From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for reading this! I hope you enjoy the third chapter!
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Clarification:
"sample text" (Dialogue)
"sample text" (Thoughts)
«sample text» (Quote inside dialogue)
"W-W-What s-should we do, nii-san?" Hinata whispered. Her stuttering, which she was trying so hard to keep under control, was coming back with a vengeance.
"Well, obviously, we can't go back and say «Hey! Uncle Hiashi, old buddy, old pal, old chap! Guess what? The daughter of your princess Hinata – the apple of your eye, the heiress of the prestigious, elegant, discreet and honourable Hyuuga clan – and I travelled back in time to find a cure for her fatal disease. Not to worry, though... She'll leave in no time and she'll go back and watch the war that Konoha is about to start and that will probably endanger her, as well as all of us! Oh, by the way, given the Hyuuga tradition of waiting three years before marrying, she most certainly was conceived and born outside of wedlock! Kthxbye!»" Neji said scoffing.
"Oh, yes! Grandpa Hiashi is alive!" Kimiko chirped.
"Yes, of course... And we can't pretend to go to... WHAT?" Neji turned to look at the little girl with wide eyes. "What do you mean ALIVE?"
"Oh! Sorry! I forgot! Grandpa Hiashi will die in the fire!"
"You… Forgot? You FORGOT?" Neji was trying his best to control himself. "I guess it's such an unimportant detail that you just forgot?"
"Well, not unimportant" Kimiko added, ignoring her father's sarcasm "but it's what is supposed to happen. That is the reason you two will get married. Because it was urgent that someone took the lead of the Clan, but the elders thought that mommy was not strong enough yet, while aunt Hanabi was… Well… Aunt Hanabi. Mommy, you used to tell me that if grandpa Hiashi were alive, he probably would have arranged a marriage between you and Naruto, who, by the way, is the Hokage, and Neji would have married Ten Ten."
Neji scoffed just thinking about it. So this is what Hinata thought of the relationship between his teammate and him... Preposterous, but Hinata, bless her soul, was sometimes denser than that blond fox-boy.
"Speaking of the blond fox-boy… See, Hyuuga? She is even telling your child that she would have married him! And here you are, like the genius you pretend to be, thinking that the flicker in her eyes when she thinks you aren't looking is something more…"
"So... What else do you know about the other people in the village?" Neji asked, trying to muffle the tiny voice inside his head, while curiosity took the better of him.
"Well, let's see... Kiba's sister, Hana, died when trying to cure a stray dog in the woods and was attacked by bandits, so he is the heir to the Inuzuka clan… I also met Osamu, Shino's kid, at the meeting of the heirs..."
"The meeting of the what?"
"The meeting of the heirs. You know, those great clans in Konoha, the ones that have a great history... The heirs meet when they turn 6. I saw Osamu, Shikadai, Shikamaru and Temari's son, Inojin, Ino and Sai's kid, Hideki, Sasuke's spawn... He is so full of himself, always going on and on and on and on about how his dad is best friends with the Hokage, how he could beat anyone of us… But, she continued, blushing faintly, while her smile turned giddy, I taught him a lesson, daddy... I... I… I put a whole bottle of laxatives in his tea, she finished, half-proud and half-ashamed of herself. The meeting was quite enjoyable after he left in a hurry, claiming that he had to train his Sharingan."
"Kami-sama, Kimiko! Who taught you these things? Surely, it wasn't Hinata-sama or myself."
"Well… You know… One has a lot of time to spare when one has to remain mostly inside", Kimiko stuck her tongue, while the image of the plot between herself, a certain aunt and a certain somebody else came to her mind, all three grinning while preparing the laxatives.
"I see..." Neji added and looked at Hinata with a very weird look on his face. Hinata, who was sincerely laughing at Kimiko's confessions, froze and turned to Kimiko.
"A-Ano... Kimiko-chan... We must hide you..."
"Easy to say..." Neji rolled his eyes.
"N-Neji nii-san... We must find prevent the fire... We must prevent father... From dying..."
"You are aware, I hope, that if Hiashi-sama doesn't die in the fire, Kimiko will never exist?" Neji said, dryly, feeling a shattering sensation inside of him. "See, Hyuuga? After all this, after the war, after everything, she still doesn't get it… There you were, you idiot, thinking that making the ultimate sacrifice for her will finally make her realize…"
"B-But... But maybe she WILL exist... I mean... What if father would agree with our marriage and... And..." She finished, having no idea what to say next.
"You have grown very fond of this kid, haven't you?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow, while a tiny beam of hope was making its way, much to his displeasure and certainly against his will, inside the broken ruins that he came to accept as his heart.
"Not only of this child, Neji…" she thought, wishing she could scream it, but limited herself to a short and simple nod.
"Mommy... You must let grandpa Hiashi die... The cure is the only thing that I came here for."
"But can't we travel to the future as well? Neji suddenly asked."
"No, daddy. This only works on one way... The past... IF someone from the future were to come to the past, he would be able to go back to future. However, one from the past could never ever travel into the future. You really tried, daddy, when you created this jutsu, because you knew that you would come up with this idea, but you couldn't figure it out..."
"Wait! I created this jutsu?"
"Well, they didn't call you the Hyuuga genius for nothing, did they, daddy?" Kimiko said, blushing...
"Ok... That's it... We must hide her before somebody finds out!" This time Neji and Kimiko stood in shock, hearing the words of the heiress and seeing the determination in her eyes. "We will take her to someone who is discreet and strong, in case he needs to protect her."
"Who?" both Kimiko and Neji asked at the same time.
"I-I think Sai would be the best option..."