Yes, poor Hizashi but at least he's not quite as trusting as his canon counterpart.

Truly, anon, you make my day with those nice comments. It's reviews like yours that make writing so much more fun and motivating. In all honesty I'm a big fan of both pairings so considering the lack of feedback I'm going to write as I please. I hope you enjoy it :)

"Chibi?" Tsubaki said gently. "Would you like some sweets?"

Hinata slowly shook her head.

"Then… how about we open your gifts?"

She shook her head again.

Tsubaki hummed to herself in thought. She could no longer delude herself into thinking that Hinata would forget so soon. What could ease the pain?

A click echoed in her mind. "Neji! Why don't I bring Neji, is that okay?"

A pause. Hinata nodded. "That's okay."

At once, Kō left the room and returned with Neji in tow. Tsubaki thanked her lucky stars when Neji walked in without help. Hiashi must've taken special care to make the sealing as least painful for his nephew.

Neji, now with a bandaged forehead, bowed and greeted them. "Good morning Tsubaki-sama, Hinata-sama."

Hinata's attention zeroed on his bandages. Neji wasn't the only one who was suddenly covering his forehead that morning. For a moment she remembered the words of Soleil and the importance of her third birthday, but a sudden movement in the window drew her attention away.

She sighed, it was just a bird.

Tsubaki gave him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better after breakfast."

"That's good," Tsubaki said and Hinata nodded in agreement. "I thought that you could come and play with Hinata since you two weren't able to talk much yesterday."

He glanced at Hinata's downtrodden eyes. "Maybe I should come back later?"

"I-I'm okay, we can play, if you want!"

Many minutes later, Tsubaki was called away, much to Hinata's chagrin and left Kō with very specific instructions to look after Neji and an upset heiress.

Neji attempted to cheer her up. "Hinata-sama, do you want to count or hide?"

She shrugged. "I can do either."

Neji looked at her for a long moment before smiling again. "Then both of us can hide and Kō can look for us!"

"Okay."

Once Kō was left counting (and warned to not use the Byakugan), Neji pulled her by the hand. "Where should we hide?"

Hinata tightened her grip on his hand. "There's a table with a long tablecloth in the-the common room by the kitchen."

True to her word, the tablecloth was large enough to hide them from the average eye. The pair scooted under the table and waited.

"Hinata-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded.

"You're being very quiet today."

"No, I'm not," she murmured, hugging her dinosaur to her chest.

"Yes you are. Did something happen yesterday?"

Gloved fingers inched toward her eyes.

"...no."

"Oh, I see," his face was filled with disappointment. "I think I know what happened, but… you don't want to talk about it, do you?"

"I don't," she sobbed on his shoulder, "I don't want them to-to take them-my eyes are, they are mine!"

"I heard that your father is taking care of everything," Neji offered. "And I'm here too, I'll protect you."

It was comforting. Neji was already doing advanced katas for his age, but… her glassy eyes grew horrified and scooted away from him. "No, they-they'll try to take yours too, I don't want them to take your eyes!"

"They won't-"

Hinata did not hear the rest. With tears streaming down her eyes, Hinata hurried past Kō and made her way to her room.

With a concerned expression Kō followed her. "What's wrong, Hinata-sama?"

Between hiccups she requested, "can-can you bring me cookies?"

"Of course," he said. "But first let me escort you. Where are you going?"

"My room."

As Hinata pulled her caretaker through the halls of the compound she bumped into Natsu who managed to balance the mountain of food on the tray she carried. "Is that you, Hinata-sama?"

With a quick apology and a bow, she hurried around Natsu and Kō took her tray as they passed her. "I'm sorry, tell them that Hinata-sama wanted it!"

"Oh…" Natsu blinked. Even after all the strange things she had seen in the Hyuuga clan, seeing a tiny girl pull around a chunin was still an unusual sight. "Wait up, what's wrong?"

She was aware of the rumours, but they seemed so far fetched that no one took them as more than baseless hearsay that had been twisted as it was passed along.

Kō's silence and Hinata's paranoid eyes, darting at the slightest movement, confirmed her suspicions. The rumours going around the compound and the silent tears running down her face were all Natsu needed to know.

On the other side of the compound, Neji's eyes brightened a fraction as his father's familiar robes caught his eyes. "Otou-san, have you seen Hinata-sama? she was really upset so I thought..." he trailed off as he noticed his father's unusual frown. "Is something wrong?"

"Why don't we take a walk?" After a hesitant nod from Neji he added, "don't worry about Hinata-sama, I'm sure Kō has already called Tsubaki-sama."

"That's good," Neji sighed in relief. "What did you want to talk about?"

"How is your seal?"

"Oh," he touched the bandages on his forehead. "I wasn't feeling that well, but I'm better after having breakfast."

"Are you sure?"

He hesitated at his father's unusual expressiveness. "...no, I feel really tired and my head hurts."

Hizashi sighed and pulled out a waterskin. "It's best to stay well hydrated during the first few days." As Hizashi's steps came to a halt Neji found himself before his room. "You also need to get lots of rest."

With a pout Neji threw himself on the bed. As Hizashi pulled the blankets over his shoulders, his mind drifted to his friend. "Can I visit Hinata-sama later?"

"No," Hizashi sighed and pulled out a letter. "This is for you."

Neji tilted his head and tried to open it. "That's strange, I don't get any letters."

Hizashi stopped him.. "It's from me. I will be going on a very important mission, so you can only open it tomorrow, alright?"

"Otou-san, why are you acting weird too?" Neji looked back at him, holding back a yawn. His father's eyes turned glassy like Hinata's as he rested a hand on Neji's head. "Is it true about Kumogakure and Hinata-sama, is that why you're acting weird too?"

"Yes, the entire clan is in an uproar because of that. My mission is related to that."

"So as soon as everything is over you'll be back?"

Hizashi's face darkened. "Neji, listen to me very carefully. We of the branch house were born to protect the main house, but it is our choice on how to do it." Neji nodded carefully. "This is the way I chose to do it."

"I think I understand," Neji murmured as his eyes slowly closed, becoming heavier by the minute.

Hizashi sighed, running a hand through his hair. Neji would be in good hands, Tsubaki didn't approve of the Hyuuga clan's hierarchy and she would do her best to protect anything that her daughter considered precious. Hinata was a kind child, too. He wanted to believe that she would be the one to change the ways of their clan.

He bent down to plant a kiss on Neji's hair and with a final deep breath, Hizashi rose to his feet and walked away to never return.

Happy holidays to everyone! My gift to you guys is a longer chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it. In exchange, I would really appreciate to hear your thoughts or you could just say hi and I'll be happy. Thank you for reading!