Not many people would smile when their country falls apart.

Not many people would lie in bed with their own kin, even in knowledge that it was incest.

But I did.

I laughed out loud the day my country fell.

I slept with a cousin brother whom I had known for years growing up in Konoha.

Thus, therein lies my sin: I've lain with my own kin and laughed at my country's ungraceful demise.

I regret, none of it.

----

DeathPlay-the last kingdom

-Chapter one-kingdom of fury-

Part 4: Breakout

----

I'm setting out, I'm flying out of my cage.

March sun is pouring down on my head as I ride out with the rest of the city entourage to the dirt roads I am so familiar with.

Next to me, is Neji.

Behind me, is Hayashi, looking slightly nauseous.

I'm setting out, I'm flying out.

Finally.

----

(a week ago)

Hyuuga Hiashi cast his eyes disapprovingly towards his daughter, who was supposed to be his son. He also glanced at Neji, who was staring up at him with earnest adamant eyes, pleading for Hinata's sake. Neji actually seemed a bit taken aback at Hiashi's disagreement.

"Uncle, Hinata will have so much more chances of success out of the country… he'd do well in court, I assure you. "

"…it's not…to your judgment. "

Hiashi was being incredibly vague about the whole matter, and he knew it himself. Hinata lurked at the back of the impressive but overbearing room, feeling a mixture of regret and relief. She wished to follow Neji and his entourage to the city when March strolled by, but she knew she couldn't. Relief mingled with regret, since it meant no more hiding around when bathing, no more skulking around with tightly wound bandages, at least at home.

She was quite surprised at Neji's persistence though. It wasn't like he'd benefit from having her in court.

"I'm sure you are much more knowledgeable in that aspect uncle, and that's why I sought your agreement. Hinata would benefit from a new environment…especially one as well managed as the royal court. "

"Neji…"

Hiashi glanced at Neji oddly with thoughtful eyes.

"…why do you want him in court…? "

Neji looked Hiashi directly in the eye.

"The same reason my father could not bear to see you gone from court. "

Hinata flinched softly; Neji had struck a nerve.

Hizashi and Hiashi's rivalry in the royal court just a few decades before their generation was almost legendary. They had half killed themselves over outdoing one another, always striving to achieve just a little more than what the other had managed to do. That is, that rivalry lasted only until up to the point where Hiashi decided he had been too neglecting of his family, and returned to his estate in the country. In other words, his wife, Hyuuga Suzuka, had succumbed to the plague and had died, just when he was away at court as he usually were, ninety percent of his days. That incident changed Hiashi into suddenly a family man, and he abdicated from his position as general, leaving the city and in turn, leaving Hizashi behind.

Anyone would have thought Hizashi would be overjoyed from this fact; his rival was finally out of the scene. But just the opposite happened. He could not bear to 'not' have rival, not have a familiar face with whom he could enjoy a healthy competition without having to worry over petty political matters. So he resigned from his original position to something less prominent; he was now the head of the guarding sector, mostly in charge of promoting estine sentries and managing small-scale borders.

Both, definitely deflated from their days of supposedly glorious achievements.

"…it is a most unlikely comparison you can make, Neji. There is no possible way you can regard your relationship with Hinata with mine and your father's…no.

Hiashi seemed to think it over as he spoke, but his forehead was creasing.

"For one thing, he's much less talented than you, so there really is no competition. "

Hinata froze in the back of the room, cold sweat gathering upon her forehead, her teeth clenching. Hiashi was never one to mince words, but in this case, he was just plain cruel. He knew how much pain Hinata went through, being compared with Neji. She did well in her mercenary school, given that, but she was never excellent, never city-material. Hiashi knew that, and Hinata did too.

"I don't think so. I'd think Hinata would manage very well. I'd think him to be a worthy opponent. "

Hiashi's eyes narrowed. His posture straightening, he almost looked curious as he asked, as if doling out a challenge:

"…Really. And how would you know that? "

To both of their surprise, Neji replied easily enough.

"I promise you; I'll have him made into a 3rd rank estine sentry by the end of June, I assure you. If I can't, I'll send him back to you. "

Hinata's head snapped up from the back of the room.

June?! That was only about four months away…and to become an estine sentry of the royal court; it was what all the elite mercenaries aspired to be, unless one was aiming higher and wishing to become a general. Hiashi also gaped at Neji for a full five seconds, until he threw back his head and laugh—actually laughed.

Even the servants outside of the room froze in alarm; it was such a rare occasion in which Hiashi laughed, especially that loud.

"…you win, boy, you win. Do whatever you want, Neji, and we'll see what happens. "

Then and there, Hinata's wish had suddenly come true.

But she did not know how to come about it.

----

"…you're leaving…Hinata sama? Now? "

Hayashi blinked once or twice as he watched his master suddenly storm into the room in a fervent frenzy, combing her huge closets for robes and

"No…No. Not now of course…But soon. Soon. In about a week, I suppose. "

Even Hinata knew she sounded jumbled up.

She sounded vague and disoriented, her eyes glimmering in the dark as her hands shoved clothing and stuffed necessities into her bag. Hayashi took one look at the mess Hinata had made, sighed, then proceeded to take over the procedure, taking out the crumpled clothes and folding them properly. Hinata sheepishly backed off, her cheeks still glowing pink with anticipation.

He spoke hesitantly, his hands adeptly brushing out the creases in her robes.

"You…really want to go, I can tell, Hinata sama. "

"Well who wouldn't want to? It's the 'city' Hayashi, the city…I thought I'd never be able to go there, because of…"

She started out happy, but she trailed off sullenly, her right hand gripping at her chest as if to rip off the bandages. Even Hanabi had visited the city once, when she was five. But Hinata had been cooped up in the residence for so long, she could not imagine what dreams the city held. Yet Hayashi remained dubious.

"Hinata sama…I wish you'd not pin all your hopes into this trip. And please remember, even if it doesn't result in the way you want it too…I'm still waiting here for you. "

Hinata blinked once, and stopped her pacing. The room turned quiet, and Hayashi cringed inwards, cursing himself for ruining her mood just when she was so ecstatically happy…

"What are you talking about? You talk as if you're going to stay here! "

Hayashi whipped around—knocking about uncharacteristically, a pile of clothes he had been folding—and blinked a several times. He was holding up one of Hinata's training robes, holding it directly in front of him as if it was a shield. He saw his master looking indignantly at him, from away ten centimeter's away. She was leaning in to him, her already wide eyes widening to the size of dishplates. It was almost hypnotizing.

"You're coming with me of course, Hayashi! What were you thinking? "

"Ah… well…I'm… I have this condition you see, Hinata sama… I can't…ride. "

It was Hinata's turn to blink, and she did so exasperatedly as she shrugged and said:

"It'll be in a 'week's ' time, Hayashi…plenty of time you master yourself with ridi…"

"I apologize, but I should specify. I can't ride on…horses. "

Hinata should have reprimanded him for cutting in yet again, but she was too perplexed over his reasons.

Couldn't ride on horses?....

"Oh god…Hayashi…"

Hinata finally figured it out, dropping on her bed with a half moan and a half grimace. Hayashi pulled back with dignity, a bit of color splashing into his cheek as he huffily folded the robes he had been holding up.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of riding horses?! "

"It's not like that…! "

He whipped around tensely, his face magenta, as he proceeded to repack the items Hinata had messily stuffed into the bag.

"Well afraid or not, you're coming with me…you know I can't survive there without you. "

In the darkness, Hayashi smiled, face red and all.

----

"I must be mad…it's as if I am going back on the promise I made myself…the promise I forced on you, Suzuka. "

Hiashi looked up at the portrait of his wife hanging on the walls of his quarters. It was funny, how she wasn't smiling at all in it. Her mouth drawn in a tight line, she looked as grave as he did on normal days. Almost as if his personality had eroded through and settled in the portrait through the years, driving his wife's real personality away.

"Tell me, Suzuka, do you still loath me for the decisions I made? …"

He muttered, stepping back a few steps from the wall, admiring the portrait from a slightly longer distance. He cursed inwards—she still look severe and austere as ever. He either must have rubbed on her, because the Hyuuga Suzuka he'd known was a bright vivacious bei…

"And I must be mad. Talking to a portrait, when you've been dead for…quite a long time. "

Shaking his head, Hiashi whipped around and walked out of the room.

'Hinata leaves in a week. Just so you'd know. To the city. '

----

'Neji…?'

Hinata crept out from the artificial darkness of the hallway into the natural darkness of the night sky.

Neji was standing with his back to her, his hair cascading down to his waist—untied for once—staring up at the sky. Hinata had to blink a few times; he was so in sync with Hiashi, that she would have believed it was her father himself, unless for the slightly taller frame and just the mood Neji emanated. He was just more mellowed out than Hiashi.

"Hinata. Remember this? "

He suddenly spoke, and she jumped with a start.

She hadn't known he'd noticed her, since his back was turned.

He was holding up a delicate flower—a little smushed on the side—glowing in a pale pearly sheen under the moonlight. It had a lavender hue.

"I remember. You were afraid of bees then. "

His body suddenly was racked in tremors, his hand covering his face, and she bolted to his side to see if it was the injury she'd inflicted on him causing him pain…but he was laughing. Convulsing in laughter, he merrily flicked the flower at her. It landed on the ground.

"I remember that. You were chasing me with a huge evil smile, screaming, 'look at the pretty flower', while I was running like a race horse, hollering 'get that away from me!'…who'd have known bees enjoyed that weak excuse of a flower so much…it's a wonder you didn't get a sting then. "

Hinata thought with her face scrunched up for a while, trying to recall if her memories matched the details he had just told her.

"You're fabricating—I wasn't grinning evilly! I was merely trying to show you the flowe…"

"And I ended up with two bee stings that day, due to your continuous enthusiasm in showering me with these flowers…like beautiful confetti that attracts 'monsters'…"

"Bees aren't monsters! Don't tell me you're 'still' afraid of them! "

Neji laughed out loud again, his head thrown back. Hinata watched him laugh affectionately, until she realized it seemed wrong to gape at him so. He finally turned to face her, his neck bending to accommodate their obvious difference in heights.

"No…I doubt I really am afraid of them like I used to be. I feel pity now, actually. "

Hinata cocked her head sideways.

"Pity? "

As she questioned him, she eyed the still visible bruises on his face, the black rusted cut on his lips. 'She' did that, Hinata reminded herself with wonder. No…correction, he 'let' her do that.

That was even more astounding.

"Those two bees that stung me died that day—never thought about it that way. "

She stared blankly at him, until she recalled they had been still talking about the bees. Hinata managed to playfully—she could afford to be more relaxed now—quip:

"Is that what they teach you down there at the big…city schools? How bees die? "

He pretended to think, then just laughed. He stretched out his arm once and answered as his cracked his knuckles absent-miundedly.

"Pretty much. Nearly not enough to make someone into an estine sentry…but it helped. "

"So that's what they're going to teach me when I go there? "

Neji looked down at her again, his face serious for a moment.

"Something… different. Perhaps. Not all though. Lessons don't always come in schools. "

Hinata heard the soft soles of Hayashi from behind, and knew he was here to inform her he had finished the packing. Efficient, adept Hayashi. Neji was still lost in his line of thought.

"They come with life—the whole package. "

---

The only two men her age she continuously interacted with in childhood—Neji and Hayashi.

The two men she'd be riding to the city. Tomorrow.

One, afraid of bees, the other, of horses.

She smiled up at the sky.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, her dream begins.

----

(bloodiedsugs's words on DP-LK-

…yay. Finally perhaps I can start on the real plot instead of driveling fillers.

I still can't get a head or tail on about Hiashi's character…he's a right bastard at times, but in other times, maybe not so bad. In any case, I'm a little stuck.

PS: the timeline is completely messed up in here, nothing's in order, lol. Hope you guys aren't too confused....

PPS: HA... thx for telling me winterkaguya ... jesus i must be stupid ^^ that was a mistkae (-- as with the spelling. mistake. hmm. )

Bear with me. )