and the glare he shot the Elder was one of warning. Hyūga shouldn't fuck with him when it came to what had gone down two years ago.
But of course, the threat the Sharingan represented was not big enough for the old man to shut up as he should have.
"It is rare that someone so young understands the necessity of unifying the world to one common standard. It is the basis of peace. Only a world where there is one ideal to serve can be a happy world."
"Obviously, the Hyūga would feel miserable in a peaceful world."
The Elder did not flinch at Sasuke's hiss. How one man could be as sturdy as that small vicious grandfather was beyond the Uchiha. However, being old was certainly not enough of a reason for Sasuke to back off from him.
"So bitter, young man. You should not accuse the Hyūga for something they have not done."
The rage that took over Sasuke made him quiver ever so slightly. He was pulling a Hinata. Bile filled his mouth. He was so close to activating the Sharingan and going after the elderly Hyūga. And the old piece of shit fucking knew it. It was the reason he was provoking him.
But, pretending to be unaware of the latent danger Uchiha Sasuke represented, the Elder, his cup of tea cradled in his hands, leaned over the table. Closer to the young man. His sharp small teeth that had always made Sasuke scowl glinted in the fading light of the day. He let a low chuckle escape. The Uchiha felt naked in front of that prying, pale glance.
"Uchiha-san, it has not been the Hyūga Clan's decision to ever go against you. We have always kept our men outside of the conflict you had with the village."
Fair enough. Sasuke never had a Hyūga come after his ass before the war. Not that he could remember, anyway. That day had been the first he had seen one up close.
"It had been the unadvised decision of one of our members that rushed our men onto you. It could have had catastrophic outcomes for the Hyūga Clan …"
Had you succeeded. Those were the words he left to linger between them. Yes, the Hyūga were known to battle only when the outcome was determined and in their advantage.
"Who was it? Tell me his name."
And for the first time since Sasuke had met him, the Elder had a change in expression. Besides a dry smile that never reached his eyes. He furrowed his thinning brows ever so slightly. It was barely visible; however Sasuke had always had eagle eyes when it came to these types of things. But realization seemed to hit the old man, and instead of a grim reply, Sasuke received a truly genuine smile.
Uchiha Sasuke had always thought he was immune to anything and everything. He was immune to life. And yet, that smile made him reconsider big time. He felt something akin to fear, noticing the ray of light that seemed to pass through the Hyūga's eyes.
"Oh, Uchiha-san, it was someone of no consequence, someone that doesn't exist anymore."
So after all, as he had thought, Sasuke had killed the shinobi that had stolen his victory. Yet, he couldn't feel at ease with the news. The glimmering teeth of the Elder, sharp and ready to sink themselves into Sasuke's skin, made him believe that there was something, some kind of sinister joke, that he didn't get.
In fact, as with Orochimaru, he felt like there was a whole word he could not see, hidden behind all the closed shōji of the main family's mansion.
"Uchiha-san, you took the right decision by choosing Hinata. She will redeem you …"
x.x.x
"No."
"Uchiha-san, what benefit would there be for the Hyūga Clan to renovate the Uchiha compound if it could not be rented for a determinate period of time?"
"I never demanded for you to invest money into the renovation of the Uchiha compound."
One of the generals, middle-aged and drunk with self-importance (he really did look like an arrogant drunkard, if you asked Sasuke), gave Sasuke the evil eye. And Sasuke shot him an irate glare in response. There was no fucking way he would lease thirty percent of the Uchiha compound to the Hyūga so they could cram in their homeless.
It was none of his business how many children the Hyūga produced and the fact they would need to expand their compound to accommodate their growing population. However, Sasuke was quite sure that if he let one Hyūga, beside his future wife, set a foot onto Uchiha territory, he would never get rid of that mass of parasites. So, no.
"Uchiha-san, we are talking about a very profitable rental for you. Not only would you benefit from the renovation of a compound that would welcome your wife, future children and eventually descendants, but you would also be able to invest that money in good ventures that would most probably permit the Uchiha Clan to compensate for the illegitimately lost capital."
Hinata inched closer to him and he sensed her delicate perfume. She had not heard a thing they had been saying, he knew. And even if she had, she wouldn't have cared. Again, that servant Kō and her were in a world apart, unchanging and unyielding. However, she still carried out all the tasks expected from an eldest daughter.
The sleeve of her colorful kimono brushed against Sasuke's elbow and he had to use all his self-restraint not to push her away. Carefully, she sipped sake into his cup, the amber liquid sending a gleam of yellow light over her pale fingers. She was dead. Elegantly so. Sasuke had heard stories concerning puppet masters that transformed people into marionettes. He did not know which one had taken care of Hyūga Hinata, but he had done a mighty good job.
Were they trying to get him drunk so they could snatch the Uchiha compound away? Because honestly every time he was finished with one cup, that life-sized doll had to fill him another one. Hospitality Hyūga style. He remembered his father calling the Hyūga alcoholics. Each general had his own bottle and they had already gone through three at least … per head. However, the more they drank, the sharper their wits got.
Pushing the cup aside, he shot Hiashi a menacing glare. The leader appeared highly uninterested by Sasuke's struggle with the generals. The asshole had most probably paid them to introduce the subject so he wouldn't have to. As their eyes met, the Hyūga's brow flared. What was it with this new generation? Always going against the decisions of their elders. Mind you, Hiashi should have not been one to talk. He and his Elders went way back when it came to struggles.
"If Uchiha-san believes that this is an unfair bargain, we can leave things where they are. Fortunately, your name has yet to be placed beside my daughter's in the Konoha Annals. This is the right moment to break off the engagement."
Hyūga asshole. They made Sasuke seem like a fucking beggar, and you could imagine how little he appreciated it. He felt as if they were trying to take over his life. No, he felt like they were trying to train him so they could use him. To transform him into a puppet.
Turning his cold, dark eyes, he got a glimpse of Hyūga Hinata whose breathing had remained calm and controlled even after her father so dismissively suggested their engagement be broken off. The Hyūga were trying to transform him into her. A pretty object that let them lead her blindly through life. She was so malleable, so pliable. It had attracted Sasuke, however there was no fucking way he would let them break him in such a way.
The Hyūga that would outwit an Uchiha was yet to be born. Moving his eyes to Hiashi's hands, Sasuke evaluated the situation. The Hyūga leader appeared at first as having the greatest self-control one could encounter. But it had taken Sasuke only a few weeks to catch the tremor that went through the top of Hiashi's right hand when he was pissed. And what did you know, there it was, that almost invisible tremor.
Sasuke couldn't save the Uchiha compound, he wasn't stupid. Hiashi had threatened him from breaking off their agreement and he was the type of man to keep his word. However, he could make the Hyūga hurt.
"The Hyūga are already expanding on a four kilometer radius from the compound. The renovation of the Uchiha compound will take about one year. Preparing that new Hyūga territory will take about three, since there is no clan more organized than the Hyūga."
The smirk that grazed Sasuke's lips made a general growl. What was his name again? Sasuke hadn't cared to learn it.
"I am willing to accommodate Hyūga families on a three-year period. We have unused habitation complexes on the periphery of the compound. They could lodge about three hundred people; I believe that is quite sufficient. We are talking about ten million yen per year, for a total of thirty million yen on a three-year period. Later on, if it suits the Hyūga, the lease can be renewed."
Oh-ho, the generals weren't happy. Was this the moment he took out his kunai? He was itching for a good fight. However, it was the servant sitting behind Hiashi that interested him. Hyūga generals were too bombastic for Sasuke, but Kō that held a black writing stone over Hiashi's shoulder, not shifting an inch, was more to his taste. But the servant wouldn't even meet his eye, just like his fiancée.
"These complexes you are referring to are ruins. There is no sewage system, let alone electricity or water", a general spluttered.
Turning his head to the man, Sasuke examined him for twenty seconds. Letting his stare sink through those pale, fascinating eyes. Yes, as disgusted as Sasuke was by the Byakugan, it still fascinated and called to him. As the general bit down on his tongue, Sasuke swept over the whole assembly in one glance.
"The Hyūga are so willing to invest in the Uchiha compound. I am quite sure they would not mind to brush up the buildings in question. The Uchiha Clan cannot do more."
The response was instantaneous, but it did not come from the Elders, the generals or Hiashi. It was the small heiress seated by her father's side that leaned over the table in one movement. She was fast and precise. Sasuke had seen her coming. But barely.
With her face a few inches from his, the Uchiha noticed that even if at first glance she looked very much like her father and grandfather, there were some things in the shape of her nose and the form of her chin that reminded of Hinata.
"There is no such thing as the Uchiha Cla– "
Before she had the time to finish, Hiashi had raised his left hand, while his right was travelled by uncontrolled tremors. Oh, yes. Hyūga Hiashi was pissed and Sasuke almost felt his balls swell in ease. And look at the peanut gallery, even the rabid heiress, back off immediately. This was going to get good …
"Fine. Kō."
Oh, for fuck's sake. The only thing Uchiha Sasuke achieved in the end was to make Mr. Deadly-Intent pass Hiashi a blank scroll. He had hoped for a meltdown, an apocalypse, just a reason to Susanoo them all! Count on Hyūga Hiashi to keep the situation under control till the last moment. He was starting to hate his future father-in-law.
But that is when he noticed it in the corner of his eye. It had been almost imperceptible and disappeared as soon as he got a glimpse of it. Hyūga Hinata. Gracefully seated on his left, her back as straight as an arrow and her eyes cast on the low table they were all seated around, Hyūga Hinata had moved.
And he didn't mean the way she had to shake like a leaf or her deliberate movements to accomplish some trivial task. No, it had been on her face. Around her mouth. Sasuke could swear that for an instant he had seen the corners of her pulp lips pull up a nanometer.
And he didn't like it. His Hinata was a doll, a thing. The type of woman that accomplished her duty by turning her head to the side and opening her thighs wide. A cold corpse that men buried themselves in out of obligation. And he wanted to keep her that way. Uchiha Sasuke did not need a being made of flesh, desire and sin. He wanted the perfection of void. And joy, mirth, hilarity were anything but perfect.
Hiashi, his eyes twinkling, maybe because of alcohol, maybe because of some dark knowledge, turned a scroll towards Sasuke and handed him the brush he had been using to draft the contract.
And surrounded by all those arrogant generals, by the Elders that stared right at him, by the raging heiress, the deadly servant and the plastic fiancée, the Uchiha felt like he was signing a deal with the devil.
Do you know how much your soul costs?
Sasuke's was available for rent. Thirty million yen for a three-year lease. If he signed that scroll, there was more than simply some abandoned buildings outside of the Uchiha compound he would be signing off. He was signing off his peace of soul. He would not only marry into the Hyūga Clan, he would be absorbed by it till he became one with them.
"Thirty million yen, three years, Uchiha-san."
Fuck you, Hyūga Hiashi. Well, if the Hyūga thought that Sasuke was nothing but a dog wagging his tail at his master … they were right. In fact, they have never been more right about something. Swallowing the bile in his mouth, his hand shaking with rage (it seemed it was the shaker evening, everyone was shaking because of something), the Uchiha grabbed the brush out of Hiashi's hand and without reading a word, keeping his eyes set on the Hyūga's left his name at the bottom of the scroll.
Hyūga Hiashi was a man whose cold and insipid soul could be kissed by beauty. In fact, even if everything he did was calculated and deliberate, he did take pleasure in shōga and was considered as the most creative leader the Hyūga Clan had had. His paintings were exposed here and there, and every general that had the honor of receiving one exhibited it with pride in his alcove.
And so, when he saw the Uchiha eyes slowly pass from onyx to red, he regretted greatly not having his elder daughter's talent for portraits. No wonder the whole world had been mesmerized by the Sharingan during centuries. The same could not be said about the Byakugan.
"It is getting late", Sasuke bit out.
The arrogant, satisfied glance of the heiress aggravated him greatly. For a fourteen-year old brat, she had some balls. And he truly thanked the Lord that he wouldn't be stuck with one like her.
"Indeed, Uchiha-san. We will continue with this tomorrow."
Yeah, you know what? Sasuke would fucking take that B-ranked as jōnin. He detested switching between ANBU and jōnin duty. But all the bureaucratic bullshit he would have to go through to get his jōnin documentation updated would be worth it as long as he escaped the Hyūga for a few days.
"I am on mission for the next three days."
The Elder who had spoken, not the grandfather this time, shot him a dismissive glance. Yeah well, Sasuke didn't care about him either, thanks.
"How unfortunate. We know someone who will be greatly disappointed by your absence."
They were alluding to Hinata. Were they making fun of him or were they fucking serious?! Because honestly, he was quite sure she hadn't even heard a word he'd said. Geez, if that is how she expressed hysteria at the idea of being separated from her fiancé, Sasuke worried what she would be when calm.
Dead. Which she already was. What he meant was unbreathing dead. Biologically dead. Oh, whatever.
And he didn't mind. In fact, he preferred it like that. If he never came back, he was quite sure the youngest general of the lot, who was shooting carnivorous glances at her now and then, would snatch her away and they would massively reproduce and make some more Hyūga babies. And render Konoha a little more miserable than it already was. Good by him.
"Uchiha-s-san, permit me to s-see you to the g-gates."
How did you turn the volume off on that thing? Because he was about to punch her. She had to learn to speak up before they got married or else he would go crazy. Again. And Konoha would not like for him to go crazy again. At the pleased smiles of the Elders, Sasuke was quite sure it had not been her idea. Walking around in the dark with a man was certainly not Hyūga Hinata's style. But did they really have the choice?
"Tch."
And so, with much ceremony, Sasuke and Hinata were ushered towards the exit. A lacquered umbrella was pushed into the lady's hands; a haori was lent to the gentleman. He had not fucking asked for one. And, as soon as Hinata had put on her geta, that made her tower over Sasuke to his great displeasure, they were off.
He held the umbrella above her head, trying at the same time to shield himself from the droplets that were falling all around them. The compound was dark since all the lanterns had been extinguished by rain. It amused him that a general had complained about the lack of electricity in the Uchiha-owned buildings Sasuke had leased them. Hyūga were still using fucking lanterns to light their streets.
Hinata did not go against her habit. She remained silent, walking at Sasuke's rhythm. The only communication subsisting between them were the breaths they were taking. The air was saturated by the Hyūga's delicate smell and the Uchiha felt like he knew that fragrance from somewhere. It was definitely not modern perfume; it had something traditional to it. Lavender, green tea, sandalwood, paulownia and incense. However, he had no idea where he had smelled it before.
When they got close to the gates and the HISS shinobi that was standing by them greeted them, Sasuke made a movement to give Hinata the lacquered umbrella. But before he had the time to extend his hand, she had already taken a step back. Fast and precise. Like the heiress.
As the droplets hit her pale skin, Sasuke had the impression she was glowing in the darkness. Slowly raising her head, her eerie eyes met his. His had obviously returned to their original color and she did not freeze or startle when looking at him. He however was amazed at how clear the Byakugan could seem in the darkness.
Even Hyūga Hinata's eyes could look alive. What a surprise. Not one he particularly liked. It was the evening of unwelcome surprises. He had the disagreeable impression there was something her eyes were trying to tell him but he could not read it. If only she fucking spoke, that would make things damn easier. He was not a godforsaken mind-reader.
"Goodbye, Uchiha-s-san."
And as she swiftly turned around, he had the ridiculous desire to grab onto her arm and bring her back to him. He wanted to know what it was she had to say. Or maybe, to his great mortification, he wanted to keep that pretty porcelain doll with him a little longer. No man was immune to the physical charms of a frigid Hyūga woman (he couldn't imagine Hinata otherwise but frigid). And she was his to do with as he pleased, no?
But she was already far away. She ran on her high geta, her hands grasping the hem of her orange kimono and pulling it up to her knees. As her loose bun jumped up and down, Sasuke was left to admire the gleam of the milky skin on the nape of her neck in the darkness. A long, unruly strand of black hair pulled out and flew into the night.
Running away like a chased rabbit, Hyūga Hinata had never appeared more alive and real to Sasuke. It left him wondering whether it was too late to pull out of the deal. Stripping from the haori and shoving it, with the lacquered umbrella, into the gatekeeper's hands, Sasuke as well disappeared into the night. The thoughts that accompanied him back to his bachelor flat were much darker than night itself.
x.x.x
A fever woke her up in the middle of the night. Since the sealing, she had gotten accustomed to so many changes in her body. She never remembered which part of her brain had been damaged by the stroke she had sustained; however she surely felt the side effects. Dry eyes, blurry sight, migraines, nausea. Tremors, obviously. However, the low-grade fevers that woke her up now and then were a thing she truly could not bear.
Shifting on her futon, she wondered whether any of the HISS guards that patrolled the mansion were moving as well. The guards hated when people got restless in the middle of the night. Generations of intermarriage in the Hyūga Clan had given for a volatile race of consanguine people. Hyūga were perfect outside the compound, but once back between the four walls of their little piece of heaven, they became barely controllable.
Hardly six months had passed since a general's son had set himself on fire. It had been a shock to everyone that such a promising young man would go crazy. However, Hinata was not one to judge. She was not sane herself. Especially not in the middle of the night, when a low-grade fever sent shivers down her spine and cold sweat covered her body.
Her eyes wide-open stared at the ceiling. She was too hot. She kicked the cover of the futon off and let the cold air of the night hit her naked legs. Her yukata had opened up during the night. Of course, she couldn't have a normal pyjama; she had to sleep in that bathrobe that cut her breath, opened up around her waist, slid off her shoulders, ran up her legs and was an overall pain in the ass.
Well, for all she cared, the HISS could mow her down; she wouldn't remain lying like a corpse. She sat up and felt them shifting around her door. Hinata had been raised in a family where the concept of privacy did not exist.
You would have thought the fact that all the inhabitants of the house could see her if they invested a minimal amount of effort into it would make her less self-conscious. Yet the knowledge there were maybe five Byakugan-users in front of her apartment's doors made her pull down her yukata.
But she would not get bullied into lying back down. She was in her own godforsaken apartment; she had the right to do whatever she damn pleased. Oh, for God's sake, you couldn't even relieve yourself in the middle of the night in this place. The life with the Hyūga. Her life. Or at least, what her life would have been had she not had the chance to meet up with Kurenai.
Kurenai. How Hinata missed her. She had desired to see her, to be there for her former sensei when she gave birth, to help her out. But there were things in the Hyūga Clan that were taboo, wishes for example. As soon as she had received her decorations, they had pulled her into the Clan, into oblivion. At least, she had enjoyed the sour face of the Elders when the Gōdaime had handed her, alongside many representatives of her cohort, the greatest Konoha distinction.
But of course, disobedience should never be rewarded. When she had come back to the compound, the first step that was taken was to downgrade her. And she didn't care. What she had cared for was that all the men that had followed her had not been downgraded alongside her.
There had been nothing more painful but the day they had forced her to sign a resignation letter that stipulated she was giving up on her duties as kunoichi. It had been a threat. Resign or all the Hyūga shinobi that had followed your orders would be forced to resign.
However, after all, they had wanted to reinstate her as heiress. Why that had been of plan of theirs, Hinata did not know. The only thing she knew is that every decision that she took, disregarding her own comfort, had been the right decision.
She had done the right thing. Each and every time. Hinata had done the right things; she would not regret now.
She had done the right thing by getting sealed instead of her sister. Hanabi was strong, Hanabi was stubborn. She would be able keep the Elders in check. And it was worth the tremors, the migraines, the low-grade fevers. She had done the right thing by accepting to be given to the Uchiha. She would be finally free. It was something like karma rewarding her for having taken the right decisions, right? Right?!
Just open your thighs, turn your head to the side and let him bury himself into a corpse. That was not difficult to pull off.
Tears threatened to spill. Her life in one word, tears. She was a real crybaby. Turning her head to the ceiling, she waited for the tears to dry before jumping to her feet. She needed a breather. Right about now. And of course, the HISS shifted some more by her door.
Sure, she wasn't living in the fancy part of the mansion; she was not a Sōke anymore. However, she was the heiress' sister and the leader's daughter. They preferred to keep away from her. They didn't need for Hiashi, who was known to rarely use the seal, to expressly roast them as he had done with her.
And so, she remained unharmed as she reached the shōji giving to the garden. Hanabi had insisted for her to get an apartment by the garden. Hinata let a smile play on her lips.
Hanabi, spoiled, willful little thing. Hinata had been wrong to think she had changed much since age five. She was the same. A memory came back to her. Hinata had been six and seated on Kō's lap. Hanabi had been with her caretaker, a sweet lady. Her diapers had been hanging low on her chubby legs and she'd been dancing in that ridiculously cute way babies did. She was simply bending her knees and shaking that enormous diaper of hers.
A chuckle escaped Hinata. She had lost it. Oh, yes. She had gone crazy. But it didn't matter, as long as Uchiha Sasuke took her. Everyone would be happy, her included. Right?
Pushing the shōji aside, a whiff of night air punched her in the face. She actually really felt like someone had punched her. But Hinata wanted to be frozen to the bone; therefore she appreciated the coldness of the night. Turning her eyes to the sky, she looked at the twinkling stars. They were so far away they were barely visible.
The cold breeze made the willow's branches dance into the night. It was a strange scene to behold.
And then she saw him. He was marching towards the willow. It had been his willow. Hinata's breath hitched in her throat. Just an illusion, she had to remember he was nothing but an illusion, he was not real. He was nothing but an illusion. She couldn't even make him out clearly.
Hinata, close your eyes, let the panic attack wash over you. But please, please, let her look at his shadow for just another instant.
The illusion turned. For the first time, the illusion turned and then she saw him clearly. It was really him. Oh, yes, it was him. The illusions never turned. For the first time, she could make out his features perfectly. His chiseled mouth pulled in an amused smirk, eyelids lowered over his eyes in that arrogant fashion that was proper to him. The wind made his long brown hair flutter around his face.
Neji had come back for her.
But he was walking way; he was disappearing through the branches of the weeping willow. No, he would not. He would not leave her again, she would not let him. Jumping down the terrace, Hinata let her naked feet carry her faster than lighting.
"Neji!"
Her desperate scream reverberated through the inner garden of the main family's mansion. The HISS were on it, they were around her, everywhere, but she did not see them and they made no movement to stop her from reaching the tree. Long dark strands of hair whipped her face and blinded her to the point she jumped into the cold koi pond.
The water reached her thighs and the soaked fabric of her yukata hindered her steps. Hinata did not feel the pain of freezing water on her calves, she did not see the mass of curious servants that had gathered on the veranda or the HISS shinobi that slowly followed her, ready to cut her into pieces of she revealed to be a danger.
"Wait for me, do not leave me. Neji!"
Her voice was becoming hoarse; her yukata was slipping from her shoulders and revealing too much skin. She did not care. As she walked out of the water, the branches of the weeping willow engulfed her. Where was he? She called his name over and over again; she called him to her desperately.
Tearing at the branches, getting entangled in them, tears streaked her beautiful features, red blotches appeared on her perfect skin. Neji. She wanted Neji. Hinata needed Neji.
But Neji was not there. He had left her again and it is exhausted, abandoned and desperate, that she crashed into something hard. And it was not the tree's trunk.
Through her disorderly hair, she saw a humble, geometric pattern on some rough, pale fabric. A smell that she knew too well overcame her. It was the smell of crude, artisanal soap. A hand sneaked around her waist and before Hinata could do anything, she was being hoisted by a pair of strong arms. One arm around her waist, one under her knees.
She had no other choice but to lift her head and look at whom it was that was holding her. The hope of Neji's return did not falter an instant. It had been him. It could have been nobody but him. But the face she beheld, plain and rugged, was not Neji's. The smell that overwhelmed her, unsophisticated and common, was not Neji's. The eyes that looked down on her with pain, longing, anger, worry were not Neji's.
Kō. Always Kō. When everyone abandoned her, when everyone left her behind, Kō was there. And she hated him for it. She wanted Neji. The desire that held her heart in a vice was suffocating her. Her sobs became only more violent, her breath left her, she wheezed and coughed. A migraine was making her writhe in pain.
Hyūga Hinata had no idea how heavy a burden she could be to carry around. He had carried her around for sixteen years; he could tell her just how heavy she had been and still was. And he was not talking about weight.
Her voice whispering Uzumaki Naruto's name. Her screams of pain turned towards Neji. Even the cold pleasantries she served Uchiha Sasuke. All of that was so heavy to carry around. But he did. He, Hyūga Kō, the original prodigy of the Hyūga Clan, the sacrifice, he carried around each one of her heavy words. And the words she had ever spoken to him had been so light they had escaped before he could even catch them.
With Hinata-hime in his arms, under the astonished glances of servants that would most probably transform this into a searing porn scene, Hyūga Kō, the former HISS general, walked from beneath the branches of the weeping willow. On the veranda, the only two people that mattered waited for them. Hyūga Hiashi, his features drawn in a menacing frown, and Hyūga Hanabi, seemingly calm, yet fidgeting with conflicted feelings.
But he did not pay them heed. Better to say he didn't give a fucking shit about them.
Walking by the pond, he was on the veranda in two strides and penetrated Hinata's alcove without even opening his mouth. And cue to the leader and his pet heiress following him. He honestly did not need those two when Hinata was grasping the collar of his yukata and whispering Neji's name against his neck. The soft flutter of her lips on his naked shoulder felt like a snake's kiss.
How he detested Hyūga Neji. He had seen him for the first time when Neji had been seven and had detested him from that day on. Kō should have killed him. But you do not easily kill your ally. Someone else took care of that business, but not before the damage had been done.
"It would be disgraceful for you to stay."
Count on Hyūga Hiashi to care for convenience when his eldest daughter was combusting from fever and shaken by delusions. Fatherly love, you could call it. And Kō ignored the indirect order. For all he cared, Hyūga Hiashi could fuck himself in the ass with a kunai.
He thought Hinata's sealing had been clear enough as message. Kō was done playing the obedient part. The revolution did not need him anymore, he had become a hindrance for them, he could permit himself to do whatever he damn well pleased until they decided to cut his lifeline short.
And so he did. Approaching Hinata's futon, he carefully kneeled and let her slip from his arms.
"I'll stay."
Hanabi's voice was unwavering and sounded more like an order than an affirmation. She had been sidelined for too long concerning her sister. Hinata and her had never been close, true. But she was not cruel (she generously left the psycho part to the Elders) enough to let her sick sister alone and it seemed that the only person competent enough to manage that meltdown was Kō.
She didn't like to admit it, because honestly, Hanabi hated his guts, but he was the only person that could be trusted with Hinata.
Hanabi remained in a corner as her father retreated towards the hall. There was no use arguing with the heiress of the Hyūga Clan. Hiashi had warned the Elders that their games concerning heirloom would do little good. And he had been right. As soon as Hinata's sealing had taken place, Hanabi had developed a sense of rebellion that might have been proper for a teenage girl, but certainly not for the heiress of the greatest clan of the country.
Being almost demoted to the rank of second daughter had made her eager to prove that she could govern. Even over her own father. She would go against the Elders as well in her immature wish to show her grandeur. And this is what it gave. Passing Hinata all her follies and fantasies would certainly not be beneficial for the image of the Clan.
However, as long as the Uchiha did not hear about it, there would be no repercussions. And it is certainly not the Hyūga that would give him unnecessary details about his fiancée.
And maybe, even if he did not want to admit, Hiashi did feel the burden of seeing his eldest daughter, his flesh and blood, suffer through so many trials. At some point in time, he had believed she would make a good leader. Now, however, there was nothing left of that shy yet firm and idealistic girl that had went to war to come back as a hero.
He could not redeem the Clan or himself, the only thing he could do for her was pass her a few follies and fantasies here and there, before she was given off to the Uchiha.
As the leader walked out, Kō busied himself around Hinata, grasping her hands in his, whispering soothing words to her, under the aghast glance of the heiress. Well, fuck him, maybe it was time for him to teach Hanabi a few things about her own sister.
"When she has a crisis, you should always keep her hands away from her face. At the end of the war, she had the habit of trying to scratch her eyes out."
A gasp. Well, little heiress, what did you expect? You thought the fact that you all of a sudden acquired a conscience and started feeling something else besides indifference towards your sister would magically make things alright? Fuck you, Hyūga Hanabi … sama.
"P-please, don't l-leave m-me … I w-would have l-loved you too. I am s-sorry. I was b-blind, p-please f-forgive me …"
Another gasp. Yeah, there was a lot to Hinata Hanabi had no idea about. Whom was she talking about ever so intimately? Kō? Even if Hanabi knew nothing about love, she could imagine that the grimace that plastered itself across the man's features was not one of joy. He had never seemed grimmer in fact.
Hanabi's heart beat in her throat as she waited for the words that left Hinata's lips.
"Neji … N-Neji …"
Neji. Their cousin Neji, Hinata's Neji-nii-san. Bringing her hand to her throat, Hanabi did her best to smother a croak. She was starting to feel faint. It could not be, Hinata could not have been the one that Neji had loved. Hanabi was a fourteen-year old girl that knew nothing about love. Her only sources of pleasure were her sparring sessions with their father. In fact, as any Hyūga worth his salt, she proclaimed great nihilist ideas that left little place for concepts such as affection to worm their way into her brain.
However, under all that attitude and arrogance, the heiress of the Hyūga Clan was nothing but a girl with her dreams, her expectations and her fantasies. Even if she would have never admitted it, she spent great amounts of time following that estranged elder sister with her eyes. Especially when Hyūga Kō was around.
And to a young mind such as Hanabi's, there was a lot of beauty in the way that man, that warrior (for Hanabi, who was still young, age had no true consequence as long as the man could raze a village for his beloved's sake, would bow his head to her sister, would offer her his arm when they walked. Would sacrifice his own rank, as low as it might have been, his own life, as unworthy it might have seemed, for the sake of the woman he loved. However, not once had she considered the idea that Hinata did not return his feelings. Was it not understood that a loved woman loved?
And Hinata did love. She loved Neji.
Hanabi was a fourteen-year old girl that knew nothing about love. However, about jealousy she knew much. She had been jealous from day one of her sister who had always been on her father's mind. What was Hinata doing, where was Hinata, would she come back alive from this or that mission? Whenever Hyūga Hiashi had trained with Hanabi, it is Hinata Hanabi read in his eyes. Hanabi had wanted to earn his love with talent, Hinata had attracted his attention with mediocrity.
And now, at this moment, as Hinata raised from her futon, soaked and shivering, shaken by delusions and those aggravating tremors, Hanabi felt all that hatred she had thought had disappeared with Hinata's sealing resurface. Because this fourteen-year old girl that had never been touched with affection, let alone kissed, had felt Neji's hands on her when he closed her chakra wells as a caress.
She had mistaken for fondness each gleam in his eye when he lunged for her. She had kept each one of his words of praise engraved in her mind. She had suffered at his death. And she had felt possessiveness towards him.
Hanabi had never minded the way he had to spar preferentially with Hinata, he was a Bunke after all and fighting too much with the heiress and prodigy of the Hyūga Clan would be to no one's honor. She had not paid any heed to the fact he closely watched Hinata wherever she went and followed her as a shadow whenever he could. She was a walking haphazard and the first person to be scolded if anything happened to clumsy Hinata would have been Neji (since Kō by the time had moved on to new responsibilities). Him training Hinata had been nothing but pity for her inferiority.
So had Hanabi thought, or so she had tried to convince herself. In fact, she had never been aware that all those conflicting feelings that made her feel shame at night, when she hid under the covers of her futon, could mean anything. And even now, as she slid against the wall of her sister's alcove, Hyūga Hanabi had no idea that Neji had been her first love. The only thing she could hear were Hinata's words, repeated over and over again.
'I would have loved you too.'
Hyūga Neji had loved Hinata. And Hanabi wanted to reproach it to her. She wanted to throw it right at her sister's face. But, maybe because she did not know and most probably would never that she had loved Neji too, or maybe because she realized that there was no use speaking of it now that he was dead, she simply pushed back all those feelings, all that longing and despair and locked them in a dark box at the back of her mind.
Seated on the tatami of her sister's alcove, her back to the wall, her mind blank and her hands still pressed around her throat, Hanabi was left the sole spectator of the strange scene that took place in front of her eyes.
Hinata had sat up on her futon, a long, white leg bent by Kō's side and revealed by the lapels of her soaked yukata. Her long dark hair contrasted with the paleness of her skin. Maybe was it because of the lack of light in the room or because of the moon that shone through the shōji that was yet to be slid back in place, but she looked very much like a ghost. However no ghost would have had the strength to grab so violently onto the collar of the man's yukata and pull him towards her in such an intimate fashion.
How Kō must have suffered hearing her speak Neji's name with such passion.
The plain man and the beautiful woman were only inches apart and had Hanabi still thought the two were an item, she would have believed a kiss would follow. But the gleam that travelled Hinata's eye was suggesting something closer to rage and her face distorting into a grimace of anger suggested an impending tempest thunderstorm. Her voice remained soft and inaudible as she whispered her own reproaches to the man that was trying to calm her by pushing her bangs back and passing his thumb over her brows.
She was playing the role of the slighted woman without even realizing and Hanabi wondered how patient Hyūga Kō, whom she had always considered as the equivalent of an icepick, could be. Or how stupid.
Hinata had completely forgotten she was in the Hyūga compound, she was giving it her all, throwing convenience, tradition and honor through the window. And yet, here he was, cold and unfeeling, whispering sweet nothings to a woman that demanded nothing more but a reason.
"Y-You want to get rid of m-me too. J-Just like otō-s-san … You want to s-sell me off to the Uchiha. Y-You are just like otō-san …"
He only smiled noncommittally to her, shooting a worried glance at Hanabi. They were not alone and he could not stoop down low and demand for Hinata to walk all over his miserable being. He had always done so and would keep on kissing the dust on which she walked. And God knew that seeing her so dishevelled, desperate and terrified made his heart break, as it had from the day Hōtaru had died and left her eldest in his care. By default.
But, he could not give in to his desires. He could not snake his arms around her shoulders and bring her to him. He could not throw her over his shoulder and try to run away with her as he had done after her sealing. Even the very fact that he was in her room at the moment would be seen the next morning, as the Elders heard about it, as a sign of insubordination. He would make a run for it; he would get them both killed if only …
If only he was thirteen years younger. Here she was, this nineteen-year old beauty whom he had practically raised alone, this woman that still did not understand she was no more a girl. And here he was, a thirty-two year old failure who had nothing to offer her. He had never been handsome. He had no status and no money. No youth.
He wasn't even moral. What man with fucking values would even think about a girl thirteen years younger?! All the way until she turned twelve, he had known the very exact number of panties she had!
"Oh, y-yes. Y-You all want to g-give me off to the Uchiha. G-Go, Hinata, open your l-legs wide. Bring honor y-your f-family b-by bearing Uchiha offspring, s-since you are good for nothing else."
He did his best to overlook her vulgarity. It was a very uncommon thing to hear coming from Hinata, and he preferred to do as if she hadn't said anything. Hanabi had been startled as well, he could see. Well, geez, give the girl a break, who wouldn't be spluttering obscenities after such a night.
"Now, Hinata-sama. You are being unfair. You are very much loved by all in the Clan. It is truly for your best that we wish to see you off happy with Uchiha-san."
And then it happened. For the first time in sixteen years, Hyūga Hinata, the forsaken heiress of the Hyūga Clan, raised her hand on her caretaker and kagemushi. On her beloved Kō. The slap seemed to resound throughout the whole compound since all of a sudden complete stillness seemed to prevail throughout the mansion. Who would have thought there was something more silent than silence?
Hanabi forgot to breathe. Kō remained with his face turned to the side. Hinata was the one to break the silence.
"Don't you d-dare. Don't you, of all p-people, d-dare lie to me."
Tears gushed through her eyes; her chest heaved revealing more of her cleavage with each breath she took. Raising the hand she had slapped Kō with, she aggressively rubbed her left eye, trying to hide her tears that were already dripping from her chin. She looked so alone. She felt so alone. And he could not withhold anymore.
Forgetting once more about Hyūga Hanabi's presence, spitting on tradition for the third of the evening, Hyūga Kō did something that was sure to get the whole Clan in an uproar tomorrow and make the nosy servants of the main house scream in disappointed triumph. He reached for Hinata's trembling body and pulled her onto his lab under the vacant stare of the heiress.
As Hinata buried her face into his shoulder, he pressed her harder against him than he had ever. They were cast off, he knew. She would go off to marry the Uchiha, he would, in fact, be the first to demand it from her. He would go off and die a little bit every day until he was no more. But here, in her alcove, surrounded by hundreds, no thousands of prying Byakugan, they would free for these few seconds. He pressed her harder against him, damning their name and clan.
"My lady, there is not one person that would want more for you to stay …"
That sounded wrong. It was not what he wanted to say. There is no one that loves you more than I do. That is what he should have said. However, he would never, he knew, have the courage to say the truth. The thirty-two year old man that dared force his feelings upon a nineteen-year old woman was not worth living.
Funny thing was that Hinata did not read well between the lines, but Hanabi did. Hanabi was dense and lacked all the intellectual qualities that were expected from a future leader. And yet, she was the one that heard the man's unsaid words, that felt his pain and longing. How could Hinata be so dim? How many men, Hanabi wondered at that instant, had she led astray and left behind, running after that one that had never wanted her?
Kō's thoughts were of a completely different order. He looked at that woman that so easily abandoned herself to grief and wondered how she would be able to cope outside of the compound. Uchiha Sasuke was an absent man, a man with many responsibilities that would not disturb her much. A night here and there, nothing too difficult to bear (who was Kō fucking kidding?!). If he had any respect for the name of his ancestors, he would make Hinata's life as easy and comfortable as could be imagined.
She would have all the time of the world to paint and write, to design kimono and dance. Hinata loved to dance. It was in her blood. As it had been in Hōtaru's (it most probably was in the blood of all Hyūga, but they were too stupid to realize it).
Maybe would she even be allowed to take classes, who knew. Uchiha Sasuke appeared more lenient when it came to preconceived norms and rules than the Hyūga. She was in a good shape; she had rebounded well from her sealing and was back to the form of a few years ago. It was a shame she could not serve anymore, he might have even let her go on missions.
Kō did his best to convince him, as he held her body tight against his chest, that Uchiha Sasuke was the only choice she had. They had. And yet, as her spine shook under his hand, as her nails convulsively into the flesh of his back through his yukata, he worried that there was no choice at all for Hyūga Hinata. It was too late for her to ever find happiness. She was broken beyond repair.
"L-Let's go away together. L-Let's r-run away to Ono or S-Suna. Alone. L-Live alone, like when I was s-small."
She was delusional. Or maybe not. Ono and Suna could be a rope and a branch. Hanabi thought about the same thing as she shivered in her corner. And the fucked up thing was … he considered it.
Hyūga Kō had made many mistakes concerning Hinata. When she had been a child, he had never had the courage to truly stand up for her and demand from Hiashi to treat her with the respect she deserved. When Neji had went for the kill and tried to destroy her in front of his very eyes, Kō, as the good dog he had been, had not even budged a muscle.
When Neji had pressed his lips to hers, two years ago, while Kō had been cared for under a fucking tent, he had not said a thing by fear of damaging her reputation. Because he knew the Clan well enough. Hinata would have been accused of having led Neji, the Bunke, astray with her ways. Like grandmother, like granddaughter. Like mother, like daughter. So the Clan would have said.
And the most fatal of all his mistakes, he had desperately tried to save her after the sealing, going against the Clan, her own wishes and all logic. And maybe was he making a mistake by dreadfully pushing her towards the Uchiha. But what other choice was there? Ono and Suna? He had been unable to reach the gates as the cock-sucking HISS general; he wondered what would happen now that his Byakugan played dead every other time he tried to activate it. Ono and Suna could only be code for branch and rope. And he considered it.
What was worse? The Uchiha's cold eyes as he analyzed Hinata from head to toe every time she appeared in front of him or death? Was there truly no chance she would finally find peace, if not happiness? No hope that she could have her own life, maybe her own children? Humans hoped and because of their hope they suffered.
Kō was quite sure that she would only face new pain, but … It was the but that killed him. He could not let her kill herself without giving it a shot at least.
There would be no Ono and Suna for them. He would do everything he could to force her to marry Uchiha Sasuke, damned be his unlawful feelings for her. And damned be her own wishes.
Hinata sensed her. As soon as she heard her footsteps in the hallway, she knew what would happen. NO.
Thrashing against Kō's hold, she tried to push his chest away. She would not let them do that to her.
"No!"
Her sister's unexpected shriek made Hanabi jump in her corner. Activating her Byakugan by habit, she scanned the surrounding. HISS patrols, nosy servants and an old granny that was entering Hinata's apartments and walking through the main room and entering the alcove.
Who the hell was that woman?! Hanabi did not remember having ever met her. But by the way Hinata was screaming and trying to extirpate herself from Kō's hold, she was quite sure she did not like that overly smiling granny. And what was that small wooden bottle she was holding?!
"Kō-san, long time no see. The little lady is fussing again, isn't she? Tsk, tsk. Such an excitable little thing she is."
"Misato-san."
Well, he didn't seem to be overly happy to see her either.
"No, p-please, don't do that to me. I b-beg of you … K-Kō. I w-will be g-good I promise. I am already b-better. P-Please, d-don't."
Ok. Woah. What the fuck were they planning on doing to her sister?! Standing up, Hanabi was about to scream a few orders at them but one stern look from the Bunke man was enough to shut her up. Firmly, the man pushed Hinata down onto the futon, keeping her arms pressed behind her head.
She flawed her legs though; trying as well as she could to kick him or the granny away. It was not in Hinata's nature to be vindictive or violent. The only explanation Hanabi could find to her behavior was that whoever that granny was, she was dangerous.
With a voice she would have preferred to be less high-pitched, Hanabi almost screamed to the old woman's face.
"What are you going to do to onē-san?!"
The granny only shot Hanabi that infuriating smile and clicked her tongue in amusement.
"Nothing, nothing. Don't you worry, Hanabi-sama. We are going to calm her a little bit with this."
At those words, she shook the little wooden bottle in front of her wrinkled nose.
"Hanabi-sama, come and hold Hinata-hime's legs."
That sounded more like an order than a polite demand from a subordinate to his master. And Hanabi obviously didn't like it.
"No! P-Please … n-no."
Hanabi had never seen a pig being killed; however she was quite sure that it must have made the same type of noises as her sister. Tentatively approaching and taking place in front of Hinata's legs, grabbed them and did her best to keep from having her chin kicked in.
"What is there in that bottle?"
"Laudanum."
What the fuck was laudanum?! As if reading her thoughts, Kō simply stated that it was a type of tranquilizer. That was good, right?! Tranquil would be a good state for Hinata at the moment. But why the hell was she screaming the compound down?!
As the old woman grabbed onto Hinata's face, the screams subsided. In fact, Hinata wasn't planning on opening her mouth any time soon. There was no way, she would … A chakra shock passed right through the muscles around her jaw, and before she could do anything against it, her mouth automatically snapped open.
"Now, now, Hinata-sama. We have been there, already. It won't be so bad."
Before Hinata had had the time to bite onto the woman fingers, the granny sipped the content of the bottle passed her lips, grabbed onto her nose and pushed her fingers between her teeth as to keep her mouth open until the liquid reached her throat. She had had Hinata-sama spitting the laudanum right back at her and had learned her lesson. The little lady, always so shy and sweet, could be feisty when annoyed.
And fair enough, a few minutes later, Hanabi and Kō felt Hinata's resistance falter and permitted themselves to let go of her arms and legs. The old lady, snivelling because she was getting too old for this, did her best to stand up and to complain some more about Hinata being ever so naughty.
Hanabi did not pay much attention to the old woman and Kō chatting it up. And truth being said, Kō only exchanged pleasantries while keeping all his attention on Hinata. He regretted so much.
To Hanabi's horror, Hinata's eyes looked glazed, all light gone from them. She desperately tried to battle the effect of the tranquilizer, softly lulling her legs from one side to the other, trying to bend them. For a split of a second, her back shot off from the futon, but she didn't have the strength to raise her head and fell right back onto the now wet futon.
"She will fall asleep soon, don't you worry, Hanabi-sama. She is being a naughty child, is all. Do you hear, Hinata-sama, you are being naughty and worry your father and sister very much. Go to sleep now, like a good girl."
A shiver, not the first but hopefully the last of the evening, travelled through Hanabi's spine. The fact that Neji and Hinata had had an idyll was already forgotten. How could Hanabi keep a grudge when her sister's eye shot desperate pleas at her before being drowned by the tranquilizer?! Bile accumulated in Hanabi's mouth. Had Hinata not demanded to be sealed, this is what would have happened to Hanabi, right?
"Why doesn't she like to take the tranquilizer?"
Not like was an understatement. Hinata had been utterly terrified by the idea of it.
The old woman opened her mouth to answer, but Kō beat her to it and with his cold, annoyed voice, answered Hanabi.
"She says she has nightmares."
"Nonsense" the granny hurried to add, "I have yet to see anyone that dreams when on opium. She is just a fussy little thing."
Wait a second, old hag; are you implying she is lying?! And what the fuck, opium?! Hanabi had no idea what laudanum was, but she sure as hell knew what opium was and there had been no question of making an opium addict out of her sister! And again, as she prepared to let her rage flare about, she was interrupted. This time by the old lady that started shooing them out of Hinata's apartments.
"Now, off you go, the two of you. The little lady is all messy and wet, I'll need to change her and get her some new futon, this one is ruined. Go sleep, the both of you. An honor to see you Hanabi-sama and always a pleasure to talk to you, Kō-san."
And Hanabi didn't even have the time give a few orders of her own. She had almost been kicked out of her sister's room. As she walked out with Kō, she did her best to gather her wits about her.
"What does she dream about? Hinata, I mean."
Turning his head to look down on her, his arrogant, dismissive glance brushing over Hanabi as it always had, he did not even go to the trouble of trying to conceal his dislike for the heiress. And you know what? Right back at him. The only thing there ever would be between a Hyūga Kō and a Hyūga Hanabi would be Hinata.
"The war."
As a fourth shiver ran up her spine, Hanabi considered going back to her sister's room and demanding for the granny to hand over some of that opium.
