A/N: Since Neji and Tenten were a little bit older when they took the equivalent first Chuunin exam (around eighteen), I figured Neji also deserved a bit more time with Hizashi. We're on the home stretch! Sort of! Let me know what you think – and as always, enjoy~! (March 1 2015)

Syndicate

By Tanya Lilac

The Third Scroll: Oracle

Hitomi woke to a pounding headache, her eyelids painted red even in the darkness of the room. A physician was placing a cool cloth on her head, but it wasn't helping – she didn't even have a fever, it just hurt.

Footsteps, heavy and impatient, heralded the entrance of her mother.

"What was so important, Hitomi, that I had to come all the way out here?" Haruka asked, sweeping into the room. She opened the screens to let the glaring sunlight in and Hitomi turned away as her physician started to argue with Haruka that the light made her daughter uncomfortable. "Uncomfortable?" Haruka echoed. "No Hyuuga ever died from discomfort. Come, Hitomi, this man is making you weak with this babble. Come with me."

Hitomi stayed curled up in her futon, but Haruka was relentless and pulled the blanket back. Hitomi blinked up at her, and Haruka sighed. "What are you waiting for?"

Haruka was nothing if not impatient, and with a sigh, turned to leave, and Hitomi stopped her, grabbing on to her wrist.

"Mother, please," Hitomi said. A strange feeling passed over her, like a tremor, and Haruka paled. Something flickered in her eyes before she snatched her hand away and slapped her daughter. Tears sprung to Hitomi's eyes, more from the shock than the pain, but she could feel her left cheek growing warm and swollen as she let go.

"Don't be childish," Haruka snapped, and glared at the physician. "Call me if, and only if, it's life threatening. I have no time to deal with tantrums."

Dinner with her mother was always an ordeal; it usually meant there was something her mother had to tell her. They ate in silence, Hitomi patiently waiting until after a servant had left the room and was far enough down the corridor to not hear anything. They were sitting on opposite ends of the room, a vast expanse of tatami between them.

"Tomorrow, your uncle, Hizashi is coming to meet you," Haruka said. "He is from the Branch family, so he must do as you say."

Hitomi blinked, and then concealed her surprise. She had never had a guest before. She watched her mother carefully for signs of emotion, as her books had described. But there were no signs. No smiles, no frowns, no subtle lines of … anything.

"He has only imposed this ridiculous … condition because of who you are, Hitomi," Haruka continued. Hitomi thought about it for a moment. There were signs of irritation – perhaps not only about this meeting, but the time this was consuming.

"I understand," Hitomi replied, her eyes falling to the floor as her mother's gaze turned to her.

"I don't believe he will have much to say," Haruka said. "He has a child, a boy." She paused, and continued to watch her daughter. "You will marry him, in time."

When Hitomi had no response to offer, her mother sighed. "You may leave. Hizashi will call upon you in the morning, so I have told Hideki to save your lessons for the afternoon. You need not bother with ikebana."

Hitomi finally stood and bowed once more when she was at the door. "Good night, mother." This time, Hitomi was the one who suffered silence, and left without a backward glance.

True to her mother's word, Hizashi met her in her room the next day, in Hiroki-sensei's stead (and not Hideki, Hideki had left their employ as a tutor two years ago). To Hitomi's surprise, Hizashi looked exactly like Hiashi-sama, only he wore modern clothes around the compound – the mark of someone connected to the outside world.

The shock must have shown on her face, for his shoulders relaxed, just a fraction, as he closed the door behind him, dismissing the servants.

"Come, child, I am not my brother."

"Would you like some tea?" Hitomi asked, remembering her manners.

A corner of his mouth lifted. "No, although I suspect you would be very good at preparing it."

Hitomi stayed where she was, watching him. Hizashi walked into her room, looking around at the decorated screens, adorned with murals of flowers and birds. All traditional figures, of course.

"I've almost forgotten what year it is," he murmured. "Do you mind if I open the windows?"

"Of course not," Hitomi said, stepping aside. The more she watched him, the more she realised how different he was to her other uncle. The way he walked, the words he used … When he reached out to open the window, she caught a glimpse of his brand. They called it a 'curse mark', even though there was no such magic associated with it any longer.

Satisfied, he looked out the window onto the central gardens. The sky was overcast but there was no threat of rain – it was a warm spring day.

"Tell me about yourself, Hitomi," Hizashi began, as he came back over to her and sat down cross legged on the floor. "How old are you? Do you go to school?"

"I am nine, and will turn ten in four months. I don't go to school because Hiroki-sensei teaches me."

"And other lessons? Sado, obviously, but dance? Ikebana? Calligraphy?"

"I do all of them. And I paint," she added, gesturing to the screens.

Hizashi stared at her for some time. "So you have a classical education, it appears. Mathematics and science?"

"Hiroki-sensei has tutored me in these things, as well as classical literature. However … he does not realise he teaches me things that are incorrect."

His eyebrows shot up. "How would you know this?"

"I have read books. Hideki-sensei left me many books before he left, but I have them locked away in case …"

"Your mother finds them? I would imagine they are not your average children's books," he sighed, and looked at Hitomi once more.

"I don't have anything to compare them with," Hitomi said. "No one ever gave me books."

Hizashi stared at this solemn little girl. At nine years and eight months, she was such a grave child, with no light in her, despite her silver hair and pure silver eyes. Her father had always been a sickly man and passed away from a cancerous tumour two years ago. Hizashi was no fool – Haruka was vying for power within the clan, using Hitomi as a means to secure her position.

Even though Hitomi would be marrying below her rank, a direct link to the main bloodline would elevate Neji's status to hers, if her mother could keep her supporters. It was intriguing, especially since he had been hearing interesting things about her – things consistent with stories he had heard from colleagues at Konoha.

"Hitomi, do you ever have headaches?"

"Not as much as I used to."

"And your vision?"

"As good as yours," Hitomi said, with a small smile. That was a joke – many of the Hyuuga family had always been blessed with keen vision, in both sensory and mental faculties.

"When was the last time you left the compound?"

This time, the pause was longer. Much, much longer. Hizashi lowered his voice.

"Did your mother tell you why I asked to meet you?"

"No."

"I have a son," Hizashi began, and took out his wallet. Hitomi watched his every move keenly, analysing every detail. He found the photograph he was looking for and handed it to her. "This is Neji. He's two years younger than you."

Hitomi took the photo with both hands and stared at it. It was a picture of Neji and his mother, taken a few weeks ago at the park. Not that Neji had been sociable, Hizashi recalled – he had watched and sat next to his mother as she knitted and hummed over the growing child in her womb.

"I want Neji to marry someone he loves. And if he cannot have that choice in this life time, I want him to marry someone who is strong enough to help him carry whatever burdens he will end up with."

Hitomi gave him a puzzled look. She was, after all, only a child.

"Hitomi, do you know what I do?"

She thought about it for some time. "You are someone who works in the outside world and uses his hands a lot. But I am not sure why you are able to meet me so casually at this time."

"I am a spy," Hizashi answered for her. "As is my duty to this family."

Hitomi blinked at him. "So you are not a … guard?"

"No, but I do protect this family, as a member of the Branch. I do so from afar, and watch out for things that would threaten us."

"Our enemies?" Hitomi asked, although she had no idea of who they might be.

"Yes. Like other spies … and even things that come from within."

Hitomi continued to watch him, speaking only when it was evident he would not say more on the matter. "Why did you come here to meet me?"

"Because I wanted to see what kind of child your mother had raised."

"And are you satisfied?" She asked, meeting his gaze with a look that spoke volumes.

Hizashi gave her something resembling a smile. "Yes, I believe I am. Now, if you would allow me, there is something that I would like to do for you in return for your time."

They drove to the office in central Tokyo – it would have been unwise to let Hitomi be seen in public, especially since they were still unsure about the scope of her abilities. To be honest, Hizashi hadn't expected Haruka to visit him with such a proposition. Growing up, she had always looked down on him, and it had only gotten worse after she got married.

"Why Hitomi and not Hinata?" Hizashi had asked her a week ago. Haruka had looked him right in the eye and said, "Because she is my daughter, and not Hiashi's." Granted, Hinata was only a year younger than Neji, but by all accounts, she was a shy and reserved child, easily flustered. Hitomi, three years her senior, did have a clearer potential and character. If her father hadn't passed away, perhaps she might have been a contender to be head of the clan, but without a male family member to support her, Hitomi's birthright meant almost nothing in the eyes of the elders. Hizashi found himself cursing the archaic structures and politics of the Hyuuga clan before he could stop himself, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

Hitomi was staring out the window, transfixed by the amount of people she saw. It was one thing to say that there were twenty million people in Tokyo but to see just a fraction of it was a sheer spectacle. The more she thought about it, the dizzier she became, until she couldn't look out the window anymore and sat back with a sigh, her eyes closed.

"Are you tired?" Hizashi asked, his voice strained. Hitomi opened her eyes and nodded.

"I haven't been this far out of the compound before." It was, in fact, her first time in a car. Hizashi rode in silence, the sound of the engine purring like a cat as they made their way through the city.

"Don't worry, we're almost there."

A few minutes later, they pulled into an underground car park and Hitomi opened the door herself instead of waiting for him to come around, pushing it open with a bit of difficulty. Hizashi came over and helped her close it, but she was already feeling a bit better.

"Would you like your watch back?" Hitomi asked, holding out her wrist, from which the heavy watch dangled precariously. He had asked her to hold onto it for him before they left the compound.

Hizashi thought about it for a moment. "Yes, please. You might feel … a bit tired. When that happens, you have to tell me."

Hitomi nodded, and they started walking, hand in hand, towards the elevator, which opened just as Hizashi was about to press the call button. A woman with dark wavy hair and crimson eyes was its sole occupant, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "I don't believe it," she sighed. "You actually brought her here. Is she adequately protected?"

"I would ask the same of you, Yuuhi. We have no idea what she can do, especially since-" He was cut off as the woman crouched before Hitomi with a soft smile on her face.

"Hello, Hitomi-chan. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I work with your uncle."

"Pleased to meet you," Hitomi said.

"We're going to take you upstairs and then we'd like to have a chat with you. Is that okay?"

Hitomi stared at her for a while, waiting for some kind of instinct to tell her how to proceed. When nothing was forthcoming, she frowned and looked away, missing the dark look that Kurenai shot at Hizashi.

"Very well. Follow me, then."

They rode the elevator in silence to the sixteenth floor and stepped out into a corridor where everything was made of glass and charcoal grey carpet. Hitomi unconsciously wrinkled her nose at the smell and Kurenai directed them into a large room on the end. It was an empty office, with arm chairs by the window, a low table between them.

"Take a seat," Kurenai said, sitting down in one of the arm chairs and gesturing to the one opposite her. Hitomi walked over, and Kurenai watched her eyes dart about, taking in every detail of the room. In her grey kimono, with silver hair and silver eyes, she looked like a lost ghost. Hizashi joined them, pulling a tall wheeled chair over from the empty desk.

"Okay, now I'd like to play a … we have a little test," Kurenai corrected herself, after Hizashi gave her a significant look. She took her cards out from an engraved wooden box she had previously left on the table. Taking a deep breath, she shuffled the cards and cut the deck out of habit. Hitomi watched her, fascinated, as Kurenai picked up the card on the top.

"I'm going to look at a picture on the card and I want you to see if you can guess what I'm looking at."

Hitomi frowned. "That's … you don't have anything else to tell me than that? What could be on the cards?"

"I want you to think about it, and tell me what you think is on here," Kurenai said calmly, looking at the image of the woman crowned, her rich hair flowing in locks down her shoulders as she lounged on her throne. "Just guess, use your instincts."

"Is it a picture?" Hitomi asked.

"Yes, it's a picture of something," Kurenai said. "You can close your eyes if you like."

A few moments passed as Hitomi closed her eyes and concentrated. "… The Empress," Hitomi said softly, as the word whispered its way into her mind.

"What?" Hizashi asked sharply.

"Is it the Empress?" Hitomi asked once more. Kurenai calmly put the card on the table, and Hitomi saw she was right. She drew a second card – a youth, standing on a cliff as the sun shone down upon him.

Hitomi closed her eyes once more. "Is it a boy?"

"Yes," Kurenai said slowly. "What other things do you think are on this card?"

"He holds a flower. Is he … the fool?"

Once again, Kurenai put the card down, face up. Hitomi was getting the hang of this.

"Okay, next one." A man with his right hand held high in the air, surrounded by flowers and objects of power.

Hitomi's guesses were coming much faster now, her confidence building. "It's a man. There's something red," she said, her eyes no longer closed. "And he has a funny shape over his head, like … an eight. The magician."

They cycled through half of her deck in a similar fashion before Hizashi was game to try one. The second he reached for the deck, Kurenai felt something was off. Hitomi frowned and her confidence dissipated as she struggled to make any kind of connection in her mind.

"I can't see anything," she said softly. "I have no idea."

"Nothing?" Hizashi asked, with a glance at Kurenai. She gave him a blank look.

"No. What is it?"

He flicked the card onto the table, and the pair of them looked before quickly glancing away. 'Death.', the card announced brazenly, showing a skeleton in armour astride a white horse. Hizashi scoffed at their reactions, but Hitomi felt chills running down her back.

Over the next few weeks, Hizashi came to pick her up and drop her off for more sessions and tests with Yuuhi Kurenai. The profiler would track her progress in a notebook but what she didn't realise was that Hitomi's abilities were expanding much more rapidly than both of them had anticipated – in a similar way to learning different tastes or scents, it was a mere matter of assigning words to different sensations and letting experience and exposure do the rest.

Hitomi realised she was unable to read the minds of her fellow Hyuuga – except for servants and those in the Branch family whose blood was intertwined with others, be it through love or politics. Fleeting impressions and presences which had been giving her headaches previously were now fully formed images and thoughts, in the same way white noise faded gradually into coherent radio stations with an antenna.

Most importantly, she discovered the mechanics of something she could only describe as a push or a pull – and the former she kept secret from Kurenai. Pulling was easy – she could pull thoughts from people's mind, reading, seeing or smelling them but leaving them be, like taking a book half way out of a bookshelf before putting it back in. Pushing was much harder and required some kind of physical contact – she could push a part of her will onto someone else, forcing them to accept her words, like trying to squeeze a large book into a narrow gap in a shelf. It was much easier to take out one book first before trying to put another one in, swapping one thought for another.

The week before Hitomi's tenth birthday, Kurenai announced she had a mission so she wouldn't be in Japan on the day of her actual birthday. Just before they parted, Kurenai gave Hitomi a box.

"What is it?" Hitomi asked. "Let me guess, is it a present?"

"I received something similar from my mentor, a long time ago," Kurenai confessed, watching as the young Hyuuga opened the box. Nestled inside was a large black stone in the shape of a teardrop, dangling from a silver chain. "This is black tourmaline. It will help to keep you grounded and disrupt … energy flowing towards you, to keep you calm. Start a collection, because I want you to wear this every day."

It was the first time, Kurenai knew, that anyone had ever given her a gift unconditionally and without obligation, and she watched as the girl with the silver eyes all but started to cry. Instead, the Hyuuga smiled brightly and asked if it was okay for her to put it on. The stone was a dark drop of ink against her rough, grey tunic. Needless to say, Hizashi sighed heavily when he saw a gleam in Kurenai's eyes that afternoon.

"Take Hitomi-chan shopping. And don't scrimp, I know how much you earn," Kurenai warned, unfazed by Hizashi's glare. "It can be practice for your next child," she said, with a winning smile.

After their shopping trip, in which Hizashi had ended up spending a small fortune on clothes and shoes, Hizashi took her to Yoyogi park. Hitomi looked around, intrigued by the sights and sensations. The sun was a red gash in the sky, hidden behind pink clouds on a bed of pale blue silk.

They walked in silence, her hand clutching the sleeve of his jacket. They walked past groups of young people rehearsing dances, songs and their costume designers, with dreams of grandeur. Others were alone, taking photos, while others still walked as all couples seemed to, arms interlinked as they discussed trivial things.

The pair arrived at the lake, and Hizashi gestured for Hitomi to sit on one of the benches. He sat down next to her and they watched the fountains for a while, as ducks paddled leisurely across its surface.

"How did you feel, walking here?" Hizashi asked.

"Good," Hitomi replied. "My head doesn't hurt, if that's what you're asking."

Hizashi had seen the necklace she wore – Kurenai wore a different type of stone but he knew the general principle. Other members of the Hyuuga family dismissed them as crutches, but like a cut crystal splitting rays of light into distinct beams, he knew there were more benefits to using them in order to focus one's power. However, she was not a Hyuuga without character.

"I want you to try and meditate without your stone," Hizashi said finally, and she swung her legs onto the bench so she could sit cross legged. Hitomi hesitantly fished the necklace out from under her clothes. "Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Take in the sounds around you, the sights you see, the scents … let it all flow over you," he said, lifting the necklace off her shoulders. "Let it pass, do not focus on them but accept them as part of the world around you."

Hitomi took a deep breath and exhaled. She was coping well.

"Meditation is one of the oldest customs of our family, Hitomi. You must meditate every day, so you can find peace of mind. The quality of your sessions is also important. Finding your balance for a moment in a busy place will make you stronger than an hour spent alone in your room."

Solitude had been her friend for many years, it seemed, but in the years to come it would only make her weak. It was better for her to be immersed in the real world and its troubles – she would need this strength more as she got older and Hizashi was not going to let her turn into a spoilt bully like her mother.

Hizashi's son, Hitomi decided, was like a still black pool. Light did not reach his eyes, even though they were so similar to hers. He did not react to any sounds he heard, but nothing escaped his attention – everything was reflected in all of his actions, his bearing.

Neji was sombre for a child of eight – but then again, she had been the same. So perhaps he, too, knew the pain of being a caged bird. There was a thin green line on his left wrist. Like father, like son, Hitomi mused as they watched each other. He leafing through a book, pretending to read, and she was pretending to cross stitch across the courtyard as their respective mothers drank tea and whispered politics on the other side of the screens that divided public and private life.

Being a Hyuuga in name and blood, he was completely unreadable. She could sense how close he was with her eyes closed but that was all. But perhaps …

"Come, cousin. Let's play a game," Hitomi called out. Neji looked up at her, paused as if to consider her offer, and looked back down at the book. "Come on, it's a game of wits. Nothing frivolous," she promised. He looked up again, and she saw ripples cross the still black pond as his façade shifted, drawn in by the temptation to prove himself superior, or perhaps worthy. She wondered if he knew about his father's mission to help her – and her ever-growing debt to him.

"Fine," he said, reluctantly approaching her. In her mind's eye, he was not a bookcase but a brick wall – a silent fortress. But walls could be climbed and overcome with the right footholds. "What is this game of yours?"

"It's a guessing game," Hitomi said. "One person will think of something and write it down and the other person must guess what it is."

Neji was intrigued. "There must be a limit on how many questions you can ask."

"Good thinking," Hitomi agreed. "Five is perhaps too few-"

"It will be more than sufficient," he replied. Hitomi summoned a servant and asked her to fetch some paper and pens from her room.

"The first clue," Hitomi began, and wrote down the word on her piece of paper. "It's … a method of transport."

"Does it have wheels?"

"No."

"Does it float on water?"

"… No."

Neji took some time to process this.

"Can it transport large amounts of people, or just one?"

Hitomi smirked. "That's two questions. No, and yes, it can also be used by just one person."

Moments ticked by as Neji thought about it, or at least pretended to. "A hot air balloon," he said, reaching for her piece of paper, and satisfaction settled upon his face as he read the words he had wanted to see.

"Very good," Hitomi said, and began to look for her second foothold. She had already drawn him in the second he had asked her the first question. "Now it's my turn to guess." He eyed her cautiously, suddenly suspicious, and she merely smiled at him.

"Come now, cousin. I'll play fair," she said, patting his arm. He shrugged her off, and wrote something in miniscule kanji on his piece of paper.

"Okay. It's … a machine."

"Is it small or is it big?"

"It's small."

"Does it have to be wound?" Hitomi asked.

Neji looked unsettled. "Yes."

"It's a mechanical watch," Hitomi said, thinking of the watch Hizashi-jii wore. It was the exact image she had pushed onto Neji's mind, and he had unknowingly picked it up. Or perhaps he could feel her presence – he had much stronger mental awareness than an average eight year old. Perhaps that was what it was to be born into the Branch family, sworn to protect an heiress. Hitomi had no one but herself, even though she was part of the Head.

"Let's play another rou-"

"Children!" Haruka snapped, upon opening the screens with a sharp snap. "What is going on here?"

"… Fortune telling," Hitomi said lamely. "Neji's name is in katakana, so –"

"My, I didn't realise you had learned superstitious nonsense. Perhaps it is time to dismiss Hiroki after all."

Hitomi didn't reply. It never ended well to provoke her mother. She had learned that lesson already. She was silent and sullen, until Neji's mother smiled at her.

"Well, she's certainly lively. Hizashi-sama was right."

"I don't agree with his fashion sense – Hitomi came home three months ago with an entirely new wardrobe of black clothes."

"I think it was kind of him. I feel like they're both benefitting from the time they're spending together," she replied, and pat Hitomi on the head. She was heavily pregnant and Hitomi could just make out the faint presence of life within.

"May I?" she asked, reaching out. Mother shot her a warning look but Neji's mother laughed, saying it was fine for her to be curious. As she placed her hand on her swollen belly, something seemed to pass on to her, like a welling up of warmth and hope. The baby – a girl – would be quiet, serious and, like her brother, hard working and intelligent, but full of light. Was this her future, or her parents' dreams for her?

Simultaneously awed and petrified, Hitomi gently pulled her hand away and bowed before letting her mother lead her away, though not without one last formal farewell.

The servant who trailed behind them, Haru, unbeknownst to even herself, was the product of an illicit union with a visiting diplomat. To Hitomi, her mind was nothing but a record of the conversation that had just passed before her eyes.

Hitomi drank in the memory through half lidded eyes, most of the information coming into her ears though no one around her was speaking. It was fresh, untampered – as Kurenai had often explained. Haru escorted Hitomi back to her room after Mother had gone to her own chambers – and Hitomi feigned loneliness, or at least her best impression of a lonely child. It worked, for Haru took pity on her and folded her arms around her, and it was here, in this heartbeat they shared, that Hitomi brushed her fingers over Haru's temples and ever so gently pulled the memory out of place, slipping in words that weren't spoken, and hazing over some of the details.

Money. This game was about money, and not power. It was not about having something "unfortunate" happen to her cousins Hinata and Hanabi, for her and Neji to overthrow them and change the laws of the Hyuuga clan, iron clad for centuries since the mythic days when the will of fire ran strong in the blood of the people. Money, although abstract, was a kind of power easy to understand and accept as a motive – resentment was not, not for a girl of ten.

Haru left her, glassy eyed and mute for some time, her mind wrapped in enigmas and secrets she didn't quite understand. Hitomi never saw her again – but by then she had already learned to stop questioning the carousel of servants in and out of her life.

She was dreaming. It always took her some time to realise that she was dreaming – a foreign experience of seeing images, smelling things, hearing things she had never heard before. In this dream, she was watching Hizashi-jii. She had never had a body to call her own in her dreams, but then again, she could count on one hand the number of dreams she'd ever had.

"For fuck's sake, how did you get yourself into this mess?" Hizashi demanded, slamming his hands on the table. Hiashi, his mirror image, stared back.

"You know what any of us would do to protect our family," he said calmly. "This is not what any of us intended. Hinata was … I killed a would-be-assassin before her eyes. There is no turning back from any of this." Hiashi sighed heavily. "We must honour the treaty and I'll turn myself in. Clan head or otherwise, this was a violation and they are demanding blood for blood. Or at least punishment of some kind."

"You think in this day and age, we would have moved on from this," Hizashi growled, gripping the back of the chair between himself and his brother. "Their intentions were clear-"

"But we only have circumstantial evidence and they claim the man was working of his own will."

"You do realise you cannot leave this compound, right?" he said. "You're surprisingly calm for a man with a target on his back."

"Well, I figure it's just a matter of time before some black cars pull out the front of the house and I'm charged with something. Then a couple more weeks and we can settle out of court, but in a story of self defence, no one can really argue that our side was at fault. I'll just need to lie low for a few years, train the girls for Konoha. Hanabi has potential."

Hizashi knew his brother was putting on a front. He had always been like this, ever since they were children. As head of the clan, he above everyone else; he had to face the rules and set the example, no matter how uncertain or unpleasant the outcome. As soon as he became dismissive of an issue, it was because he believed there was no other path other than the one he saw.

"There is another way," Hizashi said firmly. "I'll be your double, at least for a while. Hakama and everything. From this second onward, you have to be me in the outside world. No one can know – everyone has to believe it."

"I doubt our immediate families would believe this at all."

"It won't be for long, just until things are settled and you know you're in the clear. You'll be hiding in plain sight."

There was a knock on the door and Hiashi's secretary informed the pair of twins that Konoha agents had arrived to escort Hiashi-sama to a secure facility. Hizashi could accompany him if he wished. The brothers locked eyes for a heartbeat.

"Tell them to give me five minutes."

The image shifted – and she saw Hiashi and Hizashi getting out of some black cars and heading up the grand stairs of some large building in the city. Reporters swarmed around them, clamouring for news. Then, there was nothing but frenzy as Hiashi – or was it Hizashi? – stumbled. Photos were taken and an anguished cry tore through one brother as his twin's life ebbed quickly through his hands, bright red and strong with the tang of metal.

Hitomi woke with a start, crying for reasons she couldn't comprehend. It was Monday – she would have to wait three more days until she could see HIzashi and tell her about the strange dream. Or could she tell him now? Harsh morning light awaited her when she opened her window, but something was strange – the sun was high in the sky. Too high. It was past midday.

"Sensei!" Hitomi called, panic making her voice quaver. "Hiroki-sensei!"

The tutor answered as summoned, obviously troubled.

"What is it, Hitomi?"

"Hizashi-jii. Where is Hizashi-jii? Is he safe?"

Hiroki frowned. The two had been living outside the compound for the past few days in a Konoha safehouse, protected by an elite guard composed mainly of Hyuuga members. Of course, this was highly classified information – what most people knew was that the pair had been relocated to a safe area.

"Hizashi-dono and Hiashi-sama were answering court summons this morning."

"Check," Hitomi said. "Check that they're okay."

Hiroki knew there was something wrong the moment he met her eyes. There were whispers that Hitomi, this small slip of a girl, had powers that the clan had not seen nor believed in for centuries – that was the primary reason why she was kept isolated, largely as a precaution.

"I will check, but only after-"

"Call them, now," she commanded, and watched as Hiroki turned, burdened now with the task she had forced into his mind. Suddenly exhausted, she slumped forward onto her futon and stared at the door, watching, waiting for his return.

Tokyo, nine years ago.

In the years that followed, Hitomi was slowly able to shed the last few servants her mother had insisted on keeping for her. Though she continued to study on her own, she had other things to occupy her. Gone were the days concentrating solely on ikebana and sado – Hitomi had finally found a way to connect to the outside world.

It was the organisation both Kurenai and Hizashi-jii had been a part of – Konoha. The former she rarely saw; nowadays it was Harumi-san, a vivacious and ambitious young woman who escorted her to and from the labs and training centres. They had given Hitomi a name, too – no one used her real name to protect her identity – so they called her 'Oracle'.

Most of the exercises they gave her were "guessing games" – they sat her in a room behind a one way mirror. She watched interrogations play out, learned about facial tics and telltale signs of innocence and guilt. Her role was to say whatever came to her mind when she focused on the people on the other side. They were usually just snippets of information; locations she hadn't heard of, names and faces that meant nothing to her.

Her handlers wore heavy silver bands to protect themselves from her influence; a thin slip of a sixteen year old girl who always dressed in black. They had tried to make her wear a band at first but she had panicked at the loss of sensation of other presences. Her powers back lashed as they returned once she removed the cuff, and she had transmitted all of her emotions to everyone else in the room, in a wave strong enough to make even the strongest person there keel over with nausea.

Kurenai still checked in on her every now and again, and was always surprised with her progress and growing finesse. Intriguingly, she was also mentoring the actual heir to the Hyuuga family – Hinata, who was thirteen now and apparently in love with the mayor's adopted son, Uzumaki Naruto.

Hitomi kept quiet about the fact that she had no idea what Kurenai was saying when she talked about "Hinata-chan's" crush on "Naruto-kun". If Kurenai could pretend that she wasn't talking to the man with the beard across the room, then Hitomi could pretend she knew what love was.

She had read about it in books, heard about it in films (no longer contraband once she found the right people to persuade) and even felt what it was like it in other people's minds, but she knew that she had never experienced it once in her life. Perhaps there were people out there like her, who had never been in love, nor been loved.

Like her parents – love had not been a part of their union, but duty and a great deal of logic. Her father had wished for an heir, her mother had wanted … power. Again, this word that had no true meaning. Power was fickle; it was nothing absolute and could change depending on which way the wind happened to be blowing. Despite Hizashi-jii's death, she was still engaged to Neji, but they hadn't met again since that day. She had heard that Neji and his mother had moved out of the compound. After the baby, who had held so much promise, had been stillborn, servants whispered that her aunt had gone mad with grief.

Despite all the changes she had seen over the years, there was no changing the anxiety she felt whenever her mother called her to have dinner together alone, when she wasn't meeting with her supporters within the family. She had revisited that memory she had stolen from Haru's mind countless times – that meeting between her mother and Neji's, about the future of the Hyuuga family and what was at stake.

"How are things at Konoha? I have seen some of Harumi's reports and it seems like you are doing well with the tasks they have assigned you."

Haruka was enjoying a rare cigarette tonight, and rubbed the engraving on its case before setting it back down on the table. Something good must have happened today.

"Yes," Hitomi said. "They are quite accepting of me there."

"Well, individuals with your … instincts do not come often. It appears it was a good decision to introduce you to Yuuhi."

Even her own mother had more trouble talking about her abilities than strangers. Not to mention, it had been Hizashi-jii who had introduced her in the first place.

"I'm fairly sure everyone there knows I can read minds, mother," Hitomi said darkly. "It's not a taboo – they only use me for this one purpose. Even you use me for this, now."

Hitomi had finally been introduced to the rest of her peers and those of her mother, mainly for the purpose of spying on them to some degree. People in Haruka's social circles who weren't as staunch supporters of her as they claimed to be found themselves very quickly on the outside, baffled and secretly relieved.

"I don't use you, Hitomi – why would you say something ridiculous like that? I didn't raise you to be a tool to be used at someone else's whims, I raised you to be a force in your own right," Haruka said, exhaling a cloud of smoke. When no reply was forthcoming, she sighed once more. "You may leave now. I don't have time to deal with your teenage rebellions."

Tokyo, six years ago.

It was summer. Cicadas were screaming and Hitomi was fairly sure that her countless cousins were outside in the park, trying to catch them. Inside the compound, she had already been captured.

Konoha agents had swept into her quarters of the compound like black ants that morning and started taking things out of her mother's rooms – books, a computer, paintings – nothing was spared as they were all put in evidence bags and piled up. The first thing they had grabbed was her mother, and put her in handcuffs. The second had been Hitomi, although she had been spared the embarrassment of restraints – they had merely held onto her arms.

"Where are you taking her? Let me go or I will make you," Hitomi growled, glaring at the man through her visor. He let her go hastily, as she exerted a bit more pressure on his mind, and shook him off before walking through the compound, her head held high. She knew she looked like a sight to behold – long silver hair, unbound, walking barefoot in loose, black pants and a drape shirt. Her mother, on the other hand, was wearing a crisp kimono, layers and all with her hair perfectly styled – a picture of respectability. Like a parade, they were accompanied by the ants, busy carrying their loot back to the colony – a collection of antiques, books and Hitomi's paintings.

They were put in the back of large black cars, separately, of course. The agents that had taken her were stone faced and equally as silent. She didn't need to ask, however – she knew exactly where she was being taken.

Hitomi spent four hours in a tiny conference room at Konoha's headquarters with an agent named 'Retriever', who was around twenty four. He was a leader with even stronger fighting prowess – but most of all, he lived to protect people. There was a rumour going around that he had married his asset, another agent he had trained but was close in age to. Her name was Calico.

Right now, however, both of them wanted nothing more than to be out of that room. Retriever was wearing heavy silver bands to protect him but Hitomi didn't really care – what she was really doing as she meditated was exploring the rooms around her. Kurenai was training with her team and was nowhere to be found. Interestingly, Neji was nearby, with one of his teammates – a girl whose aura was fluttering about like a nervous pulse.

Her lips curved into a smile.

"What's so funny?" Retriever asked. The Hyuuga's eyes snapped open.

"The usual," Hitomi said breezily. "Humans, emotions – our relationships with other people."

"You don't care about your mother?" he asked, coolly. He knew this story well.

"I do, about the same as she cares about me," Hitomi sighed. "For your information – and you can jot this down – I have no idea why I'm here, but I suspect the person about to come into this room does."

Retriever's eyes widened, as there was a knock on the door. He cleared his throat and opened the door, to admit a very stone faced Hyuuga Hiashi. For a moment, Hitomi's breath caught. She hadn't seen her uncle up close in a while but every time she caught a glimpse of his face, she remembered the one she had been much fonder of. Ever since Hizashi-jii's death, Hiashi had decided to start managing the Hyuuga conglomerate with a much more hands on approach, and the suits he wore only added to that resemblance. Perhaps he had been wearing suits ever since he first decided to take up his brother's mantle.

Hiashi was not the head of their clan and a company for nothing – and he knew exactly what she was thinking when she averted her eyes, and his jaw tightened. "Come, Hitomi. Your mother is asking to see you."

Hitomi hopped down from the table – still barefoot (she had refused offers of shoes) – and followed him out of the room. They were unescorted.

"Will this be the last time I see her?"

"Perhaps," Hiashi said mildly. "We have yet to verify your position in this."

"I'm a minor who knows nothing," Hitomi sighed. They stopped outside a door guarded by two men. "Tight security for a middle aged woman."

"Her allies are many. You don't have much time," Hiashi said, frowning. "It would be more becoming if you acted more aware of your circumstances right now."

"Threatening nineteen year olds isn't a good look for you either, jii-chan," Hitomi said, opening the door herself and walking into the room alone.

Her mother sat at the table. Her lawyer had probably just left, but they were still being watched by people beyond the mirror. This was her first time in front of one, and she stared at her reflection.

"Hn," Hitomi scoffed. "Petty tricks I know too well." She turned and sat down on the chair, bringing her knees up to her chin, her mind steeled against mind readers like herself. Anything could be beyond that mirror – everyone in that room was wearing silver, and there was probably a large lump of black tourmaline for good measure as well. Everyone had read Kurenai's report, then.

"We're on the other side now…" Haruka sighed. "Now, to business. I've arranged for you to-"

"Mother," Hitomi interrupted her gently. "It would probably be better for you to explain why I'm here in the first place."

Haruka gave her a bemused smile. "Sarcasm suits you."

"Don't take credit for this," Hitomi said wryly. "I'm surrounded by people who lack wit and humour, so I had to overcompensate."

"I stand accused of conspiring to murder your cousins, in an attempt to marry you to your cousin to secure the family fortune," Haruka said.

"Well, now." Hitomi did not ask if this was the truth. "That's an interesting accusation."

"Indeed."

"So that engagement that you've been talking about since forever is…"

"Void."

"Great news for the both of us, then." Hitomi said, inspecting her nails.

"It has been void for some time, actually," Haruka continued. "The boy is no longer suitable."

This was news, and Hitomi snapped her hand shut.

"It appears he has joined Konoha, and there may be … resistance to the engagement in future years. His mother has voiced her opinions on the matter."

"So our engagement is called off because he got a girlfriend?" Hitomi smirked. "I can't believe how easy this was. I should have gotten myself a boyfriend earlier."

"You will find someone – someone who has a complete dedication to you and to this family. That boy … does not have what it takes if his loyalties lie elsewhere."

"What does this family have to offer anyone?" Hitomi asked, her voice unexpectedly bitter. "It's not love, that's for sure."

"Hitomi …"

"I don't need excuses from -"

"Hitomi, one day you will know," Haruka said quietly.

She stood up and left without looking back, and it was just like leaving the dining room. Hiashi was still waiting outside.

"That was quite the act," he remarked, and held out her necklace in one hand for her to take. "Are you sure you don't need to say anything else to her?"

Hitomi took the necklace from him with a nod and slipped it over her head, tucking the heavy stone beneath her clothes. "Ever since I learned my party tricks, I started being quite the valuable party escort," she said. "I learned to be many things to many people, but you'd know best, I think. Am I free to go?"

"You're almost an adult; in a few months, you can go wherever you wish."

"What if I want to leave now? Surely you don't need me to be present for whatever trial she'll be put on. I have no desire to be part of the media circus."

"You wish to leave Tokyo?"

They began to walk through the narrow grey corridors at a leisurely pace. "Yes. I think I might go to … Sendai," she said finally, drawing on sudden inspiration. "Things might be better for me there. It's not too far … but it'll give us all the breathing room we need. Neji, too. Not that he knows, I'm guessing."

Hiashi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"What will happen to her? Are you going to tell everyone the truth?" Hitomi asked, and suddenly, she was the nineteen year old he had expected her to be from the start. Slightly awkward, full of uncertainty.

"The evidence is quite damning. Of course, you haven't been implicated – you were involved in this as much as Neji was, and many people are adamant about this." He sighed heavily. "What we tell the others, though … is another story."

"Do you believe what people say about me?"

"That is a different question," Hiashi said heavily. "But I'm willing to believe you don't actually want either of my daughters dead."

"You know … with whatever my mother had planned; I wouldn't have gone through with any of it," Hitomi said. "Neji, as well. Even if there is bad blood now, if he finds out the truth about Hizashi-jii…"

Hiashi gave her a sharp look, and Hitomi flinched.

"I missed him, a lot," she said, casting her gaze to the grey carpet. "He … he was a good person. And Neji will be a good person. I know enough about him – that some things won't change."

"That is true." Her uncle gave her a bemused smile. "Now, about Sendai, I might be able to find you something. I know a few people."

Hitomi's smile soured. "I don't need anything extravagant, uncle. I mean it."

"Oh?"

"I want to make my life my own," Hitomi said firmly. "I've spent too long living away from people – I don't want to be kept in a cage. Nothing traditional. No servants, no walls, no estates."

"You have my word, Hitomi, but I will not have my niece living in a single bedroom walk up with no gas, with … common people," Hiashi replied seriously. "I will arrange for your ticket, but you're free to leave whenever you wish, and we can send you your things once Konoha is satisfied they're not hiding any evidence."

Hitomi blinked at him, almost in shock, and a strange feeling started to come over her. Perhaps it was anticipation, or nervousness. Perhaps it was the beginnings of joy – joy, to be leaving Tokyo.