Neji thanked his driver and climbed the steps of the Hyuuga building, through the steel-and-bulletproof glass doors, and into the huge airy entrance hall. The Hyuuga building was designed with light and space in mind; there were little balconies on each level with tables and chairs set among planters full of beautiful plants. Tropical on one level; water plants on another; big fruit trees laden with blossoms in the spring on still another level. The Hyuuga loved beauty.
It was, therefore, ironic that they were one of the most bloodthirsty families in the underworld, that their definition of beauty extended to the splatter of blood across a white shirt, the expression a target wore when they died. It was beautiful, to be sure, but in a morbid way that Neji was almost certain the ring's founders did not want to see happen. But then again, it was their way of life.
He got in the elevator, keyed the proper authorization code, and the elevator rose to his floor. He did not look out the window this time; he knew he would see the glowing uchiwa, the yellow, sick sunlight glinting on the rival company's glassy tower. The Uchiha were a showy lot, all beautiful pale skin and black hair, but they were all the same underneath, and all of them caved to a pretty face and a nice ass.
Neji was out of the elevator before the doors could even open all the way, and in his apartment before they closed again. He needed a shower desperately, still able to feel that man's hands in his hair (it was still damp underneath from his shower earlier too, oh well), and taste his issue. Grimacing, the Hyuuga pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and drank half of it. That was better.
Shower.
Neji moved about, hanging up his suit jacket, putting his phone on speaker and listening to his voicemail. Hinata, saying she would need him to pick her up from school. Lee and Tenten, his two remaining friends from high school, asking him to come out clubbing with them tonight. Hiashi, sounding more terse than usual, requesting his presence upstairs as soon as he returned from the errand. Hinata again, sounding utterly panicked—why, he didn't know, her school didn't get out for another few hours. Neji huffed as he set his shoes aside and took off his pants. Shower, call Hinata back and tell her he would pick her up, then Hiashi. He would call Lee and Tenten later.
The water he turned all the way up, scalding his body. At least it made him feel clean again, despite the fact he emerged a very vibrant shade of red. While waiting for his skin to go back to its usual shade, he called Hinata and left her a voicemail, telling her he would pick her up. As he combed out his hair, long strands hanging to the tops of his thighs, he considered his wardrobe and picked out an appropriate outfit, tying his hair back once it was sleek again. Unless things were done in a proper order, Neji's hair was an unmanageable, silken mess, given to tangles and frizz, and nothing could be done to tame it unless he washed it again.
The phone rang as he was tying his tie in a Half Windsor. Reaching over, he put the speakerphone back on and pressed the TALK button. "Hello?"
"Neji." It was his uncle, sounding distinctly troubled. Neji kept his voice neutral, although his expression in the mirror was anything but.
"Yes, Hiashi-san?"
"You have been back in the tower for forty-five minutes and have not answered my request to come see me."
"Forgive me, Hiashi-san, I was showering. I did not wish to see you when I was in a state of disarray." A pointed reminder that Neji had just been with a client.
"Ah, yes, yes… understandable." Hiashi sounded distracted. Neji heard the shifting of papers. "When you are ready, come up to my office."
"I am already on my way, Hiashi-san."
"Excellent." Hiashi hung up, and Neji pushed the END button.
As he was putting on his suit jacket, the phone rang again; it was Kiba, downstairs. "Neji," he said. "Look out. Some Uchihas came when you were gone."
"Uchihas? Why? We haven't—"
"It wasn't anything we did. They had something for Hiashi."
A thousand scenarios blazed through Neji's mind, involving hostage situations and fighting throughout both towers as the respective agents showed their true colors and started a war. "Kiba, what—"
His panic must have shown through his voice because Kiba interrupted quickly. "No, nothing bad. They just came, delivered a letter, and left."
Neji pursed his lips. This was going to be complicated. "Thank you for the heads-up, Kiba."
"No problem, man. Hiashi looks pretty pissed. Be careful."
"I will. Goodbye."
Neji thumbed his phone off and took the elevator up farther, blinking to clear the glare from his eyes when the elevator opened onto the huge, sunlit executive office. It was almost four walls of full-length windows, and the heat was oppressive. The air conditioning was going—he felt it as he passed under the vents—but it did nothing to counteract the heat. Hiashi, however, appeared unaffected, until Neji got close enough to see the sweat on his brow. The man looked troubled, and the young Hyuuga made a node of this as he bowed low. "I apologize for taking so long, Hiashi-san. Please forgive me."
"Of course, of course." Hiashi made a distracted gesture with his hand and Neji stood. "You wanted to clean up, yes, anyone would want to… sit, please."
The head of the Hyuuga family was an organized man, who from long experience Neji knew liked to keep his desk and work area neat. There was rarely a document out of place, but today, papers were strewn about in disarray, the edges misaligned as though they had hastily been picked up. But there was a small clean space between Hiashi's elbows, and in that space there was a letter. Even here, Neji could clearly see the Uchiha insignia on the single sheet.
"How old is my eldest daughter, Neji?" Hiashi asked. The question gave the young man pause.
"Hinata-san is seventeen, and will be eighteen in five months. Why, Hiashi-san?"
"Neji, do you believe she is old enough to be wed?"
"She will graduate early, at the end of this coming semester." Neji kept his gaze, his voice neutral. "Eighteen is young for a marriage, but she will do your bidding. Hinata-san knows you would not give her to anyone you did not approve of."
"Does she," Hiashi murmured. Neji remained silent. The older man's grey eyes were faraway and yet remained on the sheet of fine paper before him. "Someone I approve... even if he's thrice her age or more, and an Uchiha?"
Neji met Hiashi's gaze. "If you asked it of her, perhaps." He paused. "Has there been such a proposal?"
In answer, Hiashi shoved the letter at him, as though it burned his fingertips. Neji took it and turned it around so he could read it. His own stormcloud-grey eyes widened when he had finished. "They aren't serious," he said, not caring how he sounded. "They cannot be."
The temperature in the room had risen, it seemed.
"They are," Hiashi said. He sounded miserable, moreso than Neji had ever heard him.
"But how? Hasn't he—"
"It doesn't matter how, it matters why." Hiashi stood, began to pace. "Why would the Uchiha want a union now? That is what this is, you know. Proposed marriage, proposed merger. Why?"
"I am not sure, Hiashi-san."
"And why this match? It makes no sense, there is no reason why they should think I will agree to it at all, and yet… they act as though…" He made a dismissive gesture. "They are arrogant, and he is most of all."
"You are going to reject their offer then?" He could feel sweat beading up along his spine, and shifted a bit. The tickle went away, but he could feel the same prickling elsewhere, and sighed.
"Of course I am." Hiashi's snap was immediate and intense, and Neji bowed his head slightly under the glare. "Do you think I would marry one of my daughters to that—that—"
"Not for a moment, Hiashi-san. It would never work."
"No, it wouldn't." Hiashi sat again and brought his desktop computer humming to life. "I will draft a letter to them, rejecting it. Tomorrow I would like you to proofread and deliver it. And while you are out, because I know you are going to have to go get Hinata from school, run another errand for me."
"What is it?"
"Go talk to Jiraiya, and ask him what he knows about Uchiha Madara."
"Yes, Hiashi-san." Neji bowed as he rose from his seat. "May I be excused, then? This errand may take some time."
"Yes, of course." Hiashi waved a hand. "Go."
Neji rose and swept out of the room into the blissful air-conditioned comfort of the elevator, going back down to his floor. He could feel sweat beading up again, sliding down his back, but ignored it. There were other things to attend to beforehand.
He packed a briefcase with what he thought he might need and changed his shirt, discarding the sweaty shirt and putting on a clean one after patting his torso dry. It was a good thing he had such a large wardrobe, he thought as he descended in the elevator; in his line of work he changed far too often.
Once at the ground floor, he went to the valet's desk and had his car brought up. Taking the limo, with the Hyuuga flag and the bright gold sun on the doors, would cause too much of a stir. His car, a Lexus SC 430, was more practical. While he waited he called Tenten and assured her he would be accompanying them to Club One-Nine that night. Best he go out once out of every month, so they wouldn't accuse of becoming a real hermit. They didn't understand why he hadn't gone to university too; he'd gotten the best grades in the class, and schools had been clamoring to get him to attend. They didn't understand the familial obligation he had.
His car was brought up and he got in, pulling out into traffic. The drive to the place he was heading would be at least twenty minutes, and that was provided traffic was decent all the way there, which it never was. The city was always backed up in Konoha district, the most populous, prosperous of the six major areas of the city. The district head, Tsunade, was the granddaughter of the man who had made the district what it was now. She was much respected throughout the rest of the city, and her name held a lot of weight in the right circles.
It was to one of these circles that Neji was headed, as he got on one of the main thoroughfares and headed east. The man he was going to see had been an old childhood friend of Tsunade. Neji hoped the fact that he often dealt with the blond politician and knew she spoke highly of him elsewhere would give him an in with this man. Jiraiya was known to be a good man, either way, even if his penchant for women was far to noticeable to the authorities. He was lucky they didn't care.
Jiraiya ran a prostitution ring that operated out of brothels across the city; at least one in every main district. He catered to customers with deep pockets, and his employ was one of the biggest draws from the same training Neji had undertaken. Once, he had been legit, as had his friend Tsunade (who still mostly was), and Orochimaru (who mostly was not). Now, it wasn't so, but he maintained his clear conscience by giving a good portion of his untaxed income to education programs and scholarships in the arts and humanities. His headquarters, while not as impressive as the Uchiha or Hyuuga towers, fit the man who lived in it. And he was, as Neji had thought, glad to see him.
"How are you, my boy?" Jiraiya greeted, slapping Neji on the back. "Still working for your uncle?"
"Family business. Blood is thicker than water, Jiraiya-san."
"Bah, he wastes your talent, but I'm sure you hear that enough. Can I get you something to drink? Tea, or maybe something stronger?"
"No, thank you, Jiraiya-san." Neji sat on one of the man couches scattered about the man's main office. Several buxom women, the oldest no more than 19, lounged on others. Neji tried not to stare. "I have a question for you, if you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind. But it won't be free, no matter how highly Tsunade-hime thinks of you."
"I did not expect it to be." Neji smiled thinly and slid a check onto the low table before him. "Is that a sufficient amount? If not, I am sure we can negotiate otherwise."
Jiraiya checked the number of zeros at the end and nodded. "What did you want to know?"
"Uchiha Madara is back in town."
Never before had the young Hyuuga seen Jiraiya blanch. "Is he, now…"
"You didn't know?"
"I had heard rumors, but…"
"He arrived the day before yesterday, and apparently is proposing a merger between Uchiha and Hyuuga."
"Now, that's funny… why would he want to…" Jiraiya looked pensive, brow furrowed. "That man looks to himself and his family…such a union would benefit them more."
"Precisely. Hyuuga does not wish to be screwed."
"If you accept the proposal, you will be."
"We plan to reject."
"Good, because he'll suck you dry, and elevate Uchiha. But it makes no sense…" Jiraiya looked at Neji. "Madara left as CEO over forty years ago."
"Why?"
"His business practices were becoming to radical even for the rest of his family. He resigned and left, taking a good part of the Uchiha funds with him."
"And now he's back, and proposing a merger. Do you think he's run out of money?"
"Maybe. But I knew him of old… Madara's too wily with his money, he probably squirreled it away in a dozen accounts so nobody can find it but himself. No, he's not doing it for the money." Jiraiya shook his head. "What did he ask from Hyuuga? Why would Hyuuga care so much if they can just reject his offer anyway?"
"He asked for…" Neji swallowed. "Something we will not give him."
"You can't tell me." Jiraiya shrugged. Secrets were common here. "And I can't tell you much more. But I'll be in touch if I hear anything, and get you a written copy. I know how your uncle hates purely oral reports. He likes a paper trail."
"Hyuuga is always in your debt, Jiraiya-san."
"And yet you always pay me so well. Thanks, kid, I'll see what I can come up with for you. Won't you stay awhile, though? You need to unwind…"
Seeing by the glint in Jiraiya's eye what it was that he meant, and resisting all other attempts to foist a girl onto him, Neji bowed and left the villa, getting back into his car with more questions than he had answers, and he still had an hour before Hinata's school let out. Sighing, he put the car in gear and drove off, without a destination in mind, to think.
Hinata sat in the library; her last period she had free, and sat in the library to do homework until school let out. Oh, she could have gone home or gone out like many of the other girls did, but she was on a university track, and hoped to attend a nursing school. Her father would probably not approve, but if she could just work up the courage and pitch it to him the right way…
She sighed. Sometimes, she wished she was more like her cousin, so strong and proud despite his adversities, or her younger sister, Hanabi, who was headstrong and the top of her class. Hanabi had more of the spoiled brat in her, though, which was how she got her way so much. Hinata had more of her mother in her, and like her mother, was growing up into a quiet, strong woman.
The sun coming through the window beside her made her turn, letting it warm her face. The library was cool, air-conditioned and dark, so she sat near the windows; maybe it was something given to her in her name, her love of the sun and warmth. Maybe it was that most of her days were spent inside, where it was cool and climate-controlled and restrained. The sun was something no man or woman could harness, break to their will.
Running a hand through her hair, Hinata stared across the small, irregular grassy lawn that extended from the library's walls to the sidewalk that bordered the long curving driveway where those who were being picked up waited, and as she did so, caught sight of a man.
He was leaning against a sleek black car, and dressed all in black, too; except for his shirt, which was a deep blood-red. Somehow he looked cool despite the summer heat—and in that suit, and with the thick black hair he had, he had to be hot. Neji always complained about the heat, and sweated. She couldn't see his eyes—he wore dark wraparound sunglasses. His lapel and tie bore no company insignia. Hinata had no idea who he was.
He was playing with a single white flower—it wasn't a rose, she thought. The petal arrangement was too simple. Perhaps he was somebody's boyfriend, waiting to pick them up—but it seemed he was looking right at her. Perhaps he was, the windows the library weren't tinted, and he wasn't that far away. He could be—but why would he be? She didn't know him at all. Suddenly nervous, she began to fidget in her seat, twisting a lock of hair around her fingers. And then he smiled.
She froze, knowing he'd seen her then. Her fingers came out of her hair as she felt the blush creeping across her face, and quickly looked away. Who…? Looking back at the window, she gasped.
He was gone.
Without thinking, Hinata got up and ran outside, looking around to see where he'd gone. She thought she saw a black car turning the farthest corner, but she wasn't sure if it was his. Suddenly feeling exposed, Hinata wrapped her arms around herself, nervous again; what if he was one of her father's enemies, and he'd been trying to lure her outside so they could kidnap her? If she ever got rescued and not killed, her father would yell at her again.
But nobody jumped out to grab her, there was no sound of a gunshot. Just people slowly lining up to pick up their sons and daughters; or in the case of most people, nannies, guardians, bodyguards even. Shamed—what a fool she must have seemed!—Hinata looked down at her feet, and saw the flower he'd been playing with. Bending, she picked it up, twirling it in her fingers as he had been. It was a white camellia.
Neji drove up to the school as it was getting out, and as a result had to wait in the absurdly long line to get up to the circular drive. Hinata was waiting there, looking flustered as she got into the car and put her book bag behind the seat. He noticed she was holding onto a single white camellia.
"Who gave you that?" he asked.
"O-oh! Um, I don't know, it was stuck in my locker when I went to get some books earlier." Hinata was a deep shade of red, fidgeting with her fingers and the green stalk of the flower.
Neji grunted and pulled out of the driveway at last, speeding off toward the Hyuuga tower. He still had to get ready for his evening out.
