Chapter nineteen
Petitefeeme: I thank Sukki18 and mg4o6 for their energetic reviews, it always spur me to write =) Here's the nineteenth chapter! Read and enjoy!
Kara cursed as she was once again swept in another genjutsu.
Takeo was smarter than she assessed first. He perfectly knew that her ninjutsu was far stronger than his and that she could use it during a taijutsu spar. So for fifteen minutes now he was trapping her in waves after waves of multi-layered genjutsus.
The problem wasn't detecting them (heck, Sasuke had been her teamate, Itachi was her boyfriend and Shisui was her friend), it was getting out of them. They were getting stronger and stronger and she couldn't continue like that for long before collapsing.
A bad point for having such a powerful kekke genkai was that a Kokoro female had little chakra reserves. Fortunately Kara when she was younger trained hard to develop her reserves and chakra control. After that she became a medic nin and her chakra control became one of the best beside Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura with a little boost on her chakra reserves.
But still, she was nowhere near Itachi or Sasuke and certainly very far behind Naruto.
Sighing, the green eyed girl resolved to use a technique that would surely damage her eyes. Nothing a medic couldn't heal but it would hurt.
Grimacing a bit she sent a mental message to her water wolf to protect her and stilled, closing her eyes and concentrating.
She did the soul handsign and concentrated the flow of power into her eyes, thinning the flow in almost invisible strings as to not irrevocably damage her optic nerves.
She opened her eyes again and let the changes operate.
From dark green they became pearly white, very similar to the Hyuugas by their colour and pupiless properties.
Kara scanned her surroundings.
With these eyes, the girl was able to see any living creature's auras.
The wolf beside her now was a black form with surrounded by a yellow aura. The forest and grass around her were dark green. There was wildlife around them glowing various colours.
As a genjutsu was just an illusion, with these eyes it was inexistent.
She saw a wider human form glowing dark blue. She knew that Tenten's aura was of a pinkish red and judging her wolf's growl, it wasn't Gai or any ally either.
He was coming at her relaxed, not expecting her to fight back. Perfect.
She charged a maximum of chakra and punched Takeo in the chest. She was satisfied hearing the bones crack and crunch beautifully beneath her fist.
He went crashing through a dozen of trees and Kara deactivated her vision, wincing in the process.
Whipping away the tears of blood and healing most of the damages, the now green eyed girl looked as Takeo struggled to get up.
With a pained grunt he stumbled down, incapable of breathing correctly since Kara made sure the broken ribs would push against the lungs. A single wrong, brutal movement would tear them open.
She walked to him and kneeled in front of him, trying to hide the smug look on her face.
Key word: trying.
"It seems that I won." The brown haired girl smirked.
Takeo only huffed in annoyance, scowling a bit.
"What do you want?" he asked grumpily.
Kara only smirked. When a Kokoro loose a fight against another of the same blood, be it a mating fight or not (though the formers made the most of it), he or she had to grant a wish.
Most men who won a fight against Kokoro women made them marry them.
Kara could still see the careful blank look on Itachi's face when she explained that part. She wasn't sure but there was a slight sense of foreboding seeing that face, or perhaps she was just paranoid. Kara really hoped it was the latter.
But back to the situation. The green eyed girl knew the man before her was intelligent enough to twist any wish she would make to his advantage.
She couldn't take any risk at that point.
"I wish…" said slowly Kara her eyes zeroing on his "That, on your honour as a Kokoro, you swear an oath to me."
Seeing his annoyed and slightly discomfited, defeated look, the green eyed girl knew she truly won.
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"And then?" asked eagerly Hinata, leaning over the table to not miss a drop from the answer.
"My my." Smirked Kara over the rim of her tea cup "Eager to escape the paperwork aren't we?"
"Now I truly understand why Tsunade-sama tries to drown herself in sake." Mumbled Hinata, rolling her eyes.
Since she was the Hyuuga heiress (momentarily she liked to say privately), she had certain responsibilities and the corresponding amount of paperwork.
"Well." Condescended Kara, smiling at her pouting best friend "I made him swear to quit Akatsuki and to not meddle with Konoha, its allies and any people or things belonging to it. In one word I asked him to disappear."
"That's really accurate." Mused out loud Hinata.
"Well I had to be." Explained Kara "If not he would have found a way to twist around his word and come back to bite me in the ass."
There was a moment of peaceful silence before the green eyed girl asked softly:
"How long are you going to wait?"
"Hanabi is so young." Sighed Hinata, nonetheless smiling softly "I want her to be at least 16 before that."
"And beside." She smiled, regaining some humour "I already appointed Neji as the head of the secondary branch. It is a shock enough for now. If I do anything else I might have the twenty dead bodies of the Hyuga elders on my arms."
"True true." Chuckled Kara "So you finally deemed Neji ready?"
"Is not perfect of course but I'm pretty sure I couldn't find someone better for the job." Smiled confidently Hinata "And my father is helping him. The only thing I'm a bit worried is that the stupid old bats are pressuring him to at least engage himself in a serious relationship. They want the next generation insured."
"Isn't he with Tenten already?" inquired Kara, blinking in confusion.
"Neji didn't tell the council he had a girlfriend." Grimaced Hinata "It's a delicate situation. See, if he tells them he's seeing Tenten they will force him to marry her. Neji respects Tenten too much to do that to her. But in the same time the old bats will not wait forever and soon will force someone upon him."
"I see." Said slowly Kara, sipping her tea in though "A delicate situation indeed."
Hinata nodded solemnly, and the two friends lapsed into silence again.
Basking in the comfortable situation, enjoying the beauty of the garden basked in the autumn light, they reluctantly turned their attention to Neji when he knocked.
Hinata told him to enter and Kara couldn't help but notice that he seemed really tense, his face an emotionless rock.
"I better leave you two alone." The brown haired girl wisely decided.
She put her cup down, hugged Hinata goodbye and bowed respectfully to Neji before swiftly escaping the room.
Hinata sighed and turned her pupiless eyes to her cousin.
"What is it Neji?" she asked, a tentative smile on her lips.
Knowing her brother figure like she did, Hinata knew he was very much nervous. She didn't know how to react, only having seen him like this twice. The first the day she met him when she was three and him four, and the second for his first mission outside Konoha.
The coffee haired boy sat in front of her, occupying the spot Kara sat on earlier. Silence stretched uncomfortably and Hinata decided to try an approach.
"Do you need something Neji-nii-san?" she asked softly, discreetly reminding him of their bounds and that in no way she would judge him.
She saw with satisfaction Neji's uneasiness lift a bit and the boy (she knew he was a man by now, but it was still difficult for her) sighed before looking at her dead in the eyes.
"I'm going to propose to Tenten." He blurted out, like someone throw the weight they had just carried.
Hinata stared, blinked, stared some more, then smiled a bit, trying to contain her giggle seeing her cousin flustered. She knew this moment was delicate for him.
But the way he was blushing embarrassingly as so damn cute!
She let out against herself a little giggle and eyed him apologetically before smiling.
"Don't worry I'm sure Tenten will understand if you explain to her clearly. Can I ask you where I fit?"
"As the heiress of the main branch." Said formally Neji before adding more softly "And as a family member, I ask your full support."
"You don't need to ask Neji." Smiled Hinata "You always had it, from the beginning."
Neji blinked before smiling softly at the one he considered now as his little sister, incredibly grateful for all the things she had done.
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"Aneki?" asked very quietly Hanaka, looking worriedly at Naruto "Why is Naruto-nii-san so sad?"
The boy was in the garden a few feet from them, looking up at the sky wordlessly, his eyes dim and empty.
Kara sighed, already missing the usual annoying exuberance and bright, sparkling blue eyes her brother like figure had.
"He…" she tried, not accustomed to speak death with a five years old child "lost someone he loved dearly. Forever."
"Forever?" asked innocently Hanaka, blinking her big blue-green eyes at her.
Sighing Kara put away the ramen bowls (she had outdone herself to do his favourite dish and the boy didn't even touch it) and sat beside the children, taking Kotoki in her laps (the boy unfortunately knew very well the feeling of losing precious ones and was very sensible about the subject).
"Life is given at our birth." She explained as best as she could "But it is also irremediably taken back at some point."
She surrounded the boy's body with her arm comfortingly and used the other one to caress the little girl's cheek.
"Is that meaning you'll disappear too?" asked Hanaka, panicked.
Looking at her widened eyes, and feeling the way Kotoki stiffened, she bit back yet another sigh before explaining further.
"Yes, but I'll do my best to live to see you both grow up and eventually have a family on your own."
Usually, talking about marriage disgusted children, but this time they were too occupied in this particular occasion to care.
"Then I will never grow up, I will never marry and have children." Swore hotly Hanaka "Then you'll stay with us forever."
Kara smiled softly and drew the red head in her embrace.
"You'll have to grow up dear." She said softly "You don't have a lot of choice in the matter and if you don't then it's you who will disappear."
"Why?" wondered the little girl.
"The world we live in is harsh and unforgiving." Smiled sadly Kara "Growing permits you to better survive it."
Hanaka pouted stubbornly and didn't add more. Kotoki frowned before stating:
"This is really complicated."
Kara bit back a chuckle and hugged them tighter.
"Don't think about that dears. You're too young. For now just understand Naruto's suffering of losing forever someone he loved a lot."
"Do you think he'll come back to normal?" asked Hanaka, still worried.
"Don't worry he'll soon enough come to his senses." Smiled reassuringly Kara " Just let him be alone for now. Now go prepare your things, I'll take you to Sasuke.
"Weren't we going to go to Tenten-nee-san?" asked curiously Kotoki.
"Yes." Smiled mischievously Kara "But she's gone on a last minute mission and for the next week I think she will a bit busy with Neji."
"What do you mean Aneki?" inquired Hanaka while Kotoki raised an eyebrow.
Noting that the boy decidedly passed to much time with Sasuke, Kara smirked before replying:
"You'll see when she decides to tell you. Now off you go you two. I have to be at the hospital in one hour."
She turned her head toward the gates as Seisui and Hikage warned her of a visitors.
Of course! Just when she was summoned by Shizune-shishou to examine a body of the Akatsuki leader and people and problems kept popping in.
Rolling her eyes in slight exasperation and walked out toward the gates.
When she opened she found the ever bored Shikamaru waiting lazily.
"Shikamaru-san." Greeted Kara as politely as she could "What do you want? I'm a bit in a hurry."
"Sorry Kara-san, but I have to talk to Naruto." He said a bit grumpily, as if he was doing a chore.
Kara's exasperation went out of the window and she bit her lips before opening the gates wider.
"You can try." She said softly "But I don't guarantee results."
"I'll still try, thanks." Mumbled the lazy boy before entering, observing curiously his surroundings before joining Naruto in the garden.