Midsummer Afterglow: Hello Everyone! The next chapter has been completed but this time around it is a bit different from the timeline of the story. This chapter is set at a time skip pace 5 days after the last chapter. I set it this way because it seemed to fit despite the confusion factor. The next chapter, under the working title Night Falls will go back to the present as the sequel to chapter 6 and the one after may or may not stay in the present as well. (I still want to address why it is that Hinata was "caught" prying on Neji), but the time for that part to come up just has not seemed to fit in so well during the last chapters like I hoped it would so I'll have to write it in at a different time. I really hope this story does not become too confusing with the way I'm writing. Once I finish with the whole flash back between the present and the future, the story will stay in the present until the very end. Please bear with me until then if you can. :D If it gets too confusing then don't be afraid to ask me questions about what you don't understand and I will explain it to the best of my ability. :D

Thanks to those who reviewed and to any new readers, thanks for adding my story to your subscription alerts! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

I DO OWN MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: SEIICHI, KAZUKO AND EMIKO!


The Breaking Dawn

Seiichi shot up violently in his futon. The room was utterly dark and the air was chill. He could not remember what it was that had woken him so suddenly but whatever it was had his body drenched in a nervous sweat.

His ebony hair was sticking to his face and he reached up and roughly brushed it back with his hand. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness as he began to recall the beginning of the dream.

It was always the same:

Two hands reaching out towards one another in slow motion; it was painful to see them grasping air as they struggled, inching closer and still closer. Then, once the waiting was coming to an end, just as they were about to touch, to meet one another in that place that was neither above nor below, the hands began to crumble. Tiny pieces of flesh broke off each of the hands, as if they had been clay sculptures, until all that was left were two skeletal forms facing each other. The bones were not white but instead a deep black, the deepest black he had ever set eyes on. Then they too began to crumble and thin as paper, pieces of black bone turned to ash, floated through the surrounding empty space. Down and down the ash fell until each hand no longer was tangible.

That was as much as he could remember and he had been having the same dream for sometime but he could never make any sense of it. Why were two hands reaching out for each other so significant?

Was it something he had forgotten or simply knew nothing of?

It was unnerving but Seiichi knew that in the end a dream was only a dream no matter how terrible the nighttime seemed to warp it.

Seiichi sighed and fell back onto his futon and stared up into the darkness above him. There was nothing he needed to worry about this far into the game, yet he still felt an ounce of doubt creeping into his thoughts.

His plan was flawless; he had made sure of it. Then why the dream; why the doubts? Could it be that he was beginning to lose sight of his goals?

It was impossible. Never before had this happened. He never gave up and he always stuck by his own beliefs and nothing had happened to make him think so otherwise.

Or had it?

The Hyuga clan Heiress came to his mind then, her milk white skin and long indigo hair framing pale violet eyes. Why? Why was she suddenly so important? There was nothing he needed from her; nothing she could give him; and yet there she was, so clear he could almost touch her.

Seiichi stretched one arm up into the dark and clenched his fist. His hand, suspended in the air above his head, fell back down slowly to his side. The chill in the room had gone and the blanket covering his body felt uncomfortably heavy on top of him.

Seiichi kicked the blanket towards his feet and closed his eyes. The night of his debriefing began to play itself out behind the darkness of his sealed lids.

(Two Nights Ago)

Seiichi focused on the circle of trees surrounding him. He held three shuriken in each one of his hands. The heat which he had felt so clearly earlier when he had been at the Hyuga's main compound, had now dispersed with the arrival of a cool breeze and the pale full moon.

He shut his eyes and suddenly his other senses began to tingle and awaken. He took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet forest air, and then he pushed up from the ground and jumped. The area was noiseless except for the swift sound of the wind circling him as he spun. In one graceful movement, his body turned and met with each of the targets.

Without looking he knew where they were and the moment when his front was face to face with one, he flung a single shuriken towards the center of it and a loud thunk was heard as his weapon met with the wooden trunk of the tree.

As his body completed the 360 degree spin, his arms stretched out to either side, he began to descend back towards the ground and five more thunks were heard, almost simultaneously, and then he landed smoothly down into the spot he had started in.

Seiichi opened his eyes and gazed at the moonlit blades buried into the six trees and a smile made it way to his lips. It was one of the first things his father had taught him to do when he had first begun his training.

His father would drill him to practice hitting targets using his byakugan and then practice hitting them without it to increase the ability of his other senses. At the time it had seemed trivial and completely nonsensical but in time he came to appreciate the lesson.

It showed him the difference between not seeing and being able to see more than one imagined. That was the precious gift of the Hyuga clan byakugan. That immediate change in ones peripheral vision; if one had to rely on it and shoulder all the work, they were considered powerless, but if one could learn to tune it so that their body and eyes became one with it, then having the byakugan was liking sharing the load of work with another team member.

It was a part of a person but they could not limit themselves to trusting in it alone.

It was then that he sensed it, the strength, but in his eyes, weakness of her chakra. He turned and faced the woman who he had to acknowledge was his mother. Kazuko Hyuga. The moon bathed her form in a ghostly light as she stepped out of the darkness of the trees and into his view.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to come for me. Is it done then?"

Kazuko stood silent and still. She gazed at Seiichi with eyes that were reproachful of his person and he gazed back, unflinching.

"It is. Do you think that this will solve all your problems or is this just some way to get back at me?" Kazuko folded her arms before her chest against the biting cold of the night.

Seiichi sighed and walked towards the woman before him. He licked his lips and moved close enough to feel the small warmth her body was emitting. She was shorter than he remembered and towering over her made him feel superior.

He decided to award her with soft spoken words of appreciation. "You've done your part well Kazuko. The rest I will handle myself."

Kazuko shivered under the shadow of Seiichi's height and though the cold was not as bad as it could have been, looking up into her son's expressionless eyes, made her feel it all the way to her bones. When she spoke again, Seiichi noted that her lips were trembling with each word.

"Promise me that this will be the end of it. I can't bear to see you like this."

The sorrow and pity in his mother's voice surprised him and for a moment he almost believed her tender words but for the nagging voice in the back of his head which reminded him of what needed to be done.

"Save your words of love Kazuko, this is only the beginning." Seiichi paused and pursed his lips. His mother looked like a freightened child waiting to be scolded though she was unaware of what she had done. Seiichi smiled at this. A woman's weakness lay in the amount of her fragility which she allowed herself to expose.

"Are you afraid of me Kazuko?"

The women squared her shoulders and a look of scorn and resentment passed over her face. She was attempting to be strong but her shivering betrayed her determination to do so. When she spoke, her voice faltered as what was meant to be a whispered suggestion left her lips as an undeniable threat. "I think you are afraid of yourself Seiichi."

Seiichi laughed at the small woman then. He could hold his amusement back no longer. Did she think that her motherly atonement could soften his heart?

"Your job is not to think Kazuko but to do as you are told. Now, take me to him."

Kazuko's breath stuck in her throat. Her son had asked nothing of her before and now that he had finally come to her, she found it hard to resist him.

Seiichi stood over her, waiting for her to move first.

Tears pricked the back of her eyes and she fought back her desire to let them fall. She had to be strong for him this time; she had to be strong for both of them. Kazuko let her breath out slowly as she replied. "Come Seiichi, the main elder is waiting for you."

With that she turned away from his piercing gaze and began to walk towards the compound of the elders. Her body urged her to turn back but she would not let it do so. She had done her part, just as Seiichi had said so. It was time for him to do his part and no matter what she said or what she did, she would not, no, she could not stop him.

Seiichi followed silently behind her and because now he could not see her, Kazuko reluctantly allowed a single tear to slide down her pale cold cheek.

(Flashback End)

Seiichi's eyes shot open in the darkness. The air in the room had changed. Though he could have just imagined it, it had gotten colder. He reached for the blanket down by his feet and pulled it over his body securely.

Now that he was sure the temperature had dropped, he needed the weight of the white sheet on top of him; he desperately needed the warmth it would provide.

As he lay against his futon, he earnestly hoped that the blankets warmth would be enough to halt the attempt the cold had made to sneak its way under his skin and into his bones. Was this a fit of the nerves he was feeling?

Seiichi shook his head and rubbed his eyes. The darkness was unchanged and silent. He wanted to see the light of dawn breaking through the trees but outside was pitch black night. He would not wait here for the day to come, he needed to be away from the cold; but where could he go? Who would have him in the middle of a dark night?

He stood up and let the blanket fall to his feet. The cold came over him but he did his best to ignore the affects it had on his body. He needed to see himself. He needed to know that nothing had changed while he was trapped here inside his memories.

He walked over to the sliding door of his room and opened it up to the outside. He heard a voice rising with the gentle flow of the wind.

"I think you are afraid of yourself Seiichi."

She had said it to him with a qualm, resting on the edge of her lips, as to what would become of him if he went on as planned. She had no right! Damn the woman and her compassion! He wanted none of it and none of it wanted him; but then why?

Why did he still see the hands reaching out and never touching? They were always close enough but they would crumble. Was it the darkness keeping the hands a part or was it a touch of forbidden contact which tore them from one another?

It stung at Seiichi's mind and he could take it no longer. Even if dawn would not come, he would never stop searching for it! Even when the hand on the other end began to crumble he would continue to reach out and grab it! That had to be the answer. If he stopped now, at the beginning, he would not be able to live with himself. He could not stop it, there was only one end and only one means to justify that end. In two more days his plans would begin to take full effect and it was not his place to fight battles which were never meant to be won.

Seiichi stretched forth both his hands and grasped at the darkness before him. It was air he caught between his fingers but the air was no longer cold, it was warm and pleasant against his skin.

Seiichi looked up towards the tops of the trees and suddenly a smile found its way to his chapped lips. The sun was climbing out of the placid darkness and the dawn was beginning to break.


Hinata looked up at the sky and noticed that it had gone from midnight black to a pale morning blue. The sun was about to raise its head out from underneath the sky and she smiled and turned to her side and nudged Neji's arm, gently arousing him from his thoughts.

They had been sitting on the porch outside her bedroom door for most of the night and since neither one could find it in themselves to get to sleep, Neji had offered to stay up and watch the sunrise with her. It was not like him to offer it up as freely as he had but Hinata refused to decline his offer if it meant she could spend even the smallest amount of time with him alone. Despite her efforts to keep him at a distance she was forced to acknowledge that they had grown closer.

"Look Neji the dawn is breaking." Hinata's voice was only a little higher than a whisper but she knew he was listening to her just by the way he shifted slightly in his spot next to her. She loved how easy it was becoming to read his body language. Perhaps she understood the man better than he understood himself.

Neji turned his pale eyes on the girl and her eyes locked with his. She was as beautiful as ever and when a small smile graced her lips, Neji found it hard not to stare. He wondered why a simple thing like the sunrise could suddenly brighten her mood from the way it had been before but then she was a woman and most everything she did surprised him. He was still getting used to being drawn in closer and closer to her.

He turned back and looked up at the sun, which was beginning to break through the tallest of the trees. It was a nice sight he had to admit but it was nothing compared to the woman who sat beside him. Her eyes sparkled in the light and her skin looked smooth and inviting. He felt the pull again and did his best not to get carried away by petty emotions, but it was harder than usual.

It was then that he felt something warm come over one of his cold hands and he knew that he would not be able to hold back for much longer.

He looked down and noticed that Hinata's hand was carefully placed to rest over his. He looked up and wanted to say something to her but when he saw that she was intently watching the ascent of the golden ball of flame in the sky, he decided against it. It felt nice to be close to her and yet dangerous as well.

Somehow he knew that whatever it was she was thinking of, as she watched it float higher and higher, was something he would never be able to comprehend just by gazing at her. He had come to notice that with Hinata everything felt different.

"I wonder if my father used to watch the sunrise with my mother, before she died." Hinata sighed and looked over at Neji after she had said this. She was disappointed to see that the guarded expression on his face had not changed at all. She had yet to see the man smile genuinely at anything.

"I know your only duty is to watch over and protect me Neji, but if once in a while there could be times like this, I think that duty would be less of a burden to you."

Neji's eyes widened as he was taken aback by Hinata's confession. Why was it that she was still worrying about him? He had told her before that he had made the decision to be her protector willingly, so why was it that she still did not seem to trust him?

Hinata kept her hand over Neji's and wondered if maybe she had struck a nerve for he suddenly seemed to be deep in thought again. Oh well. Perhaps this was the way it was always going to be between them. She had wanted more but then she knew she was just being selfish.

He hated to open up and he was usually so sure of himself but for some reason he had withdrawn the trust, she was hoping, he had placed in her and now they were both stuck in the same unnerving silence which had plagued most of their meetings. Would she ever get him to change?

Hinata started to think back on her talk Seiichi and how sad he had looked just speaking about his past. She wondered now if it would be the same for Neji. When he was concentrated so deeply on his own thoughts, was he struggling with holding back memories he wanted to forget as well? Could it be that his hate for the main house was what caused him to act so nonchalant?

Would he ever tell her what lay behind those troubled eyes of his or would he leave her in the darkness always trying to catch up to him and figure him out alone?

Hinata was silently pleading, to whatever force would listen, to find a way to crack Neji's outer shell so she could warm her way into his walled up heart, when suddenly her cousin's cool voice broke through her thoughts.

"Hinata, protecting you is not what's burdening me. I think it's your constant distrust of me that bothers me."

Hinata blinked in surprise. Did he really think she had stopped trusting him? This was not what she had expected to find. If he was not going to break under the intense pressure first then she was left with no other choice.

She squeezed his hand cautiously and her violet eyes met his pale ones. "I know you meant what you said back then and I trust you with my life Neji. I always will."

Neji stared back at her and she did her best not to look away. His gaze was something she could never hold without feeling nervous inside. She felt as if he was reading her like a book as he looked on silently, absorbing her every feature.

He did something so unexpected then that Hinata was unsure if she was sitting with Neji or Seiichi.

Lifting his free hand up towards her, Neji gently brushed away the long strands of her hair which had fallen over her shoulder and into her face. His voice was deep and resounded within her as he spoke.

"When you look at me like that, I can't seem to stop myself." Neji leaned closer and brushed his knuckles against her cheek and Hinata closed her eyes in response.

Her lips began to tingle as the simple gesture was felt in every corner of her body. The words must have come out before he could think of taking them back. Was this really happening or was she in a dream?

Neji's hand cupped the side of her face and she felt warm all over. She whispered to him softly. "Don't stop, Neji."

Neji pulled Hinata closer and she could feel the warmth of his body against her own. She felt small in his arms and yet unlike with Seiichi, this time she did not feel like moving away. If anything, she wanted to be closer. She had wanted to be closer for so long but was always afraid of being rejected and now she knew she needed him just as much as he needed her.

Hinata's hand held on tight to Neji's and her heart began to race and her head spun with unspoken feelings. She could feel his breath on her face and she was sure he could feel hers. She kept her eyes closed afraid of what expression she would see on his face.

Neji placed on hand on the back of Hinata's neck and knew that if he moved an inch closer, the boundary between Heiress and Protector would no longer stand between them. He wondered if what he was doing was right or wrong. His body wanted him to move forward and close the gap but his mind ragingly held him back.

When he realized that their lips were touching, it was when Hinata gently pressed his lips against her soft ones. Neji firmly grasped the girl around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She was light and easy to hold. She fit perfectly in his arms and as her lips moved delicately against his, like tasting a forbidden fruit for the first time, Neji took the initiative and responded eagerly as he began to stroke the back of her neck with his thumb.

The sunrise, old and forgotten, faded from her view as Hinata felt Neji's hand grasping her waist. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and willingly surrendered to passion as gloomy night became glorious day.


Hinata gasped as her body shot up from the futon. It took a moment for to focus in on the room around her. It was cool and the rays of the sun had barely begun to filter into the darkness of her room.

She had been having another dream, but unlike other dreams, this one had been so vivid and life like that for a second, as she awoke, it never entered her mind that it could be anything but real.

She took a deep breath in and released it slowly in an attempt to stay her racing heart. Her hands were clammy with sweat and every inch of her body felt tingled with excitement.

She brought the back of her hand to her forehead and felt for a fever but she did not have one. She sighed and fell back onto the cushioned futon. If dreams like this one became a natural routine every night, she might have to go to extra lengths to explain her own sanity.

There was no way Neji Hyuga would ever say those things to her let alone look at her the way he had, so tender and lovingly. A faint blush had risen into her pale cheeks and Hinata shook her head hoping to snap out of her dazed state.

She needed to get herself together. The day after tomorrow they would be leaving to Lightning country to visit the feudal lord. The last thing she needed to be doing right now was to be fantasizing about Neji. Though why she had dreamt of him the first place was a mystery.

There past few encounters had been brief and not unkind exactly, but not friendly either. Neji seemed to have some sort of problem with Seiichi and since Hinata preferred him over her cousin, the man always seemed to have a pained look on his face.

Perhaps she was being unfair by judging him so quickly but really, was it necessary to walk around with such a serious look everywhere he went? The only one who could handle Neji was her sister Hanabi and she was glad that her father and the elders had allowed the girl to go with them on their journey. She was sure to smooth things over if anything happened between Seiichi and Neji or gods forbid, Neji and her.

Hinata had been stunned when she first found out that they were going to Lightning alone. It seemed like once she had become the Heiress, everything was moving quickly and much too fast for her tastes. She wanted to enjoy the process of learning how to become the head of the Hyuga clan but it seemed that fate wanted her to learn without enjoyment and instead with intellectual poise and discipline.

It was disappointing but she would just have to contend with the will of the elders and do the best she could to follow through with their demands. She supposed the same went for Neji and Seiichi who were only going along because of the elders demands as well. The only free on was Hanabi. She had no reason to dread the close of next couple days. By the time they got to the feudal Lord's home, no doubt this week would be long over and a new one just begun.

If only she could be excited about going, the whole tripe would be less of a burden to her but like Seiichi had once told her, we can't always get what we want. It dawned on Hinata then that Emiko had not come and woke her up like she usually did. It was strange for the maid to be missing but then again, it was strange for Hinata to be dreaming of Neji. She decided that she would get up and dress herself, leaving the fact of the maid's absence out of her mind for the moment.

She sighed to herself and sat back up in her futon. She needed to calm down and compose herself. The long day awaiting her and her other three companions was drawing near. She needed to have a good attitude and prepare for whatever challenges might be set to test her; but it was safe to say that if the the next two days had this same effect on her, she might not make it to lightning country in one piece.


Authors Note: Okay everyone as you noticed...this chapter had a bit of a dream sequence going on and I hope that tips you off to the foreshadowing of future events! If not then you will just have to wait to be surprised! hehe :D Pleas review and let me know what you think! :D Oh and for those who are eagerly awaiting some actual NejixHina action then I'm sorry to have to keep you waiting so long. The plot for this story needed a lot of building up in order to make it work. Once I'm back writing in the present, the NejixHina action will be flowing through the words like crazy haha .