Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Hanabi's Machinations

For all her machinations, it still led to this.

The news reached her the very night it was announced. The greatest irony came in the form of the person who broke the news to her, although upon reflection, she should not have been surprised.

Neji himself had turned up in her room the evening after his meeting with Hiashi and Hinata. At first, Hanabi had been delighted when she heard the familiar sound of her window screen being pushed aside and detected his familiar chakra presence. Heart pounding, she had tried to keep up the charade of being asleep but Neji had placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her rather hard.

"Ouch, I know you like to play but not so rough, Nii-san," Hanabi had tried to tease him coyly but Neji had just given her an annoyed look before pulling back. Hanabi was puzzled. Usually by this time, he would be tearing her night yukata off. Blinking slightly, she wondered if Neji wanted to fool around before they got down to business so she tried to shrug one side of her yukata off her shoulder, attempting to look seductive and coy at the same time.

However, Neji was in a no-nonsense mood. Moving to the window, he turned his back to her. "I have something to tell you."

"Oh?" Hanabi was all ears since Neji rarely said much to her.

"Hinata and I are to be engaged in a month's time."

"What?!" The exclamation came louder than expected and she would have woken up the entire household if Neji did not move so quickly to her side and cupped his hand over her mouth, muffling her shout. He glared at her as if warning her not to shout if he released his hand from her mouth. She indicated that she would not and thus he released his hold on her. "You're not joking?" This time her voice was a modicum softer but could still barely be considered a whisper.

He shook his head even as he continued to stare at her evenly.

"B..but…when? Who set this up?" She of course immediately knew only one person in the family could have dictated this, yet she wanted to deny it all the same. Let him lie to me so we can continue this charade.

"Your father told me today." Neji gave her a strange look as he said this.

"You need to promise me something." Neji was still staring at her as he said this. She could drown in his eyes forever. He made her short of breath. He could always make her feel like this. Hanabi blinked. It seemed to break the spell because Neji had retreated from her although his eyes were still fixed on her.

"What?" She had a gnawing feeling that she would not like his request.

"What happened between us must stop and nobody must find out about it." Neji was speaking very deliberately now.

"But Nii-san….," Hanabi tried to swipe a hand to grab hold of his sleeve, "I…I…l…l…lo…," Hanabi could not bring herself to say it especially when she saw the look in his eyes. She knew it well. He had locked himself away from her and she would not be able to penetrate into his shell. Even if she spilled the beans on her emotions, Neji will not be moved. Hanabi, though young, could read the nuances in people's behaviour very well, especially that of her Nii-san. Swallowing hard to compose herself, Hanabi decided to try tact, "Do you want to marry her?"

Neji seemed to snicker at the question even as he answered it, "You should know that answer well enough."

"But does she want to marry you?" Seeing Neji pause, Hanabi decided to continue pressing her point, "Does she love you, Nii-san?" Hanabi beseeched even as she crawled up to snuggle against Neji's side.

Neji seemed to be uncertain now but his response was as usual, blameless. "We don't have a choice. Your father made the decision for us." Neji turned to look at her, his eyes large and round. She swore she could almost see the moon reflected in his orbs.

"But this doesn't mean we have to stop right, Nii-san? We can still be together." Hanabi, still lost in his eyes, moved closer to him however just as she was about to kiss him, Neji pushed her away and stood up.

"Don't. I told you we must stop. I will not cheat on Hinata anymore, especially since we will be engaged." Neji moved towards the window and pushed it open. Turning to give her a penetrating look, he said, "Remember what I said, Hanabi. No one must find out about this. If not, I will never forgive you." And with that he was gone, like the wind.

To Hanabi, Hinata had won. She had Neji's love, and now Neji himself. It was all too much for her to bear. In her life, Hanabi had always thought the one constant would be that her elder sister, the failure, would always lose to her. Yet in this respect, the area of love, Hinata had unknowingly gained the victory. Hanabi despised her 'loss' in what she considered to be a very unfair game, refusing to believe that she was really just jealous. Unbeknownst to her, or perhaps she conveniently chose to ignore the fact that it was also a one-sided game of hearts. Hanabi vs. a phantom Hinata. For all her precociousness, she was still only a child.

Hence, Hanabi spent that night slowly decimating every single article of clothing she could find in her room. Hanabi does not cry, she does spiteful things with her hands when she's upset. In her destructive frenzy, she also made a resolution to confront her father on his terribly mistaken decision. Why marry Hinata to Neji? They were so obviously incompatible. He should be engaged to her instead. They made a much better couple. Thoughts like these kept going around in her head, and a few times, Hanabi was tempted to come clean to her father so that Neji would be made to marry her, however, his last words kept reverberating in her head. I will never forgive you. Neji could be so very cruel. Hanabi stared at her flat little stomach and started hitting on it. Useless womb! If only I were pregnant!

The next day, the entire household was abuzz with much chatter and gossip about the upcoming engagement and the preparations required with only a month to spare. Everywhere Hanabi went, she would hear something she much rather not hear. Glaring murderously at whoever even gave the slightest peep about the coming engagement, Hanabi went around with a dark cloud hovering over her head. She also dared with her eyes, any of the servants who cleared her room to make any remarks about what they found. Everyone was surprisingly circumspect around her which led Hanabi to suspect that maybe their secret was not so secret after all.

Towards the end of the day, Hanabi was just about to tear her hair out in frustration, when her father made the request to see her. This sudden meeting made her spirits rise a little. It was fated, this meeting with her father was meant to be an opportunity for her to confess the truth, never mind that Neji had said that he would never forgive her. She decided that she would rather have him physically with her than not have him at all. Her stomach filled with butterflies once again, Hanabi headed into her father's study, determined to go ahead with her plan.

"I will never forgive you." His voice reverberated in her mind again as she slid the door open and stepped into the room.

Please forgive me, Neji. I love you too much to let you go. She was that selfish, yet she was oblivious to the fact. She thought she was being noble and romantic, chasing after the wanton dreams of love and disguising the truth of what she was really doing. She would rather have him by her side, hating her, than have him happy with her sister.