How the Irons of Love Bond

Eleven Fetters, The String Is Yearningly White

Neji Hyūga slept for several days. Main Branch women came to tend to him, washing him, clothing him, and giving him water. Sayama Hyūga, head of the Compound's security, came in every now and then to check on his status. Kyōhei Hyūga would update her, as well as the Clan co-Heads. Even Hisae had a hand in his recovery: She'd received good help from her peers, and the Lesser Hyūga women came together to make flower arrangements for Neji. Teary-eyed by the heartfelt sentiments, Hisae prayed for her son's full recovery. She always thanked her analytic cousin, who would bow in return. His sleepy eyes were sometimes hard to read, but her smile managed to rouse a good-natured cough or two.

One day, Hisae had been waiting for an update when Sayama appeared to switch shifts. They waited together outside the Infirmary. An evening gust whipped up. The ginkgo tree in the Main House garden shimmied in it. One leaf ran from the others to take roost on the pond below.

"Lady Hisae…?"

"Thank you, Lady Sayama."

The fierceness in the woman's eyes yielded to surprise. The leaf looked so lonely. "What, ever, for?"

Nothing was said in return. Hisae lowered her eyes. She reminded Sayama of her aunt—Hisae's mother, Kaede, so much. It was uncanny, but Hisae had borrowed looks from her mother, just like little Hinata did from Shizuka. It was unusual for her to converse with Hisae, despite being cousins. The Clan Schism barred them from a lot of chances to communicate. It felt like Sayama had no idea who her own cousin was. An unrivaled beauty, the Lesser Hyūga's hair was longer and much more ladylike than her own chignon and side-bangs. Her eyes were gentle, like a doe, in contrast to her tigress eyes. A bashful modesty came over the security head.

"I think you know, Lady Sayama."

A blindsided blink. "Do I, now?"

"Yes." She bowed partly to her and partly to no one. "You're such a protective big cousin. Thank you." Hisae's smile was so alluring, Sayama felt a cloud of misplaced egotism surrounding her. "I wish you'd consider becoming a mother." She giggled, bringing a sleeve up to her lips.

"Ah! L-Lady Hisae…?" A notably Hyūga flush came across her bridge.

"Underneath that uniform, you really are a tigress, aren't you?" She took up a flower blossom and tucked it into her breastplate. Smiling again, "You'd be very protective of your little ones, I bet."

The wall of discrimination was slowly crumbling. The in-family caste system was beginning to fall away. Lady Hisae's mistake was why she was branded in the first place. The wooden tokens tied to her looped ponytails were constant reminders of it. Yet, like a sinner graced by a god, Hisae smiled and laughed and joked and played with the Hyūga children. She was back to her old self. Most of the Lesser Clan members felt that way. While Kyōhei was rather indifferent about the steady changes and Hoheto was reluctant to accept them, they were so prominent around the Compound Sayama could smell them. Like fresh-cut flowers. It was a refreshing scent. It didn't feel stagnant or heavy, dry or sticky, or sour anymore.

A true change in pace had arrived: Hiromasa finally made the first step. Had it really taken a marriage arrangement to change things? It was what some Hyūga clansmen wondered. Especially Hazukaki. Despite his imprisonment, his opinion was still valid. Hiromasa was almost as aged as his older brother. Their childhood ran in two different streams, their parents having opposing views on which son should hold the Head position. Hazukaki was the first heir, but disproved his competency by fathering a child outside of his marriage. Along that string of siblings, Hiromasa—the "baby"—was approved and put into power in Hazukaki's stead, very much to the latter's disdain. Standing as total opposites their ideals clashed: It was always Hiromasa vs. Hazukaki.

And Hoheto could feel the unspoken tension. He had finished hoeing the vegetable garden when he took a breath and caught a glimpse of a rain cloud. He frowned a little. "Tokuma was right about the rain tonight…" He wiped the sweat from his brow.

Said younger Hyūga had been chastised thoroughly by none other than the Lesser Hyūga women he'd convinced to obey Hazukaki. His sweet demeanor had been horrifically manipulated, but the women showed him no mercy, there in the rain. The little girls threw rocks at him while the older women swatted his face with switches, tossed water on him, and then beat him with the buckets. All while he was confined to a tree. They cried as they berated him. Their words were true, marked with pain, and grieving over such a terrible ploy. His involvement could've easily resulted in a blind man's demise, he'd been so clueless. One lesson he learned—from their tears, agony, rocks and wash pails—was never to trust Hazukaki. His face and body were looking at, at least, three days' worth of soreness.

The moon rose over the passing storm. And Hinata found herself at Neji's bedside. Her mother agreed to take her to see him. Hanabi didn't want to miss any sleep since she had school in the morning. There to watch out for them was the girl's bodyguard, Kō. He held her hand as she watched Neji sleep. She smiled a little bit to herself. Shyly, she reached out. A couple gentle pats on her cousin's hand would surely go unnoticed by him.

"Sasuke-kun wants to see you, nii-san. So get better soon." She giggled cutely. A boost of confidence came from imagining their reunion.

Neji was never going to be the same person he'd been ever again. It was a scary thought, and an even scarier reality, to awaken to. But Neji was strong. He wasn't going to cave into something like that. Hinata knew him better than that.

On the other hand, everyone would have to address Neji as "she" now, wouldn't they?

Another school day had arrived in the Hidden Leaf Village. The school year passed by the students at Ninja Academy faster than they thought it would. But the sun was slowly but surely making its way into the sky, shining rays of hope upon the village. Even halfway into the year, it was still too early for Naruto Uzumaki. He snored as the rays prodded his face. They interrupted it, causing him to snarl in his sleep. Then he yawned, finally waking, and opened his eyes. Honestly, Naruto thought school was a bit pointless if he wanted to become Hokage, but he also figured he had to get through it in order to achieve his dream. So he sat up, scratched his back, and looked over at his alarm clock.

"Aww crap! What the heck, man!"

Which didn't go off.

Naruto raced through the streets. He ripped and ran—once again—toward Ninja Academy. Other students walked on through, so it meant he'd made it just in time. Naruto skidded to a halt, smoothed his hands over his face, ruffled his spiky hair a bit, and coolly marched onward. Two of the patrolling chūnin were holding the doors open when Naruto made his way into the building. Naruto, being the proud person that he was, threw them a thumbs up and marched right on it. The two chūnin glared at him. One of them rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother…" he grumbled.

Underneath a wooden pavilion, Sasuke waited. He'd carried Neji virtually across town, so he decided to stop in a park to catch his breath. Throughout that while, the Hyūga bobbed in and out of awareness, sometimes asking sluggish questions and being outside of himself, most of all. It was strange thing for Sasuke to witness, compared to when they'd met, when they'd fought, when they'd bickered. When they shared their first kiss.

A small, but intense, blush splashed across Sasuke's face. He scratched his cheek a little.

In the midst of it, the shadowy clouds looked more or less curious than ominous. The daytime darkness threatened rain. Nothing had fallen yet. Sasuke caught a glimpse of flashing light in the clouds; where was the rain?

Neji groaned. It pulled Sasuke out of his reveries, and the Uchiha brought his eyes down to meet pearly mirrors.

"Why is the sky black? Is it nighttime?"

Sasuke was blindsided for a moment. But remembered Neji's condition. "Oh, no, it's just stormy. We're supposed to get some rain, but nothing's come down yet. So…?"

When he brought his eyes back down to see Neji, the Hyūga boy looked absolutely drained. If his weakness could manifest, there would be corkscrews and stars turning about his head in rainbow-colored confusion. His eyelashes fluttered every now and then; he looked dizzy. Was he nauseous? There was a greenish tinge in his face….

"Um, Neji? Are you feeling sick? Do you need to see a doctor?"

Only a long, soft drawl came in response.

"May I take that as a 'yes'?"

Neji closed his eyes. "Pain…"

Sasuke brought him closer to his ear. Softly, he asked, "Do you know where it is?"

Suddenly, the Hyūga heirlooms became glassy. "I can't…say it."

"It's okay. You don't have to. Can you show me instead?"

Another flash from above. Neji shook his head as lightly as he could.

The Uchiha pardoned it, sighing softly. "I guess that's okay, too."

"Sasuke…?"

Half-lidded pearls still couldn't focus well, so it made Sasuke lower his brows a bit. But the other boy's attention was grabbed. He looked on, awaiting whatever the Hyūga had to say. There was intimacy in that moment: Their faces were so close. Even after Sasuke brought his face away, to see him better, they were so much closer than normal. It made Neji's heart beat a little faster, and wonder why. But Sasuke's patient smile worked wonders on the awkward silence. It told him "I can wait, I understand your situation, so just take your time." It alleviated Neji's timid blush and made it flourish a lot less noticeably.

"I, uh…" Those eyes wandered off a bit. "I'm…I…?"

Somehow, the suspense was making Sasuke's heart palpitate, too. Earnest and patient, he accidentally glued his gaze on Neji's lips. Which made him blush, in consequence. "Y-Yeah?"

A hard blink brought Neji out of his haze. Then came a defeated moan.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry…I forgot."

A light chuckle. "Umm…It's okay. Don't worry yourself about it." He took up the Hyūga's hand and brought him closer to his chest. "Don't stress over it." He smoothed his thumb over it. "It's okay."

Neji blinked. His hand was being held. His ear was against his chest. Neji could hear the heart's relieved pitter-patters. Suddenly, the ground left him; secure holds replaced it. His hair was still so disheveled. His clothes had literally been thrown on. He didn't heed the Medical Head's warning about moving around before his strength returned. His stubbornness had bested him, and ended up worsening his condition. Rushing to school hadn't helped, either.

And now, Sasuke Uchiha was the one taking him back home. Neji's blush grew.

It was embarrassing, but sweet of him to do.

Back at the Hyūga Compound, activity around the Infirmary increased. Clanswomen scurried back and forth through the door. Sasuke had no choice but to await updates in a lobby-like room not too far off. He spotted a woman with towels. Another seemed to be bringing in an empty pail. An uneasiness marked the Uchiha's expression.

Inside the medical office, Kyōhei Hyūga patted the thirteen-year-old's mouth. A slew of vomit sloshed down a sink nearby; the woman there cleaned out the pail it'd been in. The sickly tinge had made its way back into Neji's face. With Kyōhei there to immediately address the problem, Neji was able to feel what he was feeling without a sense of panic. The natural recoil to the sounds of retching seemed absent from the medical ninja's eyes. In fact, going from Neji's dim recollection of him, Kyōhei always held a sleepy peacefulness. He was lethargic most times, but having incredible focus made up for it. In terms of visual prowess, his Byakugan was weaker than, say, Sayama's or even Hoheto's. His Byakugan was used for medical treatments, where he could pinpoint ailments through the chakra network.

With Neji as his current patient, his body was smaller—adolescent—so his network had a less complex layout. Which also meant he could hold his Byakugan longer than some of his brethren. Initial treatment in the Regenerative Healing Jutsu Room took about nine hours—with his Byakugan active—thanks to such precise chakra control.

Kyōhei patted a damp cloth across Neji's forehead. Then, a pause. His eyebrows dipped; he remembered to be extra careful, since his chakra could activate with the Family Curse Seal. Next to the boy's head was a small canister. Kyōhei took it into his hands and read the "Ointment" characters on the label. His blink appeared empty, reactionless. "Hm." He slid the ointment into the side table's drawer. "I don't need this right now. But thank you, Lady Hinata."

The Medical Head lifted the lower hem of Neji's shirt. He also unbuttoned his shorts, pulled down the zipper, and shimmied them off his hips. "Neji? I need to perform an inspection," the older Hyūga notified him, putting on some medical gloves. "Take this"—he gave Neji a rolled-up face towel—"and bite into it if you need to. There will be slight discomfort, and perhaps some pain. I know you have an understandably low pain tolerance down here, so bear with it as best you can." A face mask appeared last. So did a few tools. "Alright?"

"What're you going to do?"

The younger Hyūga's voice quavered. Kyōhei shut his eyes for a moment. "The Curse of the Rabbit Goddess Jutsu's first phase should have expedited the establishment of a uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, as well as a hymen, vagina, and cervix." His explanation came so plainly, Neji wasn't sure how to feel about any of it. "I'm simply going to perform an internal exam. I want to confirm the presence of these organs, so I can monitor their growth further." He set a speculum and a small flashlight closest to him. "Please lie back and try to relax. This shouldn't take too long."

Neji's heart thundered.

"I'm removing your shorts, now."

The procedure itself did not take long; it was the recovery that had prolonged itself. The young Hyūga continued to sleep. Fellow clanswomen cycled in and out of the room behind Kyōhei's shoulder. One woman—the one Sayama had injured sometime back—came to Neji's aid. Blurry-eyed and unsteady, she helped Neji to a nearby washroom. Kyōhei, in the meantime, checked the bed sheets for any spotting. A towel had been lain underneath Neji's lower half to catch the red spots. Kyōhei noted the presence of a few; it wasn't enough to consider laundering.

Upon his return, Kyōhei reaffirmed Neji that it was alright to sleep some more. From what was explained earlier, Neji had suffered through a bout of menstrual cramps—which immediately confirmed a uterus's presence. The discharge came without much obstruction, indicating that a vaginal canal had indeed developed. According to the examination memos, Kyōhei was also able to detect ovaries, fallopian tubes, and a shedding albeit healthy uterine lining. Everything was functioning properly so far. Kyōhei advised more exams further into the future, to make sure.

They were projected to be physical, as well as behavioral, exams. Neji, in between them, would need to adjust to the new address: the equally, yet effeminately, endearing term, Neji-chan.

Later towards the evening, Sasuke had returned to Neji's bedside. Villagers were making final rounds about town before settling in for the night. Evening shops were getting ready for night-owl customers. A tea ceremony had begun in the Yamanaka Flower Shop's training room. A courtesan-in-training was overseen by her teacher, hosted by Inoichi Yamanaka, proprietor of the Shop. Ino slunk back, notebook in arm and pencil at her lip, and huffed a bit enviously. The sign hanging on the front door read "Closed."

"Here, Neji. I brought these for you."

A wind chimes clinked.

In Sasuke's hands was a box. It was a pastel-blue box, sparsely striped with a pink-yellow-green trio at one corner. He removed the lid and revealed four skewers of tricolored dango to her. "I hope you like them. I had some already, so I got these for you." Then, he gently put it on her lap.

Neji seemed to love the gift. A bit hesitant to try them, Sasuke showed her that they were edible—and tasty. He even made an "Mm!" sound to coach her into it. He handed her one. Those Hyūga heirlooms glistened in fascination. The first ball—a pink one—made it into her mouth with lesser resistance. Just like the yellow and green ones did. "They're good," she told him, mimicking Sasuke's "Mm!" sounds. She giggled.

A purely girlish move. Then, Sasuke remembered something Kyōhei had told him: "Neji's brain is slowly rewiring itself to synchronize with her gender assignment, since she'd been without one for so long. Her masculine mannerisms will decrease bit by bit, as you'll notice later down the line. So if she seems…out-of-character to you, please don't pay it any mind." Sasuke made a face. There was something refreshing and pleasant about Neji's giggles. "It's part of her recovery process." Sasuke lowered his gaze. Things began to piece themselves together, just as slowly, too.

"Sasuke?"

Ebony eyes looked up. Curious pearls were there to greet them. The wind chimes clinked again.

"Oh, sorry…How do you feel?"

"I'm still feeling heady, but I'm fine, otherwise."

"How does it feel…urm…?" Sasuke wasn't sure how to word it.

But it still made Neji flush. "Ah—it, uh…it'll get better."

"It feels different, huh?"

"I just have to get used to it. Although, it always felt strange…" She rubbed her lower stomach. "Down there."

"All this time, I had no idea." Sasuke smirked awkwardly. "You used the boys' bathroom all the time. This means you'll have to use the girls' bathroom from now on. At least, that's what Kyōhei-sensei alluded to." Sasuke saw that Neji's second dango had stopped at her mouth. He blinked. "What're you gonna tell Lee and Tenten?"

The Hyūga nibbled on her lower lip. "I don't know."

Rock Lee had tortured himself. One pushup shy of a thousand, his body plopped to the ground. Tenten only watched, sighing despondently. He huffed for air, splayed on the grass, and decided to bask in the moonlight a while. Sweat dampened his thick brows. Tenten snatched her sights away when she noticed Lee's concerned gaze.

'She has not spoken to me since our argument,' he thought, ashamed. 'Which means she is still mad at me. Tenten…' He sighed, too.

"I'm not sure how either of them will react to this change. It came suddenly, and I haven't been talking to them about my home life. I feel bad for doing it…but it was none of their business." A soft glare pinned Sasuke down. "It was none of your business, either. But you're just plain nosy."

A sneaky smirk. "I had to make it my business—and so did your grandpa, apparently. I was supposed to marry Hinata, remember? I didn't mean to get myself dragged back into that."

"Wait." Neji's old self was beginning to resurface again. "What do you mean 'supposed' to? You are!"

"No, I'm not. Well, not anymore."

Sasuke had roused Neji's confusion. She went back to being an assertive, intimidating, and almost pushy interrogator. It wasn't much different from the "boy version," but Sasuke felt an odd pleasance about this new "girl version." Neji wasn't whiny, but more anxious. Her persistence showed by balling her hands up to her chest and going into mild hysterics. Her sentences came in long, thrashing lines; Sasuke had to wave her down.

"What on earth does that mean? You're slated to marry her—I've told you this for the umpteenth time, you lousy Uchiha!" Her voice was raising. Here we go again, the Uchiha's sweat drop warned. "This must be your nonchalance talking! You could care less about Hinata-sama, couldn't you? Fiend! There's no one else for you to wed—that was the entire point of the arranged marriage! And now you're saying you won't marry her?" She huffed, angrily flustered. "How dare you break her heart? How dare you—?!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy there…" Sasuke waved her down yet again. "I didn't break her heart, okay? It's not like the arrangement's been cancelled or anything. Your grandpa just made a few adjustments, that's all. He said there's still a candidate, the last one he had to offer…He was talking…about you."

Neji gasped.

The Hyūga Elder, Hiromasa, had shown Sasuke a remarkably kind visage. "I would know because I was there, in conference with him and your uncle," the Uchiha continued as Neji sat in a poignant daze. "They told me about a change they'd made in the marriage agreement between our clans." Sasuke waited for Neji to register what he'd just said. He recounted the event in the meantime. "A change?" he heard the Hyūga wonder. He kept his eyes shut. "Yeah…"

The Hyūga Clan co-Heads rejoined Sasuke in the Conference Room. Back in their seats prior to the disturbance, Hiromasa gave a sigh. "Forgive us, Uchiha heir. We needed to mollify a situation elsewhere in the Compound, but things have calmed down, now. Let us resume our discussion, shall we?"

"Yes…let's." The twelve-year-old lowered his gaze for a moment. "But first: You said, before you left, that you were 'preparing my future bride' for me." His brows fell over a steelier gaze. "Who were those preparations for?"

Hiashi made a face. Of defeat, of surrender. Something in that face signaled it; something else in Sasuke was able to undo a padlock. Dark eyes leered over toward the older man, softening as they moved.

In spite of his son's expression, the Hyūga Elder showed Sasuke that remarkably kind smile. "I believe you know already."

"But wait! Hiashi-sama—he must've been furious about it!"

"Actually, he wasn't. He looked…defeated, but not angry." A tiny smirk. "He must be kicking himself for calling his own daughter 'an inadequate heir'…but, to be honest, Hinata's taking it really well."

An embarrassed blush permeated Neji's cheeks. "Hinata-sama…she's…?"

Sasuke gave her a reassuring nod. "She's pretty okay with it. It's funny…because she didn't wanna marry me at all." He shook his head. "Talk about great timing. More than anything…she wants me to take good care of you. She wants nothing but happiness for you, and she's leaving the rest up to me."

Hinata's sweet-hearted smile plumped her little face, happy tears skipping down. "She relinquished her chances of succession for the sake of your happiness, Neji." She seemed to be waving goodbye to her, for some reason. "Take care—Neji-nee-san!"

Neji's own eyes welled up with tears. Shadows hid them from Sasuke. The wind chimes sang once again; he listened to them until it stopped. His smirk hadn't moved. His hand was so close, yet so far, from Neji's.

"I love you!"

Hinata's voice echoed in silence as Little Neji and Little Sasuke stared each other down. The Hyūga child's hair flowed in an intangible breeze. It had lifted up the Uchiha boy's bangs, as well.

"But why?" Neji asked from a cloud of melancholy.

Sasuke picked up on it. His smirk arched into a smile. "Because she loves you."

Tears sprang down Neji's face. She nibbled on her lower lip again. Her hand was suddenly in Sasuke's.

"And so do I." His hold on hers tightened a bit. "I always have…ever since we were little. Ever since I first saw 'The Boy behind the Wooden Fence'."

Those levelheaded explanations and proclamations of love were all obvious, now. He'd said they were the same. And he'd known it all along. But how? How could he have possibly known at such a young age? It was astounding. It was unbelievable. Neji had mistaken it for infatuation. Guilt rode in, saddled by silliness. What other powers did this mysterious boy have?

What other feelings would swell from the nervous tingle of their lips' second meeting? Adoration? Trust? Even lovesickness after parting? Neji didn't want Sasuke's lips to break from hers, yet. Still unsure where it would go from there, she allowed the Uchiha to lead her further into it. Apologetic hands were taken into protective, forgiving ones. Her tears didn't stop; her guilt didn't falter. The wind chimes sang once more.

Eight-year-old Neji and seven-year-old Sasuke weren't bothered by the breeze. It wasn't cool, it wasn't warm—it wasn't anything. The little Hyūga pushed back wispy strands. The Uchiha blinked, as if smitten by the motion. His gaze went on, undisturbed, for so long that Little Neji had to blush. In response, Little Sasuke grinned, tugging at his shirt.

Who knew fate was so picky? So adamant about things going her way? Going out of her own way to make an "abomination" like Neji…happy? The notion compelled Neji so much that she cried. Bawling like a four-year-old on Sasuke's shoulder. Bubbly tears cascaded, this time. Surely, the wet stain would dry as he made his way home. But there was something so innocent, and cute, about it.

Sasuke couldn't make his smile go away. He couldn't make his hands stop smoothing out Neji hair and let go of her, either. So he basked in the moment. He held her closer to him. 'That's why…I'm gonna marry you someday.'

How the Irons of Promise Bond…

A/N: Edited. Took a long minute, but Hazukaki's relationship to Hiromasa has been changed from cousin to brother. Also, the reasoning behind Hazukaki's "dethronement" will be elaborated on in future chpts.