Chapter 10: Repercussions of the affair

The first time she stumbled upon a memory of his was during stacking some of her clothes in one of the drawers.

She found a dust bitten picture frame made of dark mahogany where a rigid photograph was put.

There were four people in this photograph.

A stoic father, an awkward solemn teen, a gentle looking burdened mother and a smiling child, with bizarre hair, twinkling eyes and a mischievous smile, striking the funniest of poses.

'He looks like his mother'

She dusted the frame, then rested it on a cabinet nearby the entrance.

And when he came home, it took his eyes for a nick of time, he stopped and looked so intently as if he was trying to recognize the people in the picture, to recall who they are. His face was unreadable; He did not comment.

She would later notice the frame gone ...

She would not bring it up.

She wouldn't know what to say anyway. They spend most of their time in stretches and stretches of precautious silence and tentative glances.

She vaguely remembers a fleeting time so long ago when she was happy, a time when her mother & uncle were alive, when Neji wasn't yet soured, when she wasn't shut out.

A time before the first Hyuuga affair and she wonders if he had been the same before the Uchiha massacre.

She wonders because now his eyes speak of a man who seems to know no bliss.


He is greeted by a foreign sight at home. Hinata, soothing a distraught Tenten, a reverse of the expectable in most case scenarios...

He splutters a little, acknowledging the both of them with a curt nod before retiring to his room.

Shortly after, they would abruptly end whatever conversation they were having when he made his presence known.

He does not pry nor does he give it much thought.


At dinner, she gets hold of herself, gathers the hems of her courage and asks him to Tell her about his clan.

It was quite an unpredictable starter to the conversation and a very lousy one to her credit.

"My clan is none of your concern" He scoffs, effectively ending the upstarted conversation firsthand. She does not speak for the rest of dinner.


Later that night, however, as he patrols the house, he would hear her whimpering and mumbling in her sleep.

He would do nothing. He has been kind enough already.

He was not above terrors himself, however, he does not grumble in his sleep. His throat is constricted; his voice is muted.

Sleep is his own personal Izanami, a tortuous genjutsu, a curse where he watches his entire life through a looking glass, unable to do anything. Helplessly staring in a somber well of memories.

Staring into the Sharingan of a dying Itachi.


Breakfast, the next day was a little too stiff for his liking.

Maybe he was a jerk earlier, but she shouldn't have inquired, he mentally argues with himself.

It is not in her nature to ask about topics that don't concern her that he knew.

"Why were you asking, anyway?" he finally tells her

"Asking what?"

"About my clan, last night, you haven't forgotten, have you?" his voice was stern, stern but not malicious.

"It was nothing; I was just curious" she says through a plastered polite smile that doesn't reach her eyes.


And for the ensuing days, her nightmares get louder and rougher enough that he has to wake her up from her terror laden sleep.

He hands her water then turns to his leave before she stops him

"Thank you, Sasuke-san, I am sorry to have waken you up from your sleep at such hour"

"Try to either rest or keep it down, Hyuuga, otherwise, you might wake the neighbours"

They had no neighbours in the Uchiha compound, unless he considers dead neighbours.

'His sense of humour' she might have rolled her eyes at him, had the whole thing been better.

"I am rather nocturnal, I don't sleep much at night, Hyuuga, now you sleep"

She almost forgot. He must be very stealthy, too quiet for her to hear him roaming. Or she might be a heavy sleeper. It doesn't matter either way.


It is dawn and he has taken his medicine and was now rolling restlessly in his sheets, he finds that he is just a wee bit irked about what is troubling the Hyuuga so much as to deny her sleep.


The epitome of the unexpected was when he found Hiashi has left him a message at the Hokage's office instructing him to come and pick Hinata up from the main house at dusk.

God, what was the man thinking, that he was his daughter's personal slave!

Nevertheless, he arrived on time where he was escorted by a servant towards one of the Hyuuga's meeting rooms.

He found the door slightly open making him practically hear everything being said in the heated session that was taking place.

'Was that intentional?' he thought

"You can't just seal the child's byakugan" Hiashi was exasperatedly arguing "He is practically second in line to clan's headmanship, in case something occurs to Hanabi or the main house didn't have capable offsprings"

"yes, but we were at risk of having his unsealed Byakugan along with your daughter's acquired by an enemy, we can't just let them both wandering like this with their Byakugans unprotected" an elder of theirs was now talking, unwavering in his resolve "and remember Hiashi sama, this isn't the first time, we can't just leave inept wielders roaming without a seal" The man was trying to instigate that Hinata was an incompetent wielder.

'She has single handedly beaten two or three out of five trained ANBU of Kumo, something your pathetic excuse of a self wouldn't do' Sasuke contemplated angrily.

"We can't, esteemed Elder, but again Tama is a child, and a child so young and defenseless shouldn't be held responsible for something he didn't commit or cause, the both of us were ambushed, we didn't know the forthcoming and we were supposed to be in peace" Hinata was waging a fierce argument on Tama's behalf all while trying to look hardened with no apparent success.

The torrent of understanding hit him, why the old man asked him to come, why he was led here, why Tenten was agitated, why Hinata was troubled and asking about his clan… it was the elders.

She wanted to learn how Uchihas managed their internal affairs.

'Bloody fool' he didn't know to whom he was referring at the moment; her or himself.

He proceeded to observe silently as She, Hanabi and Hiashi tried handling the situation on hand and from the looks of it, they were partially successful in swaying the council's mind just a little bit from branding at least Tama with the seal.

But the elders seemed adamant on sealing Hinata's Byakugan and they were losing the fight on her behalf.

"We shall have her byakugan sealed, that is for the better" An elder announced

Now was time to intervene.

"No, you won't" The whole gathering froze at the sound of his voice.

His entrance was sleek, elegant, however he was wearing an expression that was really intimidating, so unpleasant that tit took the Council a few minutes to recover from the very shock of him.

"and why do you have a saying in this? It is none of your business, Uchiha"

"It is all my business, elder" Sasuke hissed "She is my wife, neither I nor her want to have her branded by the seal, isn't that enough?" He added calmly this time, a sort of restrained eerie calm with an edge that unnerved everyone "As for the little boy, I think enough has been said already, He is the second in line, he is still young and neither his mother, his aunt nor his grandfather want to brand him as well. In fact, they can place him under Konoha's state protection where he would effectively be seized away from your entire clan along with his precious Byakugan and you would be able to do nothing at all. What is the point of your seal anyway that someone as lowly as Ao of Kiri has obtained a pair of Byakugan, did it stop him?"

"We aren't bound to answer to you, your interference is not tolerated, Uchiha, you can't stand against the rules of our clan"

"And the rules of your clan shall not clash with the rules of mine, we, Uchihas, don't tolerate people humiliating our women"

"You are a one man, Uchiha, totally on your own, Shall I remind you?"

"No, I remember so well, it is you who should be reminded what happens when one Uchiha gets provoked" he sneered. Sasuke turned the insinuation on them, in a very subtle threat, a threat they seemed to take for real.

"Hinata, let's get going, we are already late"

The tone of his voice was daring the council to refute him, something they were either too stunned or too wise to do.

She eagerly nodded her approval before standing up, saluting the council and heading somewhere to retrieve a huddled sleeping Tama and Tenten as to drop them off on their way.


The journey to the house was heavy with anticipation. She didn't know how he would react to the events that transpired today, if he would be mad or if he would shrug it off like it never happened as he habitually does.

She never expected that once they would set foot in the house, he would erupt in laughter.

"The constipated look on your elders' faces was priceless, Hyuuga. And by the way, I noticed you were trying to look intimidating, never ever do it again! you end up looking no more intimidating that a rabbit or a fawn at most, it is not your forte, stick with firm"

She was mesmerized by the sight.

Sasuke Uchiha was laughing, no mockery, no bitterness or emptiness, he was genuinely laughing.

'You should do that more often'

He caught up with himself eventually and instantly he halted as if he had done something he shouldn't have done.

She dropped her head as she knelt down before him, with bleary eyes filled with immeasurable volume of gratitude and appreciation

"I can't thank you enough for what you have done for me or Tama or Neji, for my entire family, today, Sasuke-san. I can't find capable words, I owe you an immense debt, a hefty sum, that I can never repay even for the life of me"

It was his turn to be stunned. He was thrown off balance by her gratitious supplication , the way her eyes were conveying so much, all the raw emotions floating in her orbs, enveloping himself, drowning his soul.

At the moment, he remembered what he has always heard , the lengths and lengths of praise about the Byakugan.

He has always heard poems and prose describing its enthralling beauty, the might of it.

And Never had he assumed them to be true, he always discarded them as the weavings of some deluded lovesick fool.

At the moment, He can attest to one thing, no byakugan has ever been as beautiful as hers right now.

All the litanies and spiels about the Byakugan have materialised and come true before his very eyes.

And He is tongue tied.

'Snap out of it' he could feel the undazed part of his mind urging him.

He can't.

He stays rooted to the spot, staring into her eyes for a solid expanse of time before averting his, darting them away from hers …

He turns his back on her and marches towards his room. Middle way he stops, turns his head and glances back at her direction.

"Hyuuga, you need to rest, go get some sleep" he says before disappearing behind his room's closed door

'God, what have you done'


The repercussions of the council meeting were now the hot topic in the main house.

"You know; they won't stop at this; the council members won't let such insolence off easily, it is degrading to their damn pompous pride"

"One thing at a time, Hanabi. Right now, they are reeling but can do nothing. Now whatever schemes they have going on in their minds, they would have to set them aside for a while. we have derailed them, bought off some time, and a long time it is, I assume." Hiashi was soothing his young daughter who was now smiling just a little.

Hiashi could sleep properly this night, for both Neji's son and his daughter were safe for the time being.