IT'S THE APOCALYPSE!
MY BROTHER KILLED MY COMPUTER! MY PRECIOUS FILES..! *starts to weep* all of my work… down the drain… *fire in eyes* HE'S DEAD WHEN I SEE HIM! *Hinata taps her shoulder. Turns to look at her. Bows apologetically* Gomen, Hinata-sama. Didn't mean to rant at the very beginning of this chapter… *ahem* Well, let's get on with it, shall we?
Disclaimer: I, in no way, own-- yadda yadda yadda. You all know that I don't own this, so why repeat it?
Last chapter overview:
"It's just..." She began, uncertainty looming over her.
"It feels like something ominous is about to happen."
Hinata and Neji were discussing the meeting later that evening in her room, the lavender curtains drawn to give them some privacy from anyone who happened to be walking by that evening. Neji was sitting at her desk, wearing cargo shorts and a loose tee. Hinata was sitting cross-legged on her beg, her midnight blue pajamas contrasting with her lavender sheets. In her arms was her favorite pillow; it was white with a --slightly lighter than Sakura's hair-- pink frill along the border.
"Are you sure about this, Hinata-sama?" He asked. She nodded solemnly.
"I can't do this all by myself. And since we still haven't announced it to Hokage-sama, it will be even harder." She sighed and rested against the headboard. The whole fiasco that day had completely worn her out. Neji looked at her questionably but she just shook her head.
"I'm just a bit tired. Don't worry about me." She closed her eyes and somehow she dozed off in an instant. Neji chuckled and shifted her into a more comfortable position, and he placed the sheets over her. He quietly walked out, and, in the hallway, met Hanabi.
"How is she?" She asked, peeking into her sister's room through a crack in the door. He placed his hands on her shoulders and steered her away from the room. He shook his head.
"She said she was tired, but I could tell that she was still sad about Hiashi-sama's death." Hanabi's usually stern-looking eyes fell to the floor.
"She's not the only one." Hanabi dragged herself down the hall and into her bedroom. Neji glanced once more towards both of the girls' rooms before heading off to his own room in the next building over.
At dawn, someone shook Hinata awake. She, still being half asleep, took her jyuken stance and almost pulverized her attacker until she recognized their voice.
"Hinata-sama! Matte!" Hinata snapped awake and stared in shock.
"Hinako-chan!" The girl lowered her makeshift shield of her arms and a pillow and smiled warmly.
"For a minute there, I thought that you were going to kill me!" She said dramatically. Hinata just hugged her cousin, taking in the scent of vanilla from her shampoo. Ok, she wasn't her direct cousin; she was her father's cousin, but since they grew up together, Hinata always thought of her as a cousin.
"It's been almost five years! Why did you come back?" She asked, almost too loudly. Hinako just laughed.
"I came back yesterday before the funeral, but as usual Hanako got us here late." She motioned to the door when an exactly identical girl, but with shorter hair, was reclining against the doorframe. Hinata rushed over to her and gave her a hug as well. Hanako patted her on the head and shot back to her sister.
"Well, excuse me for getting us something to eat. Not my fault that you forgot to pack food for the trip." Hinako pouted cutely.
"Aww… don't blame me…" Hinata just laughed.
"You're still the same as you were five years ago." Hanako smiled and tried to pry her fingers off of her neck.
"You can let go now." Hinata turned a bit red and let go. Hinako noticed it and giggled.
"And you're still the same as the last time we saw you too." Hinata sat on her bed and no sooner had she done that then one of the men that worked under her father came in.
"Ah. I see that you're awake, Hinata-sama. Good. You have half an hour to get dressed. I'll be back at that time." He was about to leave when she stopped him.
"What for?"
"Today, you begin your duties as the head of the Household, and part of your new schedule, you must take lessons from your grandfather on how the paperwork is supposed to complete properly, and you will be taken to solve a matter with another branch. I'll return at that time." He bowed and walked out quietly. Hinata sighed and plopped back down onto her bed.
"First day and already it seems that I'm swamped with work." She stared up at the ceiling, completely lost in thought. Hinako played with her short brown hair before remembering why they had come over in the first place.
"Hinata… Your grandfather has asked us to help you out. That's why we're moving back in with the rest of the family." She said, patting her on the back. Hinata managed to lift her head up a bit to look at them, and then she let it fall back onto the mattress.
"There's way too much going on in my life right now…" She sighed once again and got up, dragged herself over to her dresser, and pulled out her training attire. After fifteen minutes, she came back out with her long hair tied in a low ponytail. She nodded to the twins and they all left together. Outside in the main practice area, Hinata saw her grandfather waiting for her.
"O-Ohayo…" She bowed politely, trying hard to impress her grandfather. He bowed to her and greeted her, not as warmly as she had hoped.
"Ohayo, Hinata. Come with me." He turned around to lead the way into a separate building. Hinata followed him obediently, hoping that her father would help her get through this ordeal.
"Here we are." He said. She noticed that everything was less grand than her own home. She looked at her cousins with a confused look on their faces.
"This is one of the lesser branches. A side of the Cadet Branch you might say. We're here to have a meeting with Matsuri Hyuuga, the leader of this branch. You won't be saying much, unless she gives you a direct question. Is that understood?" He stated, crossing his arms over his chest. She nodded.
"H-Hai…" and they walked inside.
The inside of the place wasn't much to brag about. In fact, it was even plainer than Naruto's apartment. There were a couple of kitchens and a handful of bathrooms spread around the corridors, but other than the things needed for those rooms, nothing to brighten the place up. On their way down a hallway, Hinata could have sworn that she felt eyes staring at her, but when she turned around, no one was there. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity for her, they finally arrived at the meeting room. Hinata stepped in first, followed by her grandfather. The room was even plainer than the rest of the house. All that was inside was a large oak desk and a wooden chair with a straight back. Nothing else was there to brighten the place up.
There was a woman sitting in the chair, somewhere between her early and mid twenties, her hand scribbling non-stop on a stack of papers. She was writing so fast that one could actually see the smoke rising. Her short black hair was a bit untidy, as though she just got out of bed, and she didn't even notice when the two walked in, her thought filled with who-knows-what. Tetsu cleared his throat and she jumped in surprise before looking up with the same clear orbs as is common of the Hyuuga family.
"A-Ah… H-Hello… I-I wasn't expecting you so early today…" She said, pushing the stack together and then placing it to the side before she stood up and headed to another door where she pulled out two chairs for them.
"Yes, well, we weren't expecting you to send us word about the current state of affairs." Tetsu replied to her insinuation, his eyes closed. Hinata sat next to him, a bit tense and trying not to shy away, but her nature was getting the best of her. The girl looked at him before her gaze drifted to Hinata.
"A-Ah… Hinata-dono… I-I wasn't expecting you to be here either…." She said, placing her hands on her desk and her gaze going back to them. Hinata squirmed in her seat and looked at the back of her hands.
"Matsuri. What seemed to be the entire situation in this house? You never gave us any trouble, so why start now?" Tetsu asked her, his stern eyes on the other girl's face. She cowered a bit under his gaze and tried to find her voice. Hinata noticed her actions, and couldn't help but compare herself with her.
"W-Well... I-It's just that w-we need a bit more funding this year because one of our girls recently gave birth to triplets and--
"Oh, and just because she gave birth, you think that it's enough to make us give you more money?" He said in a loud voice. Both Hinata and Matsuri cringed at his words and sunk back as he continued to look at the branch leader with contempt. Hinata gulped and opened her mouth.
"A-ano… o-ojii-sama… C-couldn't w-we help them? I-I mean, it's not much t-that they need…" He turned his eyes to her and she backed down a bit.
"We give them enough to last the month, nothing more, nothing less. If feeding the newborns means that some people in this household will go hungry, then so be it. We are not offering our coffers to them, as if we were a bank that could give out loans. We are leaving now Hinata." She bit her lip and nodded.
"H-Hai…." She said as they both walked out. Matsuri sighed when they left, but Hinata had returned. She looked over at the woman who was so similar to her.
"I-I'm sorry a-about my g-grandfather…. I-If I had control of the Hyuuga clan's monetary power, I would gladly give you the funds that you require. I-I know t-that t-this i-isn't much, but…." She pulled out her cute rabbit-shaped wallet and opened it, revealing a large amount of money. She pulled it all out and handed the money to her. "T-There's 100000 ryo. Please take this." She said in her gentle tone and smiled softly. "I have to go now. It was nice meeting you Matsuri-san." She bowed and left. Matsuri, once Hinata was gone from the room, took the bag and dropped it into her deck, grimacing at the shy girl's looks.
"Feh. We may need money, but we aren't a pity party. Just wait until I get my hands on the power of the main branch…"
"Matsuri." She turned to the door and smiled.
"Hey. Can you do me a favor?" She asked the figure. All she received was a nod. "Good. It'll be easy. Just try and get close to that Hinata." The figure stood there to await further instructions, his pale eyes cold.
*sighs* I hate this. I have AP classes, my laptop's broken, my sister's turning into a wanna-be gangster, my brother is making me tired, I am failing 2 of my core classes, and my dad thinks that its smart to approach me with a booming voice and a slap to the , when your last bit of sanity is about to leave you, then NEVER TRY to give me something to do. Ah, I miss those times when I could upload fanfiction freely and easily... and now the only time I can do that is during school, which is... 2 hours. That's not a lot. Oh my youth, where have you gone off to?
. . .
Did... Did I just sound like Lee...? *screams and rips hair out* NOOOOOO!!!!!
Anyways, read and review!
P.S.: TO make my life a bit easier, I'm going to turn most of my fics into manga. Well... my Naruto ones anyways. I can't draw CCS, and I can draw a little IY. Doujin. For the link to my doujin, please look at my profile.
Sighning off,
Hinata-chan16~