Author's Note: Okay guys, the next chapter is finally up!! Sorry for the lon wait. : ( I really have no excuse, except for my pure tired-ness. So without further ado. Here is Chapter three.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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Chapter Three
Protection
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Hinata had rushed home after seeing the battles begin with her Byakugan.
As a Hyuuga, it was her primary goal during an attack to return to the compound and protect the clan. She could see in the distance that Hanabi and Neji were already battling alongside other Hyuuga shinobi, easily taking down the mediocre sound ninja.
In her peripheral vision, she could see someone else heading towards the compound. She increased her speed to make sure she arrived before he did or possibly cut him off.
The man was large yet fast, and had s gentle air about him. At a glance, he appeared to be harmless, peaceful even. His eyes seemed to be in a daze as he daintily strolled threw the tree tops, the hint of a sad smile could be seen even from a distance. His appearance did not fool Hinata for a second, she could see his heavy chakra flow and knew he possessed great strength.
She realized that she was too close to the estate to cut him off, and instead landed in the compound's garden next to Hanabi. She helped her deal a final blow before she warned them.
"There is an enemy approaching from the southwest corner, he seems really strong and should be here any sec-", she was cut off when the mentioned man arrived in the garden.
The three Hyuugas fell into their identical gentle fist stances and prepared to battle. Hinata's eyes widened slightly as the man began to watch a butterfly in the garden.
"A genin could take down this guy.", Neji commented with disgust. There were bigger enemies that needed to be taken care of, and he did not feel like wasting his time on this guy.
Hinata noticed that his chakra levels seemed lower now then when he was running. Standing there now, Neji was right, he did not seem to be much of a threat. In fact, he had even turned his back on the three and walked over to the flower beds. Neji flinched at this sign of disrespect, he prepared to attack but was too slow. From the corners of their eyes Hinata and Neji could see Hanabi sprinting towards the enemy. They tried to catch her but it was too late.
Jugo's Point of View
The garden he had landed in was quite beautiful. There were butterflies and exotic flowers everywhere, exuding the most magnificent odors He had ever smelt. His focus left his target Hyuuga in front of him and turned to a nearby area full of beautiful roses. He told himself he was lucky to get assigned this part of the mission.
FASHBACK:
Kabuto stood in front of his mini-army giving each of them specific goals they were to accomplish during the attack. A hand full of shinobis were to guard the forest area, preventing assistance, while another group were assigned to solely kill anyone found on the streets.
"Shinobis, kunoichis, shop keepers, children, I want them all dead.", Kabuto ordered to the group of men. He then turned his focus onto the army as a whole. "We will finally see that Lord Orochimaru-sama's dream is accomplished. We will destroy the Village Hidden in the Leaves!! Konohagakure will fall tomorrow!" With that said, Kabuto waved his hand signaling that they should all get some rest.
Everyone had disappeared in a cloud of smoke except for the former members of Team Hebi. The three stood there lazily, awaiting their specific missions. But before Kabuto had a chance to talk, some one had piped in.
"Kabuto-sama, let me be the one to find Sasuke-kun!," Karin practically yelled. She had stood up and was looking him dead in the eyes before she saw the glimmer of the man stuck inside the medic-nin. She quickly averted her eyes and waited for his response, cursing herself for looking at him.
"Karin-chan, I already had every intention of letting you capture the Uchiha. I am sure your broken heart will provide enough power for you to at least subdue him.", he stated with a serious smile. "Suigetsu-kun, as we have already discussed, it will be your job to target the specific shinobis from the Uchiha's class."
Jugo could see Suigetsu clearly roll his eyes, meaning he was not going to go out of his way for this mission.
'Typical Getsu-kun', Jugo thought to himself.
"And now for you Jugo-kun." Kabuto turned to Jugo to begin to speak, before he stopped abruptly. "Are you sure my Lord?", he asked himself before nodding and falling into a deep trance state. When he awakened his eyes were that of a snake and a smile twisted itself onto his face. In a snake-like voice he spoke:
"Hmmmm, Jugooo. My most prized possessionnnnn," his smile widened and took on an evil form. "Strong Jugo, you have the most important mission of all. There is another person in Konoha who intrigues me, another with a powerful bloodline limit. Though it may not be as rare as my Sasuke's, I want it. I tried many years ago to obtain it. I sent a spy from a village previously at war with Konoha, during their peace parade I had him break into their compound and attempt to steal their heir. But he was defeated, and I was unable to obtain the thing I so wanted. During this invasion, I want you to finally accomplish what I have waited for."
"And what is that Orochimaru-sama?", he asked innocently.
"A Hyuugaaaaa", he hissed out.
"Hai shishou"
"But not just any Hyuuga, I want the one that escaped me so long ago. I want Lady Hinata.", he smiled at the thought of finally coming into possession of the Byakugan and the 'one that got away'. "She is Sasuke-kun's age, I would love for them to make me a child with eyes like no other before I completely take over his body. Then I will perform a few experiments on her before ultimately discarding her as well."
As the snake man continued his rant Jugo was lost in his own contemplation, he did not want to kill again. "But just a few more", he thought, "then I will get my cure."
"By the way Jugo, you know how much I love rare things. If Lady Hinata was the last surviving Hyuuga it would be even better.", were his last words before once again disappearing and becoming fully Kabuto again. Jugo nodded in understanding, "I must kill all Hyuugas".
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The sound of an attack took him away from his musings, and in an instant he had had knocked the girl unconscious and was holding her upside down fro her ankle with ease. The prospect of being attacked so suddenly angered him and his inner voice began to take over.
"Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill the Hyuuga girl, it is the mission. Kill her!"
Jugo really did not want to kill the girl. He desperately wished he could return to his self inflicted cell and remain caged like the animal he knew he was. His gaze then strayed to the remaining two who stood there, obviously waiting to see what he would do next and contemplating their next attack. He recognized the girl as his primary target, Lady Hinata.
"Okay, if the boy attacks I will kill him and this girl in my hand, but if the target attacks I will release this one from my grasp.", he agreed. A smile appeared on his face as he waited to see who would attack.
The sneer smile acted as a trigger and in a blink both Hyuugas disappeared and came face to face with the enemy.
Neji's branch instincts kicked in, making saving Hanabi his primary objective. A quick attack to the large man's wrist was all it took to cause him to drop her. Before gravity could even touch her, Neji had her in his arms and placing her a safe distance away.
Meanwhile, Hinata was holding her own against the man. He had obviously become distraught by both of them attacking him at the same time, negating the deal he had made with himself. He also knew that he could not damage Orochimaru's property, which at the moment was Hinata. The Lady Hyuuga noticed that he seemed to be merely dodging instead of attacking.
"Another person taking it easy on me.", she hissed out. She was stronger now, more confident, and she did not need another person taking her lightly and going easy on her. "I'm a damn Hyuuga!"
She kicked herself off the man's chest and landed gracefully, on the pond behind her. With her Byakugan still activated, she preformed a series of hand seals at lightening fast speed. "MIZU ODORI JUTSU", were the only words that escaped her lips as the water around her sprang into life and began to circle her, whipping wildly.
"Shouten", she hollered as the word lunged at Jugo encasing him in a prison of water. The water held him easily, until strange markings began to appear on his face and body. He let out a chilling cry that would cause most people to flee, but Hinata did not even flinch. She kept her focus on her attack, until the man's sheer force broke him free. He sprinted towards her, with hell in his eyes, which she anticipated. Everything was going according to her plan, a few hand seals causing the water to spring back into life. She allowed a small smirk to appear as she watched him come closer. He was only feet away before something cause him to stop, or rather, someone.
"NEJI!", she yelled as she saw Neji standing in front of her attempting to hold off the man.
"Hinata, kouro!", he commanded as he struggled.
"I'm not going anywhere! This is my fight nii-san, I can handle it."
"Hinata, I got this. Please just go-", he had turned to face her while he plead, taking his focus of the enemy, which gave Jugo the perfect opportunity to deal a punch so fierce that Neji fell to his knees coughing up obscene amounts of blood and gagging.
"NEJI!!!!", Hinata cried. Everyone was always trying to save her, stop her from fighting, and shelter her, and it caused so much pain to everyone. She was not the same weak Hinata that stood in corners and always spoke softly, and she would not allow people to treat her that way anymore. Seeing Neji fall cause an anger to rise in her. Her eyes showed her fury as the word around her became daggers.
"Ikusan mizu kunai jutsu" she whispered as she moved, almost like a dance, in sync with the water. When she stopped the daggers were all fully formed and sprung at the enemy each piercing him perfectly.
The once beautifully green grass of the pristine garden was now covered in blood.
Jugo's Point of View
The thousand daggers now imbedded in his body sent shock waves of pain to his brain and he could feel himself succumbing to death. He was happy that in his final moments on Earth he was himself, not the blood thirsty murderer his curse mark had caused him to be. The blood stained grass around him reminded him so much of his life, beautiful natural life soaked in blood and death against its will. "At least I will die somewhere beautiful", he said out loud barely above a whisper. The watched a butterfly land on the bloody grass before fluttering off to a bed of flowers. Jugo was ready to go to leave the bloody grass he had lived in and finally go to the bed of flowers were he knew he best friend, Kimimaru, was waiting for him. Together they would forget all the pain they had experienced and caused and finally be at peace. The butterfly was the last thing Jugo saw before his eyes closed for the final time.
Hinata almost felt bed for the man as she watched him die. But her focus was then directed fully to Neji. She quickly ran to him, Hanabi met her there and the two girls took Neji into the compound, trying not to move him too much and make the injuries worse.
"Neji-nii-sama, please be alright. Please, please don't die.," Hanabi cried.
An few hours later, the team of doctors walked out of Neji's room. His condition was too severe to get him to a hospital so instead a team of some of the best medics in Konoha were brought, rather forcefully, to the Hyuuga estate. The doctors left the room looking tired and weak, but smiled hopefully at the Hyuuga waiting outside. Hinata was the first to jump up,
"Is he going to be okay?", she asked in a rush and worried tone.
"He will be fine," a doctor answered, "He will need to rest for at least another week, and take the medicine we left for him. We will send by a nurse to care for him and I personally will check up on him in a few days. He has a scar that will never fully go away but other then that, there is no true long term damage."
"Thank you doctors. Kerashi-san here will show you all the way out and make sure you are all rightfully compensated.", Hiashi stated in his usual monotone voice before turning in the other direction and leaving walking out.
Without another word Hinata sprinted into Neji's room. Seeing him there, all bandaged up and weak, made all of her previous anger melt away. She was semi-prepared to, walk in and deliver a heated speech on how it was his own fault that he ended up this way, that he never should have interfered in her battle and that he needs to believe in her power as much as she believes in his. But the IV in his arm and bandages covering his shirtless body proved that now was not the time for yelling.
"Neji-nii-san, daijobu desu ka?" she whispered hoping her heard her.
"Hm, Hinata. Hai, daijobu.", he answered formally trying to sit up.
Hinata slowly walked over to him and sat down in the chair next to his bed. "Neji-…"
"Hinata, gomen. I should not have interfered in your battle. It was wrong of me.", Neji stated with a glimmer of same in his voice and eyes.
"Its okay nii-san. I know you were just trying to protect me, I just wish you has some faith in me."
"I do Hinata, its just……. No matter what I will always be a branch member and protecting you and Hanabi-chan will always be my most basic instinct. I know you are strong, and as soon as I am out of this bed I will be sure to test that stength," he smiled warmly at Hinata. She smiled back before helping him to lay back down. She had never talked to Neji this way, and she could tell that their relationship was different now.
'Finally he recognizes that I am not so weak anymore'
Over the next couple of days, Hinata and Hanabi spent all their time with Neji, helping him recover. Throughout all the time they had spent together they had become closer, despite their dark past. Now it was the last day of Neji's recovery and Hinata was helping him walk around the estate. The doctor had told him to try to get some exercise but he was still too weak to walk on his own. He and Hinata were in the Northern wing of the main branch's mansion, where all the official stuff took place, when they saw the council walk out leaving only Hiashi in the room, along with a few remaining members. Each of the men eyed the pair suspiciously as Hinata was still supporting much of Neji's weight, he had tried to stand properly in their presence but it proved to much for him and he continued to rest on Hinata.
"Hinata, come in here please.", Hiashi called from inside the room.
Hinata rolled her eyes at Neji, who showed a ghost of a smile before resorting to his stoic facial expression and walking with Hinata into the room. "Sit", he commanded and the two did, as well as the other men in the room.
After helping Neji into his chair and taking her own, Hinata spoke up. "Chichioya, what is going on?"
After a long pause he spoke, "Lady Hinata, your performance in the most recent attack on the Hyuuga compound has proved you worthy to accept the title of heir. As the heir, you will have to accept certain responsibilities and meet certain requirements." He stopped and signaled to the man sitting next to him to continue.
"Lady Hinata-sama, you will be expected to resign as a Konoha kunoichi, take classes from an etiquette teacher as well as a political teacher, you will be allowed to attend every council meeting from now on and when your father decides to retire you will take his place."
Hinata was not sure how to react, of course now she was eighteen and should be expecting to receive her title soon, but somehow she always thought her father favored Hanabi, and would wait another three years until she was eighteen and give her the title. Her thoughts were cut short when the old man spoke up again.
"Of course as a woman taking the title, you will have to marry someone who will assume the responsibility of the clan while you are carrying the next heir. In light of this situation, we find it imperative that you marry within the clan. To the strongest branch member,…."
Hinata saw her father tense up and she her self became uncomfortable, she knew what was coming. Before the man could finish speaking, she looked at the shinobi to her right.
"……Hyuuga Neji-kun."
To Be Continued.
Translations: (Sorry, its just that I know Japanese and it makes more sense to me if they speak at least a little bit of it. Right? So I will always provide these translation at the bottom. Now yall can even learn a bit )
Hai- Yes
Shishou- master
Mizu Odori Jutsu- Water Dance Attack
Odori- Traditional Japanese dance preformed by Geisha.
Shouten- focus
Kouro- run
Ikusan mizu kunai jutsu- Thousand water daggers attack
Daijobu desu ka- Are you alright
Daijobu- I'm okay
Gomen- Sorry
Chichioya- Father
(Let me know if I missed any )
To My Dear Reviwers:
Ashleysays: Sorry it was not that fast of a review. I will go faster next time.
Elizabeth Vida: I hope this chapter explained alot for you, if not I will go into more detail in later chapters.
Kuia-nara: Thank you so much for the great review it really inspired me to go faster.
NaruHinaForever: lol I hope this chapter was satisfying enough for you. And do not worry, there will be some serious NaruHina stuff coming up.
Kiyoshi-X: What would i do without you man? Your a great reviewer and thank you so much for reading.
Joe Fenton: I know we have already discussed the whole 'incest' thing and I hope you continue to read, cause there really is not much Neji/Hina.
KyoKyoFanBabe: I tried not to use as many big words in this one. Hope it works for ya.
Final Author's Note: Keep reviewing and I will keep posting. I am not going to set any review standards or say "15 reviews or I will not post" cause honestly, the real story line has not even started yet. Thanks again to all the readers.
