Chapter 29
000
The meeting ended shortly after agreeing to a time and place for Rei and Hinata to meet the following day. Hiashi seemed to be willing to give Rei a wide reign to do as she saw fit which was very welcome and frankly more than she had expected. However he had also subtly gotten her to agree to be discreet about their arrangement, which Rei could understand. Getting outside individuals to help train members of your clan wasn't all that unusual but given who Rei was… well, the less people knew the fewer questions would be asked.
When Rei left Hiashi's office Neji followed her a few seconds later falling into step next to her. Looking at him out of the corner of her eye Rei got the distinct impression he had something to say if the conflicted look on his face was anything to go by. They both stayed quiet for the time being as Rei allowed him to escort her towards the exit of the expansive estate.
On the way out a few other Main house Hyuuga gave Neji disapproving or hostile looks as they walked by. One older Main house member even began to approach them, sights set on Neji with a clear disapproving turn to his mouth, when he noticed her walking next to him. There was recognition in his eyes before he turned and headed off in a different direction. Not willing to make a scene in front of potentially influential guests I guess. Still Rei frowned at the general attitude. She had known Neji wasn't popular with the Main branch but this seemed like a more widespread general animosity. How hard did those idiots make his day to day life exactly? It couldn't have been a pleasant experience for him that's for sure.
Rei sneaked a glance at Neji. He seemed mostly unperturbed by the hostility of the few Main house members they walked by. Perhaps he held himself a little more rigidly but nothing to show that this was anything unique. If she had to guess she would say that he was used to it. Not sure if that's something to be happy about or not.
They were quiet as they exited the estate and as they walked towards the exit of the compound. The whole way Rei sensed that whatever Neji had to say was building up inside him like a pressure cooker if his fidgeting and his increasingly aggressive steps were anything to go by. Once they got outside the gates and were out of immediate earshot he didn't waste any time in speaking what was on his mind.
"Why did you ask for that?" he blurted out, sounding upset and genuinely uncertain.
"Why wouldn't I ask for that?" Rei replied with careless flippancy.
Perhaps predictably this didn't seem to satisfy Neji. "You could have asked for something more. Or you could have had Hiashi-sama owe you a favor which I know is a rather big deal among the ruling elite. We were most likely going to end up on the same team anyway. There was no real reason for you to make such a request. Unless…" he said trailing off momentarily, "do you really think someone with influence would want to keep us from being on the same team?" he finished with a scowl. "That would be an incredibly stupid thing for anyone to do. We work well together. Splitting us up would simply be illogical."
Well that's interesting. First off she wasn't sure how she felt about being included in the 'ruling elite' category. Yes it was certainly true but hearing it from Neji… on the one hand she wanted no part of the system she was supposed to have a hand in 'ruling' one day. On the other she did rather enjoy being near the top of the food chain socially. She was certainly at the very top of that food chain in her age group. There was something to be said for having people tread lightly around you without having to do anything. Secondly, apparently even with all his genuine genius it seemed that Neji could still on occasion be somewhat naive.
Rei thought about how to answer his question. "I don't want to get into details but I might have pissed off a person of influence. And despite what you might think it might make a lot of sense to split us up from a certain point of view. It could be argued that putting too much power in a single team is not in the best interests of Konoha for a bunch of different reasons. Someone could even bring up our friendship as a negative and maybe argue that it would be better for team cohesion to split us up. Honestly I could think of at least a half dozen plausible sounding reasons to put us on different teams. I'm just covering all my bases even if in the end it might not have been necessary per se."
Neji's frown didn't ease. If anything it deepened. "I still don't understand. Why is this so important to you? You could have had a bargaining chip for some future clan negotiations. This seems like a frivolous use of influence, especially with the odious price you had to pay."
I'm definitely not the only blunt one around here. For some reason his question irritated her slightly. Rei stopped and turned to face him. Neji stopped as well when he felt her do so, turning to her with a questioning look. Rei put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow as if he had just said something incredibly foolish.
"Would you trust anyone at your back but me?" she asked him flat out.
"Of course not," came Neji's reply almost immediately, seemingly caught off guard by her sudden actions.
"Well the same goes for me. The only other person I might want on my team is Tenten but let's face it, she's just a kid. I like her but she's not anywhere close to our level. Who our teammates are is important and you would be my first choice every time," Rei said in borderline hostile tones. Then her tone eased up a little and became just a bit softer. "You're the best there is aside from me. Best in our class. Best in a fight. And my best friend. What exactly is the mystery here? I want you with me Neji and its fucking important because there's going to be people trying to kill us out there. The two of us? We stick together and we can easily make it through anything they throw at us. Honestly if me wanting you on my team is a surprise at this point then you haven't been paying attention."
Rei watched as Neji just stood there, eyes wide and looking momentarily stunned by her speech. Without a word she turned on her heel and continued walking down the street. She got a little ways up the road before she let a smile creep onto her face. Moments later she felt Neji rush up to catch up with her.
Was she being manipulative? Maybe a little bit. However that didn't mean that what she said wasn't true. I'd like to see him complain about all of this now.
They walked in silence for a little while, each of them lost in thought. Honestly Rei had expected to see more anger out of Neji given his dislike for Hinata. While he didn't seem overly upset she expected that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from making his thoughts about her heard.
It turned out she was right. It wasn't long before Neji spoke. "You know your endeavor with Hinata is doomed to fail. She was born without talent or aptitude and nothing anyone does can change that."
"Oh?" said Rei teasingly, "she's Hinata now? What happened to Hinata-sama?"
Neji gave her a dirty look. "I don't always speak of everyone so formally. Besides don't change the subject. You should begin planning for what you're going to do when you fail."
"So little faith in me Neji? How you wound me," Rei said teasingly.
Neji gave her a brief glare before shaking his head. "It's not a slight against whatever teaching skills your may or may not have. Some people will simply always be incompetent no matter what help they receive. Hinata is one such person. She will never even be a tenth of what we are no matter how much people may wish otherwise."
Rei made a thoughtful sound at that before a quote from her last life sprung to mind. "You never know," she said with a little lopsided smile, "because you see Neji, even the very wise cannot see all ends," she said in her best deep wizardy voice.
Neji gave her an odd look which Rei answered with a rakish grin.
"It means no one can know the future. You never know. Far stranger things happen in the world all the time Neji-kun," she explained in a light hearted tone.
"I got the gist of it," he said a little huffily.
"Just making sure. And you know I'm right," she said pointedly.
"Some things are simply self-evident," he argued seriously.
"I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying we can't say for sure either way."
Neji made a noncommittal sound. "I'm not sure I agree. But we'll see."
000
The Next Day
Rei stepped onto an abandoned training field not too far from the academy. She was looking for someone she was supposed to meet. Rei scanned the area hoping to spot the individual in question but as usual she was unsuccessful. Not a surprise really but still annoying.
"Worm," she said in a loud whisper as her eyes searched the field, "come out already. I don't have a lot of time. Change of plans, I've got somewhere to be today."
Rei waited for a count of ten but still nothing. The girl huffed in annoyance. She didn't have patience for this today. Luckily she'd come prepared.
Reaching into her kimono Rei pulled out what she would need to bribe Worm's cooperation: a somewhat expensive and rather delicious chocolate bar wrapped in waxed paper. She slowly and deliberately unwrapped it before biting off a huge piece. Rei chewed slowly and noisily on the chocolate making somewhat silly sounds of pleasure before swallowing.
"I like chocolate but since we're such good buddies I was thinking of giving this delicious bar to you," she said as she made a show of contemplating the now half eaten candy. "But since you seem inclined to make my life difficult I guess I'll just stand here and eat all the chocolate I brought with me that was going to be yours. What a terrible shame," Rei said without much sincerity. When she didn't get an answer she another noisy bite of the chocolate bar. Apparently somehow that turned out to be the last straw.
Up a tree a dozen feet in front of her a Rat somehow appeared on a branch that should have been too bare to offer him any cover. From high up in his perch Worm turned his black eyes towards the hand that was holding the chocolate with a longing look on his murinae face. His tongue flicked out and his tail jerked a bit back and forth unconsciously.
"Don't tease me like that Rei," Worm said in a high pitched voice that was almost a whine, "finding me is supposed to be part of your training you know. Not my fault if it takes your forever."
Worm was the smallest adult Rat she had ever met up to this point. He was roughly the size of a corgi with fur the color of peanut butter. Worm was also the only adult Rat she had met that anyone would ever think of calling 'cute', not that she ever did. Despite his size and his Kawaii-ness Worm was still a Rat through and through. If it came down to it he'd murder you in your sleep without batting an eye.
Just to make a point Rei shoved the rest of the bar of chocolate she was holding into her mouth. "I know that. So you should know to listen to me when I tell you something's come up," she said as she chewed. "We don't have a lot of time. Are you coming or not?"
Worm gave Rei a disgruntled look (hard to do with a Rat face) before sighing and running down the tree and over to her on all fours. Rei held out her arm as he leapt onto it, finding purchase easily and using her arm to climb up her body. Even though he was a little too big for it and it was a little bit uncomfortable for both of them Worm practically draped himself across her shoulders. Absently Rei raised her hand and scratched him under his chin. Worm leaned into her ministrations roughly, always reminding Rei a bit of a cat when he did that.
"Candy?" Worm asked with a note of eagerness in his voice.
Rei rolled her eyes good naturedly before reached into her kimono for another piece of chocolate wrapped in waxed paper. Worm took it eagerly in his front paws and began to devour it noisily right there on her shoulder paper and all. Rei just shook her head. Despite being an adult Worm tended to act somewhat childish for a Rat especially where something edible was concerned.
While Worm ate his snack on her shoulder Rei walked into the woods around the training grounds. It might just be an illusion in Konoha that you have more privacy among the trees than out in the open but Rei indulged in it anyway. She walked deeper into the small forest as Worm continued munching on his expensive treat.
"Got any more?" he asked with his mouth full before he was even finished.
"Don't get anything on my shoulder by talking and eating at the same time," Rei said giving the Rat a lightly scolding look. "I may have a bit more. You can have it later though. I need your help with something first."
Worm gave the Rat equivalent of a disappointed sigh. "Work work work. Fine. Helping you is why I'm here after all," he said as his tail whipped back and forth in agitation, "what do you need? You don't need me following someone again do you? Because like I told you I can't keep up with ninja running at full speed."
"No nothing like that," she said dismissively, "I'm meeting with someone. A girl. I want you to stay nearby and watch. I could use a second opinion on her."
Worm was an interesting case. Like humans Rats had a small percentage of individuals with genetic anomalies. While Rats tended to range widely in size from four feet tall to the size of small cars Worm was unusually small… so much so that Rei thought he would qualify as having the Rat version of dwarfism. As such no matter how much he might want to Worm was never going to be a 'front line' combatant. Instead he tended to act as a scout, a spy and a saboteur.
He was also… stupid smart? Smart stupid? He tended to be very insightful while at the same time showing bouts of immaturity and questionable judgement. Worm reminded Rei of an idiot savant in some ways. Eldest Rat had decided he would make the perfect liaison between The Family in general and their summoner in the human realm. Thus Worm had been staying more or less full time in Konoha for about a year.
Rei for one was glad to have him. He was a friend and someone she could be confide in, bounce ideas off of and she could let her guard down around him for the most part. But sometimes it could get more than a bit aggravating. Worm was just so… Worm.
"Is it a date?" Worm asked eagerly, "because I know you told me that sometimes humans mate with their same gender. I find the idea sort of fascinating since it serves no purpose whatsoever. I haven't had the chance to observe such a thing in action yet."
Rei opened her mouth to tell him all the things that were wrong with that statement when she clicked her mouth shut. I'm going to regret asking this but…
"Worm," she began cautiously, "you haven't gone around looking for people of the same sex… mating have you?"
"Of course I have," he said in confusion, his tail waving in agitation, "how else am I going to observe it? You've told me repeatedly humans tend not to mate on the streets. All I've found so far are people mating with members of the opposite sex or with themselves. Now the latter is also interesting since it also seems to serve no purpose whatsoever."
"I just… I don't even…" began Rei, not sure where to being addressing that or if she even wanted to. In the end she shook her head and rubbed her face with one hand. "You know what? As long as you don't get caught I don't care what you do. Just don't tell me about it unless it seems relevant, ok?"
"Right-o boss," Worm said cheerfully, "so, a date?"
"No, not a date," Rei hissed at him. "One, I haven't hit puberty yet annoying as that is. Two, you know all the reasons why I wouldn't date. It wouldn't work well with my plans among other things. Three, this girl is a year younger than me so that would make me some kind of perverted child predator. Just… get some facts before you start making assumptions all right?"
"Sorry," said Worm not sounding very sorry at all, "I was just eager to see some of that same-sex mating. I'll ask more questions next time."
"That's all I ask," said Rei hoping that now that they'd gotten that disturbing detour out of the way they could get to the business at hand.
"As I was saying," began Rei, "this girl is an important political figure here in Konoha. The Heiress of the largest and probably the strongest remaining clan in the village. The problem is that so far she has failed to meet the expectations of her clan. Her father made a deal with me to take her as my kouhai and do what I can to bring her up to snuff. I don't have any experience with this kind of thing so any insights you might be able to add could be valuable."
Worm made a clicking sound that Rei knew meant he was thinking. "Interesting, interesting. Are you going to subvert her?"
Rei smiled knowingly at that. Typical Rat. Everything is about gaining an advantage for The Family. "I don't know," Rei said honestly, "getting stronger is my primary goal. Things like gaining political allies? Or political followers? Much further down the list… especially since I might be gone by the time she would be set to take control of her clan." Rei shrugged, the movement made small by the Rat on her shoulders. "I guess I'll just play it by ear. But for now I'm committed to trying to fix what ails her and that's what I need your help with."
"Since when does Rei Yamanaka need help with anything? I see those lessons from your other family on making other people feel important have been paying off," Worm said teasingly.
Rei rolled her eyes. "You're right, I could do this just fine without your help. Doesn't mean I don't want it. I'm not going to have to twist your tail to get you to do this am I?"
"Fear not, I am here to help you after all," said Worm, "plus you did say something about more chocolate, yes…?"
"You get it after," said Rei with an amused smile, "now come on. I want to scout the Café early before the girl gets there."
000
The Café they met in was a fairly high class place situated at the edge of some woods that became various training grounds further on. It had a distinctly Western feel to it with round tables and metal chairs situated outside in a tastefully decorated patio. The place was private and, Rei hoped at least, neutral and inoffensive enough to help put the girl she was supposed to spend some time mentoring at ease. After a cursory examination of her new charge however it looked like choosing a nice place in order to get Hinata to relax might have been too much to hope for.
Rei leaned back in the metal chair she was sitting on, her legs crossed at the knee and her arms set casually on the armrests. Her gaze took in the girl sitting across from her, dissecting everything she saw and storing it for later analysis. Despite her reservations Rei had committed herself to this task and she wasn't the type of person to do things half way. Rei's lavender eyes dispassionately took in the girl in front of her and at first glance it seemed that the situation was much as she had suspected. The blonde was finding herself thoroughly unimpressed with Hinata Hyuuga.
Oh the girl wasn't as bad as Rei remembered from the story. That Hinata had been a Moe caricature, constantly looking like a puppy waiting to be kicked and unable to string two sentences together without stumbling over her words. The Hinata in front of her looked much more like the product of constant training from the moment she was old enough to understand instructions. The ten year old Hyuuga heiress sat with impeccable posture, her back ramrod straight and her hands placed demurely on her lap. Her speech had been maybe a little low in volume but it was melodious and cultured and perfectly proper in every way. Her expression was a fairly good imitation of the 'aloof and aristocratic' look that the Hyuuga as a whole seemed to favor. If Rei had been one of Hinata's ordinary classmates she might have been impressed by the elegance and poise of the girl in front of her.
Rei however wasn't an ordinary eleven year old. On further scrutiny Hinata's veneer of composure was just that, a thin veneer that poorly concealed what was going on beneath the surface. The most obvious and glaring tell was that Hinata seemed completely unable to meet Rei's eyes. She would peek at Rei's dissecting gaze for a brief moment before her eyes immediately flickered away, looking at anything at all but Rei herself. Though her posture was as proper as one could ask for there was a slight fidgeting from the girl that told Rei the girl was quite uncomfortable with her scrutiny. Twice the girl had swallowed over the last few minutes… something Rei immediately pegged as a nervous idiosyncrasy. Overall these things taken together indicated one thing to Rei: Hinata was already falling apart and they hadn't even begun speaking yet.
This is the Heir of the most powerful clan in Konoha? Rei wasn't sure what to make of this. To her it seemed immediately obvious that the issue with Hinata wasn't something as simple as lack of confidence in her abilities or not feeling motivated enough to train. Whatever the issue was it was likely something a great deal more pervasive. At first inspection Hinata seemed to lack that core of stubborn toughness that every kid who didn't wash out of the academy seemed to have. Hopefully that was an erroneous first impression because otherwise Rei's job just got a lot more complicated.
"Hinata," began Rei, taking care to make her voice sound both gentle and authoritative, "do you know why we're here today?"
The girl looked at her face briefly before biting her lip and adverting her eyes. "I'm… not sure? Father ordered me to meet with you. He told me you would help me with my… deficiencies," Hinata said, the last word dropping into a hushed whisper. "He said he expected me to follow your lead." The girl seemed to hesitate, looking like she was about to add more before pulling back and looking demurely down at the table with a look of confusion on her face about the whole situation. Rei was frankly surprised Hiashi hadn't gone into more detail when telling Hinata about their arrangement.
Well it looked like it would be up to her to bring Hinata up to speed. I wonder how she is going to take this.
Leaning back in her chair Rei interlaced her fingers in front of her. Rei saw Hinata's eyes widen as she got her first look at the mass of scars on the back of her left hand. "Well then I suppose it's up to me to explain everything to you then. First off though, do you know who I am?"
They had briefly introduced themselves so obviously Rei wasn't just asking if she knew her name. Hinata nodded hesitantly and answered in a quiet voice. "You're the Heiress of the Yamanaka clan. You're supposed to be… a genius, like Neji-nii-san."
Neji-nii-san huh? It seemed odd to Rei that Hinata would address Neji with a term that was both respectful and familiar when he clearly hated her guts.
"That's right Hinata-chan, I am a genius," said Rei matter-of-factly. She also noticed how Hinata seemed to jerk a little in surprise at being called Hinata-chan. "And I'm also the Yamanaka heir as you said. In return for a favor your father asked me to be your senpai." Rei paused and smiled a little, "I guess he's hoping you'll… assimilate some of my characteristics. That maybe I'll rub off on you a little bit if you will."
Rei had dropped the tid bit about a favor to see if Hinata would ask about it. Other than that Rei had half expected Hinata to show some obvious signs of displeasure at suddenly being thrust together with a girl her age she didn't know and being expected to follow her lead. It would be perfectly reasonable to expect someone to react like that after all.
Instead something that looked like pain briefly flashed across her eyes before the younger girl inclined her head and meekly nodded her acceptance. "I understand," she muttered, the smallest trace of sadness apparent in her voice.
Damn. What the hell have they done to you? In that moment Rei couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. There was a sort of beaten down quality about her that was unsettling in one so young. "What do you understand?" Rei asked, her voice a touch more gentle than before.
Hinata hesitated and bit her lip for a few moments as she thought about how to answer. She really was something of a cute kid. "Um… that my father assigned you to help me… to live up to my expectations as the future head of the clan…?" Hinata said hesitantly, glancing up at Rei to gauge her reaction. She sounded like she was repeating a line that she had heard often.
Rei frowned a little at that response. "Your father didn't assign me to do anything. He can't order me around and he has no say in what I do or don't do. Hiashi wanted my help and we came to an understanding. However," she said and paused long enough for Hinata to look up at her face questioningly, "I plan to succeed now that I've agreed to take on this task. This is all about you Hinata, it's not about anyone else. I'll do everything I can to help you… as long as you're willing to change." Well not really. Even if Hinata wasn't willing to change Rei would drag her kicking and screaming. Still everything else she'd said was absolutely true… you know, from a certain point of view.
Hinata looked both surprised and skeptical at her declaration. At least she's smart enough not to take everything I say at face value. "I understand Rei-san," she replied dutifully as no doubt had always been expected of her.
Rei wasn't too thrilled with that response. She needed to shake Hinata out of her apparent apathy. This wouldn't work if Rei was simply another chore thrust onto her by her father. Hoping she wasn't making a mistake Rei decided to take off the analyst hat and behave more like herself. If nothing else it should at least get a reaction Rei thought with a small smile.
Rei brought her arms forward and leaned on the table, closing the distance between them and looking at Hinata in the eyes intently. The sudden aggressive movement seemed to fluster her as she looked at Rei with slightly widened and questioning eyes.
"Listen Hina-chan," Rei began making the nickname up on the spot, "everyone wants you to be a certain type of person. Your dad, your clan, everyone at the academy, everyone expects you to behave and act and perform in a certain way. Now that's kind of shitty if it's not what you want but it is what it is. You can't do anything about what other people want from you. You following me so far?"
Hinata had shrunk back a little bit, not in fear but in surprise at the sudden shift in Rei. The blonde had gone from aristocratic ninja princess to a much more relaxed person using casual speech and… cursing, something that Hinata knew was supposed to be entirely inappropriate for someone of her station. Confused but somehow interested seemingly against her will Hinata distractedly found herself nodding at the question.
"The thing is you're never going to be what they all want you to be unless you decide that's what you want to do. I can help you Hina-chan. I'm the queen of working hard and achieving seemingly impossible goals. I can teach you how I did it and help you meet everyone's expectations… and it probably helps that I'm not some old fossil from your clan putting too much pressure on you. However we will never achieve anything unless deep down you decide this is what you want," Rei said. She paused for effect, taking in Hinata's expression. It was startled and guarded and ever so slightly… hopeful. Tentatively so.
"So what is it Hinata? Do you actually want to meet everyone's expectations of you? Or would you rather do something else? Also I want you to know… anything we talk about will be private if you want it to be. I won't reveal to your father anything you tell me without your permission."
"You really won't tell my father?" Hinata asked with a surprised expression, her tone making it sound like she had never considered such a radical concept before.
"I really won't," Rei said seriously before learning back and crossing her legs again. "The reason I'm here is for your benefit as far as I'm concerned. If you can't trust me then it will be impossible to make any progress. And believe me Hinata I really want to help you." Mostly true… kind of.
Hinata was silent for what seemed like a long time, looking down at the table and appearing to be deep in thought. Rei left her to it without pressure even though her first instinct was to keep pushing until she got what she wanted. It would be much easier if Hinata decided to cooperate on her own and go from there. If it turned out Hinata's secret life ambition was to be a housewife and have a gaggle of blonde babies then Rei was going to have to drag her into competence kicking and screaming. Rei hoped it wouldn't come to that. Even though it wasn't the same thing it would feel uncomfortably close to forcing a kid to be a kunoichi even when she very clearly wanted no part of that kind of life.
After a few long moments of silence Hinata seemed to take a long pained breath. The girl looked entirely too weary for being as young as she was. "I don't really have a choice. It would make my father and the clan happy if I was more competent but… I…" Hinata began before trailing off and looking ashamedly off to the side.
"You're afraid maybe you're not cut out for being the ninja everyone wants you to be?" Rei asked gently. I feel like a therapist.
Hinata kept her eyes adverted and slouched slightly in on herself. After a few long moments of hesitation the girl nodded almost imperceptibly. Honestly the whole thing saddened Rei and it worked to lower her overall opinion of the Hyuuga clan. I bet she's never admitted that kind of fear before. How desperate must she be to admit something like that to an almost total stranger? Or is little Hinata simply that trusting? Either way it's bad for her… and potentially good for me. Come to think of it it might also be good for her if it helps me mold her in the proper fashion.
"I have a theory," began Rei carefully, "that you are, at least in part, sabotaging yourself. I'm sure you have some genuine difficulties that will take time to overcome. But I'm also pretty sure you deliberately make yourself fail at least some of the time."
Hinata got a slight frown on her forehead at that. She looked vaguely indignant and defensive while still somehow managing to come across as shy. "That's not true. Why would I do something like that?"
Rei shrugged casually. "Why don't you tell me Hina-chan. For example you could begin by telling me why you throw your fights against your sister."
Truth be told Rei only suspected as much. However the way Hinata jumped and very briefly looked wide-eyed and surprised told Rei she was right on the money. Well well. Now we're getting somewhere.
"I-I do no such thing. Hanabi is simply extremely talented for her age," said Hinata. Rei had to give her credit, she did a fair job trying to conceal her trepidation and distress and presenting a believable front. Had she not had the training from her clan Rei might have even been fooled.
The blonde smelled blood in the water now but decided to ease up just a bit. She wanted to get Hinata to trust her. Hammering away at her until she broke would just make things messy, not to mention making Rei feel more than a little bit guilty.
But it seems like it would be so easy to break her. I didn't use to be a person who was tempted to do it just because I could.
Pushing down the feeling of unease that came with that thought Rei refocused on the issue at hand. "Look Hina-chan," began Rei, "if you don't want to admit you throw the matches with your sister that's fine. You just need to know that I know. And if I know then your father certainly knows or at least suspects."
Hinata began to look distinctly unnerved by her proclamation. "I don't throw the fights against my sister," Hinata insisted. However this time her protests sounded much less convincing and her worried frown wasn't doing anything to sell her story.
"She's four years younger than you. Of course you do. If you sister was actually a prodigy I would have heard about it but she's not. She's progressing well for her age but she's nothing exceptional," said Rei. She had gotten the inside scoop on that issue from a somewhat reluctant Neji. Rei leaned forward pinning an increasingly distressed Hinata with her intense lavender eyes. "I get it. You're trying to protect your younger sister from some of the practices of your clan. Trust me, I get it. I have a little sister too. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her."
"You have a...? Oh. Ino's your sister isn't she?" Hinata breathed in sudden realization.
"Yes," acknowledged Rei, "anyone who touches her had better not be too attached to their anatomy. I'd do anything I could to protect her. Not that she needs it usually but the sentiment is still there."
Hinata nodded, still looking troubled and seeming at a loss of how to respond. However Rei did feel the girl relax just a little bit in her presence. Sharing about Ino had helped Rei to establish some sort of common ground and the feeling she was getting from Hinata said that her strategy had worked. It was a subtle thing but Hinata was already coming to accept her whether she realized it or not.
"Look Hinata I'm not going to pry any more into your personal family matters," began Rei gently, "but I need to know if this is a serious issue for you. Do you refuse to get stronger because you think it will somehow hurt your sister? I need to know if that is what's going on."
Hinata seemed startled by her question. She shook her head vigorously. "No, I mean.. that-that's not really why I'm not strong. I mean.. there are lots of reasons," she said vaguely.
Rei would eventually get those reasons out of her, whatever they happened to be. Obviously they would be important in order to 'fix' Hinata. For now however Rei was content to let the issue slide.
"So you don't purposefully hold yourself back?" asked Rei.
Hinata shook her head, looking a little despondent.
"Do you still want to become what your father expects you to be?"
After a moment's hesitation Hinata nodded shyly.
"One last question then," said Rei gesturing with her hand, "are you willing to become my kouhai and follow my lead as I try to help you?"
Hinata looked up at Rei then, her eyes swirling with conflict and indecision. Rei looked back at Hinata, what she wanted clear in her gaze but taking care not to make the girl feel pressured. After a few seconds of this Hinata's eyes seemed to harden a bit, showing the first glimmer of resolve Rei had seen in the girl.
"Yes," said Hinata while giving one sharp nod. The younger girl bowed her head to Rei from across the table. "If you really want to help me then… please take care of me senpai."
Excellent. The sight of Hinata bowing her head and acknowledging Rei as the superior one between the two of them sent an unexpected thrill through the blonde Yamanaka. Sure other people tended to worship the ground she walked on but this was different. Socially speaking – while not taking into account Rei's many talents – Hinata would be slightly above her since she was the heiress of a much larger and powerful clan. By all rights Hinata should have been the one taking the lead in any relationship the two of them had. Rei found she rather enjoyed the reversal.
"Don't worry Hina-chan," said Rei, toning down a smile that would have not been the least bit reasuring, "I'm going to do my best to help you." And while I'm at it I'll see how you can help me.
000
There had been enough serious talk at that point and they were at a rather nice Café. Rei began to steer the conversation away from more thorny issues and just generally focused on trying to make Hinata feel at ease. The food and tea they ordered was all rather good and as time passed Rei could sense Hinata was becoming more and more relaxed and comfortable around her. Their first meeting was frankly going better than Rei had expected. Hinata's gentle and accommodating nature from the story turned out not to be an exaggeration after all.
Still there was something… off about Hinata. She was generally more jumpy and nervous than the situation really warranted even though she took pains to hide it as best as she could. The way she spoke and acted reminded Rei uncomfortably of abused or neglected children. Some kids acted out and others simply imploded… Rei wouldn't have been surprised if Hinata was suffering from clinical depression. Not that such a thing was really recognized and treated here the same way it was in her old world. Though the study of the mind was rather advanced knowledge of how to heal the mind tended to be somewhat limited.
Still Hinata was able to function and Rei supposed that was quite an accomplishment given how generally… crushed by her failures and the expectations placed upon her she seemed to be. Plus she was still a genuinely pleasant girl if a bit skittish and jumpy. It was depressingly easy to imagine her latching on to anything that might make her life a little lighter and easier to bear – even if that "anything" was a loud immature idiot who liked to dress in orange.
Speaking of that Rei wondered if Hinata's rather unhealthy fixation on Naruto was already a thing. She wanted to find out but it could wait. Rei sensed that she had already pushed Hinata far enough for one day. Since she was going for a "soft" approach she needed to take her time and make sure not to give Hinata more than she could handle.
Still before too long the inane chatter to make Hinata comfortable began to irritate Rei with its trivial mindlessness. It might have been necessary but it was still aggravating. Better wrap this up before I start saying things I might regret.
"I should get going. It's beginning to get rather late," said Rei without preamble as she finished her tea.
To Rei's surprise Hinata actually looked briefly disappointed. "Oh… of course Rei-san. You shouldn't let me keep you."
Rei waved her off dismissively. "I wouldn't have stayed this long if it wasn't what I wanted to do. You should probably get home soon too I think," the blonde said as she stood up from her chair.
Hinata stood up along with Rei but didn't meet her eyes. "Yes… I… should go home I suppose."
Well obviously the prospect wasn't that thrilling to Hinata but there really wasn't anything that Rei could do about it. She just looked so miserable and sad there for a moment that Rei momentarily threw caution to the wind and walked around the table to stand next to Hinata. The girl watched her curiously as Rei walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
It was supposed to be a friendly reassuring gesture. For a moment Rei forgot that her general touchy-feelingness with Ino and Tenten was a very rare exception rather than the rule. In the Elemental Nations in general and in traditional society in particular casual touching of people who weren't your immediate family bordered on the taboo.
When Rei's hand landed on her shoulder Hinata jumped as if she had been burned by a hot iron. Her eyes widened and the girl stared at the hand resting on her shoulder, her whole posture going rigid and tense. Rei almost snapped her hand back right away but instead she kept it there and observed, curiosity piqued. Her mind shifted back to its analytical mode. Most unusual. Ignoring the girl's apparent discomfort Rei spoke.
"Hina-chan," she spoke as she observed Hinata closely, "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time. Is that all right?"
Hinata kept looking at the hand on her shoulder and to Rei it looked like she was going through a gauntlet of emotions. It was like she couldn't decide if she wanted to run away or… well, not run away she supposed. Rei frowned a little. Something as simple as placing a friendly hand on her shoulder shouldn't be short circuiting her brain. With casual ease as if nothing was wrong Rei allowed her hand to slide off the younger girl's shoulder.
"Hinata? You still with me?" Rei asked, a hint of concern and teasing in her voice.
Her words seemed to snap the girl out of it. She looked incredibly flustered and began to speak rapidly. "Y-yes, fine. Tomorrow is fine, very good even. Same time I can definitely do that," Hinata said in a rush, nodding her head and looking horribly off balance.
Curious. Most curious. Rei gave Hinata an easy smile. "Sounds good, we can meet at the academy training grounds then. Come on let's get out of here, I can walk you part of the way home. It's on my way after all," said Rei.
Very deliberately Rei turned and very lightly put her hand on Hinata's lower back to guide her out of the Café. The Yamanaka was watching very closely to see how Hinata would react to that. As Rei had suspected the girl jumped, eyes going wide and darting about from side to side. If Rei didn't know any better she might have thought that Hinata was a physically abused child but that didn't make a whole lot of sense and it didn't quite fit with what she was seeing.
As Rei led her away she realized Hinata wasn't making any real effort to get away, instead seeming more frozen with conflicting emotions flickering across her face. When Rei let her hand drop she studied Hinata closely. The girl gave every indication of being simultaneously relieved and disappointed and very very conflicted.
You poor thing, thought Rei suddenly looking at Hinata with new predatory eyes, maybe we'll be able to help each other out after all.
