As always, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.
Hinata stopped a street away from the compound to compose herself. She hadn't wanted to admit she was getting sick, but ignoring illness could have devastating consequences. Her condition meant that the slightest sickness would worry the clan, even though it was just too much stress. As long as she kept on top of it, she'd be fine. At least she could go to Sakura instead of Yumi. Hinata loved her grandmother, but Sakura wouldn't go to Hyobe and tell him what was wrong. Getting her to promise not to tell Neji took a bit more work.
It was easier to breathe after visiting Sakura. If this kept happening, then she'd have to find another way to deal with her stress, but the important part was the clan didn't find out and worry. She'd acclimate to her new life—eventually. She had to.
Hinata stifled a yawn as she headed for the main house. It was too early in the day to be this tired, and her lack of sleep likely contributed to her slight illness. Maybe it was time she pulled back a little more, if only to keep herself well. It would have the added benefit of shutting Neji up for a while.
Hinata frowned. Being at odds with Neji felt wrong. She loved her brother, but she'd like him a lot more if he let up on trying to force her out of the compound. Why couldn't he see the clan was the only thing that mattered? If he helped her find her footing in the clan instead of getting in her way, then maybe they would feel like siblings again and not clan head and brancher.
"Oneesama!"
Shou's voice soothed Hinata's frustrations in a way no one else in the clan could. He worried for her, but his form of comfort was hugs and cuddling. Only when she held Shou did Hinata manage to relax. Today though, Hinata found her little brother and tensed.
"Welcome home!" Shou called cheerily as he dangled from Naruto's surviving arm. Most of the children crowded around Naruto, who stopped playing with them to smile at her.
"Hi, Hinata."
A part of Hinata had hoped that Naruto would be Naruto and find something to focus all his attention on. With enough time apart he might forget the promise he'd made while holding her close and staring at her with earnest eyes after the battle with Pain. If he forgot, she wouldn't have to crush the expectations that his smile conveyed or hurt him with a rejection.
Hinata forced a pleasant expression that held little emotion, but looked normal enough to pass without scrutiny. Exhaustion aided her deception well. "Hi, Naruto-kun. You're looking better."
"It's easy when you're stuck in the hospital for weeks," he said, shrugging to detach Shou, who ran up and gave Hinata a hug.
Shooing her little brother away to play with the other children, Hinata motioned for Naruto to follow her inside. They needed to be alone for this conversation. Naruto deserved what privacy and comfort she could allow.
"How much longer until Tsunade-sama finishes with the new arm?" Hinata asked.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "She said it would be done when it's done. But that's all right. I mean, the Raikage only has one arm, and as the future Hokage, I can't let him show me up."
Hinata winced at the mention of the Raikage, but opening a door to a small sitting area covered the slip. Her mind was already drowning in a storm-churned sea of emotion. She couldn't bear to bring in the miasma of confusion she felt about the Raikage, too.
"Of course not," she said, waiting for Naruto to enter before closing them in together. After a ten count to calm herself, Hinata turned back to Naruto with her tired grin.
He studied her for a moment with the same gentle concern he had in her dream. "Are you okay? I didn't want to say nothing outside, cause you're the big clan head now, but you look miserable. Neji said you needed a break, but I think a couple days of sleep would be better."
Neji. So, that's why Naruto came. Hinata tamped down on the anger that threatened to break free of her control before Naruto noticed. If Neji had let things be, she might have avoided hurting her oldest friend.
Hinata dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand. "Neji-niisan worries too much. I'm tired but fine. There's just a lot for me to do and learn. Stabilizing the clan after all that's happened is worth a little missed sleep. I'm sure it will get better soon."
Naruto grabbed her hand as she tried to pass him, and Hinata wanted to cry as her dream and reality mixed. He looked at her with the same intensity of his dream counterpart, like she was the only person in the world that mattered in that moment.
"I mean it. You need to take care of yourself." His hand turned so he held hers palm to palm, and his face flushed slightly. "If you need help, you can always ask me. I've got plenty of free time."
Hinata gently pulled her hand from his, and Naruto looked away as his minor flush reddened into full blown embarrassment. Hinata couldn't make the same mistake she did at the funeral. Holding his hand felt warm and comfortable, and the lack of both in her life at the moment made the temptation to sink into that feeling a siren's song conveyed through a soft touch.
"Thank you," Hinata said, offering the only genuine emotion she could. Naruto had been a part of her life for so long, and no matter what had happened between them in the past, Hinata was honestly grateful for his friendship. "But I'm dealing with it just fine."
Not meeting her eyes, Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. "After . . . after Pain brought you back to life, I made you a promise, and . . . . Well, I figured since you didn't come visit me in the hospital, you must've been really busy with the clan and all, so I didn't want to bother you, and I wasn't in great shape for a while either, . . . but, since you could use a break anyway, I figure it's about time I kept that promise."
Saving the world didn't faze Naruto, but asking a girl out made him nervous. He was like that with Sakura, too, in the beginning. Did Naruto know why he couldn't look her in the eye? Hinata did.
Making friends could be intimidating for someone like Hinata, but Naruto never saw it that way. He'd been shunned all his life. He never expected people to be his friends, so he was always happy when it happened. Asking someone on a date put a different part of yourself out there. It wasn't just, "Let's be friends;" it was, "I'm choosing you as special, and I want you to see me as special, too." That was why a rejection hurt so much worse. The pain hit when you felt most vulnerable
"So, Hinata," Naruto continued with a brilliant smile all for her. "Do you want to go out with me? We could get something to eat or—hmm, I should have asked Sakura what else girls like doing on dates. Well, we could do whatever—"
"I can't," Hinata said as she slid into the calm, empty place she'd created to withstand placing the seal. It was a space of necessity, where what she must do outweighed what she wanted to do and sympathy wasn't allowed.
Naruto's smile wavered at her response. "Oh, I guess I did just come out of nowhere and ask. It doesn't have to be right now. I know you're busy. We can go whenever you have time."
"No, Naruto-kun," she said, shaking her head. "It's not a matter of timing. I can't go out with you, ever. I'm sorry."
That beautiful smile, which had helped her through so much of her academy life, disappeared. "I . . . I don't understand. Why can't we go out? Neji said the wedding's off since you're clan head now. And," Naruto paused and waited until Hinata's gaze met his pleading eyes, "you still like me, don't you?"
"I do," she said. Any other answer would be too big of a lie for anyone to believe. They'd been through too much since Pain came to Konoha and in the war. Her feelings had to be clear even to Naruto. "But that doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters!" Naruto yelled, his body rigid with confusion. He'd allowed himself to be vulnerable and expected an easy acceptance. "It should be the only thing that matters. I don't really understand everything I feel yet, but you're important to me and I . . . I want to find out what that means."
Hinata closed her eyes to keep her emotions in check. Despite her decision, hearing him say he wanted to discover what they could be together made her heart ache. She'd wondered many times what they could be, back when dating was nothing more than a fantasy in her head. She saw one possibility in her dream and couldn't forget the contentment, joy, and excitement of having a Naruto who loved her in her life—no matter how hard she tried to wake from the memory.
But what mattered was being the clan head that the Hyuuga needed, and that person needed to want to be Hyuuga. Hinata couldn't be that person with all the other parts of her life—the parts that were finished the moment Hizashi died—constantly dragging her back to the dream that proved she wanted everything but the Hyuuga name.
Naruto continued to question whether he cared for her as more than a friend. If she stopped this now, he'd be hurt from the rejection, but he would move on. There were plenty of people who'd jump at the chance to date him after all he'd done. This was for the best.
"It's too late for that," Hinata said in an even tone devoid of all the emotions she'd buried deep inside herself. "I am the head of the Hyuuga clan now. The only thing that can matter to me is the clan."
Naruto closed the distance till they were a step away from an embrace. "Don't just say it's too late. I know I've screwed up the timing of all this a lot, and if this is crappy timing again, we can wait until you feel better about the clan and being clan head. There has to be one more chance for us to do this right. And it's not like before. No one's gonna think bad of you for going out with me."
Desperation flooded his voice, but Hinata could hear him hanging onto hope like a lifeline. Naruto wanted to be accepted, to be loved, and most importantly, to belong. He might not have thought of Hinata as anything more than a friend before, but he tried now, and in her he saw the chance for all his wishes to be fulfilled. Looking into those eyes, Hinata knew Naruto wasn't going to let the opportunity pass without a fight—a fight she'd eventually lose.
That left her with a terrible path forward, one she had prayed she wouldn't have to walk. If Naruto saw the future he'd always wanted in her, then she needed to become someone who couldn't offer him the acceptance and belonging that he searched for. The love . . . Hinata couldn't take the love back, nor did she want to. She wanted him to remember that he was worthy of being loved long before he became the hero of the shinobi world. He deserved that much for what she was about to do.
Placing her palms on his chest, Hinata pushed Naruto away. The village accepted Naruto—that was the place he belonged now. Others would give him the rest of what he wanted, and he'd find someone else to love and who would love him back. He didn't require her to live a happy life. That was what Hinata told herself as she shoved down the guilt threatening to close her throat and looked at her friend with a controlled gaze.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. It's my duty to take care of the clan. This is where I have to be."
Naruto grabbed her hand before she could retreat from him entirely. His grip was strong but gentle—a demand and a plea all in one. "During the war, you said you'd always stay with me."
"And I will," she said, pulling her hand away from the comfort of his warm skin. The dream was too close to the surface when he held her hand. "As your friend, I will always be there when you need me, but I can't be more than that. I don't have the luxury to live for myself anymore. I . . . I must do what's right for the clan."
The hurt spread through his expression like a tsunami consuming everything in its path. "Am I not right for the clan?"
She wanted to take it back, to tell him how much she wanted to seize the future he offered and help him find the home and family he'd always wanted, but it was too late. She'd seen her own truth and so long as that dream haunted her, she had to make it up to the clan. Hinata would be the clan head they expected, not one always looking away from them to find happiness.
Never breaking eye contact, Hinata shook her head. "No, you're not." Those three words tasted like poison burning her mouth, but she didn't flinch. He had to believe her.
"Hinata . . ." Dumbstruck, her name was the only thing Naruto managed to say. His expression remained blank, but in his eyes Hinata saw the hurt and betrayal. She was the first person to accept him, and she'd ripped that away.
Despite knowing that she deserved whatever anger or scorn Naruto felt when the shock wore off, Hinata succumbed to her own cowardice.
"It's best not to drag this out," Hinata said, turning away to escape from the consequences of her choice. She stopped at the door, knowing it was better to leave without anymore said, but guilt defiantly clawed at her throat. "I know you'll find someone else who you'll love one day. You deserve all the happiness in the world."
Before she fled into the hall, Naruto's strong hand clamped over her wrist and pulled her to face him again. Neither anger nor hate filled his eyes; instead, Hinata saw a pain so deep it could have swallowed her. "You can't just say that and run off like last time. I don't understand."
Anger would have been easier than witnessing how deeply she'd hurt Naruto. The control over her emotions, which she'd honed since returning to the clan, threatened to crumble as his clear blue eyes begged her for an answer. She breathed in deep, letting the motion press her guilt and sorrow back down. "Nothing I say will make this better, and nothing you say will change what I have to do."
"Why?!" he yelled, his grip tightening. "You're the clan head. You're supposed to be able to make the rules now. If you don't like something, change it like you always said you would. Don't just accept things and take the easy way out."
Easy? There was nothing easy about rejecting Naruto. She'd had a crush on him since they were children. She loved how much he cared about the village, despite the way they treated him; loved the optimism that made her smile; loved the unbridled confidence he showed no matter how desperate the situation became. Hinata loved him, just for being exactly who he was. That was why he deserved someone better, who wouldn't run from her dream for fear others would learn the truth.
Hinata's emotions pushed against the walls imprisoning them. She needed to leave before the last of her control snapped. With trembling hands, Hinata retreated from Naruto one more time. "Let me go, Naruto-kun. . . . Please."
Her voice cracked with the desperation of a trapped animal. She needed to escape. If she broke down in front of Naruto, he'd never leave her without trying to help her first. That was just the kind of person he was.
His grip remained firm until that last shaky please tumbled from her lips. The quiet froze the room as his fingers released her wrist, and she scrambled to the door as fast as she could without running.
Why did she fall apart so quickly? All this time Hinata had kept her control no matter how exhausted she felt or how serious the situation. Even when she and Neji fought, she'd never come close to breaking through the empty space that kept her emotions in check.
But Neji was different. No matter how frustrated they became with each other, neither purposefully tried to hurt the other. She'd hurt Naruto, knowing exactly what it meant to him, and like always, she underestimated the extent of his reaction. She thought he'd be angry. . . . No, she wanted him to be angry. Anger was the punishment she deserved. Instead, his confusion demanded an explanation she couldn't give.
Why couldn't he have just hated her?
Hinata hurried to her bedroom, now hers alone. The clan wouldn't bother her here unless it was an emergency, and Hinata needed time to stop the tears that tears fall silently where no one could witness.
"The clan head must always do what is best for the clan, no matter how cruel it seems," Hinata said, repeating over and over the lesson Hyobe tried so hard to teach her. She had to accept it, or she wouldn't survive being clan head.
Weapons littered the ground of the training field deserted by all but two people, who were no longer engaged in combat. While Tenten attempted to clean up, Neji dragged her down to straddle his lap. The roughness of the post at his back didn't bother him when Tenten's soft body pressed against him.
Neji adjusted his hold on her neck to give himself better access as he kissed his way down her skin. She tasted of roses and salt: the roses from her preferred brand of body wash and the salt from the dried sweat from their earlier sparring. Her grip on his hair tightened as he nipped playfully at her neck.
He'd needed this. With all that had been happening with Hinata, Neji hadn't been a great boyfriend. Finding the time simply wasn't a priority, as harsh as it sounded. But Tenten provided a contentment that he found with no one else. It didn't matter if they were sparring, kissing, or doing nothing more than sitting next to each other in silence.
Neji desperately needed some contentment right now.
For a moment, he remembered what they did after sparring in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. It was hard to resist following his dream self's example, but it wasn't time yet. He was ready—they both were—but when they took that next step, Neji wanted to give Tenten his full attention. No worries or frustrating little sisters in the back of his mind. If they were to give all of themselves physically, Tenten deserved all of him mentally and emotionally, too. So, fun as it was in his dream, it would have to wait a little longer.
Tenten placed her hands on his shoulders, signaling the end to their fun. "Someone's coming."
Neji sensed it, too, but he ignored it in favor of his time with Tenten. When she pushed his shoulders harder, a low grumble escaped his throat. "If that's Lee, I'm going to kick his ass all the way to the hospital." Lee would not be relaxing in any way.
Laughing, Tenten left her warm position against him to stand and stretch. "If we told him we're dating it wouldn't matter if he came."
White eyes narrowed. "Do you want him to know?" If she did, he'd support it, but Neji was in no way ready to hear the profuse exclamation of love and youth Gai would subject them to at every meeting.
A sly smile returned his glare. "Nope, but it's fun to watch you squirm."
Thank god.
Neji reluctantly hauled himself off the ground and helped Tenten collect her weapons while they waited for their uninvited guest to arrive. If the universe took pity on him, it wouldn't be a long interruption. He could have used byakugan to find out who approached, but Neji wanted to hold on to the contentment he'd found with Tenten as long as possible. The visitor was certain to annoy him, no matter who it was.
The chakra turned into rustling grass and breaking twigs before their interrupter came into view at the tree line. Neji dropped the kunai he'd gathered and stared, mouth agape, at the sullen face of the one person he needed to be happy at that moment.
"Hi, Naruto," Tenten said cautiously given his demeanor and Neji's sudden change in mood.
"Tell me it was you," Neji commanded. "Tell me you screwed this up somehow and you need help smoothing things over. Don't tell me she . . ." His hands fisted at his sides as the truth stared back at him.
Naruto's blue eyes burned like ice. "Did you know what she was going to do?"
Every muscle in Neji's body tensed like he was balanced on the tip of a sword waiting for it to cut him in two. Naruto! She rejected Naruto! Neji's heart beat hard enough he heard it screaming in his ears, and chakra sparked under his skin.
"I can't believe she'd turn you down," Neji said through clenched teeth. It was a lie, one he grasped close to his heart. He didn't want to believe.
"Well, she did." Naruto looked away when he said that, but his cold glare returned to Neji soon enough. "If you knew the clan was against us, why'd you tell me to go? Or at least warn me."
Neji's frustrations stalled at Naruto's comment. He tilted his head, as if looking at a different angle might allow Neji to better understand the words. The clan was against it? What did that mean? "Tell me exactly what Hinata said."
Watching Neji, Naruto's expression lost its razor edge, and he lowered his gaze to the ground. "She said she couldn't go out with me because . . . because I wasn't right for the clan."
This time, Neji didn't hold himself back. His chakra-laden fist slammed into the training post that he'd been relaxing against only a few minutes ago. The wood cracked at the point of impact, and its top half flew like a dagger into a tree on the other side of the training field. He couldn't think for several seconds as his mind focused entirely on the splintered wood remaining under his hand.
"Neji," Tenten said, reaching out to give him the calm he desperately needed. "I know you're angry, but—"
"Angry!?" he screamed, unable to modulate his reaction. "I'm furious! Don't you see? She wouldn't have lied to him unless she knew exactly what she's doing. She won't go see anyone outside of the clan, and she's acting more and more like Grandpa every day! I should just let her seal me, so I could drag her ass out of the village."
As fierce as the emotion came, it disappeared. What had he just said?
"It's not that bad," Tenten said in a voice that sounded miles away.
"Yes, it is." Neji whispered, squatting down and covering his face with one hand. How could Neji have thought Hinata would seal him, let alone said it aloud? Even in the heat of anger, a Hyuuga did not treat the seal so lightly.
"I'm such an idiot. I've been so concerned with her changing that I didn't notice I was falling into the same trap." Neji stared up at the blue sky dotted with soft clouds and admitted what he hadn't realized until that moment. "This must be how Dad felt, when he and Hiashi-sama split. It's like she's betraying our entire lives together. When did Hinata stop trusting me to always be on her side?"
Neji felt Tenten's hand rest on his shoulder in silent support. "The twins were right. I can't help her and if she won't let anyone else help, I only have two choices left. Either I accept this is what she's becoming or we keep fighting until we hate each other."
"What the hell is going on?!" Naruto screamed. "Why would you two hate each other? Are you saying something's wrong with Hinata? I know she wasn't acting normal, but I could be sure why. And when did she lie to me?"
Neji was so preoccupied with his own thoughts Naruto's barrage of questions shattered his self-pity party like a kunai through glass.
Naruto stood straight-backed, his muscles contracting and flexing beneath his skin in his need to move. Confusion and concern paced beneath his anger, neither strong enough to settle in place.
"Right, you haven't seen Hinata since the funeral. You don't know what's going on." Neji considered what to say carefully, though doubts needled at his attention.
He'd thrown Naruto into this mess, so he should explain. Of course, Naruto could have come to see her sooner. Maybe not waiting so long would have helped. Maybe Neji should have done more the moment he heard her refuse Naruto a room at the compound. If he'd gathered her team . . . no all their friends . . . Neji should have called everyone together and forced Hinata out of the compound kicking and screaming.
Maybes and what ifs didn't help the situation now, and that powerlessness ate away at his confidence.
"What is going on?" Naruto asked when Neji failed to continue, though his voice sounded calmer than before. "The war's over, and it's not like Hinata isn't capable of being clan head. She's been preparing for that all her life."
"Capable, yes. Ready, no." Neji placed his hand over Tenten's on his shoulder for what little peace her presence provided. "Hinata's spent the last few years taking control of her life. That's what the wedding was all about. She was willing to do anything to keep her team and choose for herself when to return to the clan. That freedom of choice was probably the most important thing to her when it came to the clan.
"But that choice was taken away when Dad died. It didn't matter if she was ready or not; Hinata's too old not to take over the clan. The only other person capable of taking her place is our grandfather, but ceding the responsibility to him now would only hurt her place in the clan. She'd be seen as spoiled again, or worse, the clan could think she didn't care about them. Going back was the only path left for her. It was also the one Dad feared most."
Placated by Neji's willingness to explain, Naruto's anger dissipated. "Why?"
That answer required a bit of back story, and Neji wasn't sure how much Hinata had told Naruto when they were in the academy together. "Did you know Hinata's father and mine were twins?"
Naruto nodded. "Hinata showed me a picture of her parents once."
"Did she tell you that they hated each other for a long time?"
"No."
Neji stood up and exhaled the last of his earlier frustration. "Dad said it wasn't until Hinata started talking like her father that he understood what happened between them. In order to justify what they can't have, the heir will choose the clan over everything else and push away everything that reminds them of what they can't have. That's why Dad fought for her to be genin, to stop history from repeating itself with me and Hinata by giving her something outside the clan."
Naruto rocked back on his heels as he considered Neji's explanation. "So, that's what you meant when you said you'd end up hating each other. Hinata's pushing everyone away cause she's stuck being clan head."
"That part of it. I'd thought . . . ," Neji paused and forced himself to be honest. "I'd hoped that she was just being stubborn or didn't realize how bad it was, because she's so wrapped up in the clan. I'd hoped I could fix things if I just got her to go out with her team or any of our friends. After all, she might not be an active shinobi anymore, but those people still care about her. Then you went and proved me wrong."
"Cause she lied about something?" Naruto asked.
Neji nodded. "If she was being stubborn or was ignorant of her behavior, she'd have refused to go out with you and been done with it." Neji's hands fisted at his sides again. "Instead, she lied to you. She said that you weren't right for the clan, which is ridiculous. People saw you two together—after Pain, during the war, and at the funeral—and the branch family loves to gossip about the main family, so the clan's been betting on when you'd come ask her out. Given all you've done and the fact that Hinata's choices among the clan are limited, I don't think even Grandpa would balk at a relationship with you.
"The only explanation to why she lied is that she intended to keep you from pursuing her, which means she knows exactly what she's doing and she doesn't care if her actions hurt anyone."
Tenten came up behind Neji, rested her head on his shoulder, and held him as if she could press her love into his body. It helped, if only a little bit—facing the truth of his situation deflated Neji's emotions.
Naruto scratched at his hair, eyes not quite meeting theirs. "So, the clan . . . they'll really accept me going out with her?"
Neji nodded, surprised by the hope and relief in Naruto's voice. Something in Hinata's comment must have hit a sore spot for him, and Hinata likely knew that when she said it.
"Losing Dad unmoored the clan," Neji explained. "Dad was stable; Hinata's transition is not. They want that stability back, and once Hinata settles into place, that stability will be permanent. It's been a long time since the clan's had a permanent leader. So, of course they want Hinata happy through all this turmoil. An unhappy clan head so stressed out she can't think is a dangerous clan head for the branch family, and I don't think they want to be afraid of her the way they were with Hiashi-sama and Grandpa."
"Afraid?" Naruto asked.
"Because of the seal. Hinata proved she could use it when she stopped mom from chasing her into the Pain fight." Not to mention all the times she'd used it on him for her research. At Naruto's blank expression, Neji quirked his head to the side. "Did Hinata never tell you about the seal?"
Blonde hair flopped in the air as Naruto shook his head. Unexpected, but not surprising.
"The seal wasn't a direct part of her life until after our first chuunin exam. She was probably hiding from the truth when she was in the academy. By the time she couldn't run away from it anymore, you were off with Jiraiya, and Hinata relied on Kiba and Shino to help her come to terms with it."
Naruto sulked at this apparent omission in what he knew of Hinata, but remained focused on the present conversation and not past slights. "So, what's this seal?"
"It's what makes us branch."
Neji hesitated, but Naruto was the kind of person who needed to see things to understand them. Unlike most of the branch family, Neji wasn't bitter about the seal, so untying his forehead protector didn't have the same shame it would for other Hyuuga—at least, not when the clan wasn't there to see.
"Remember when I met you after Hina— . . . during the Pain fight?" Neji still had trouble thinking back to Hinata's dead body. He suspected he always would. "I told you that I wouldn't be allowed to stand as family for her. This is why. Every member of the branch family bears this seal."
Neji ran his fingers over the bare skin and felt the narrow scar hidden beneath the chakra seal. He wasn't ashamed, but it marked him nonetheless.
"Why?" Naruto stopped fidgeting and approached Neji to examine the seal.
"The official reason is to destroy byakugan after we die. It's meant to keep us from being hunted for our eyes. Only the clan head or heir can place the seal, and only they can activate the seal's chakra before a person dies. That's exactly what the main family has done for generations to control the branch family. When used on a living person, the chakra damages their brain, and the pain is . . . unbearable."
The memory of that agony was enough to give him a headache, and Tenten stepped forward to give him a moment to compose himself.
"During the war, Hinata's father was one of the resurrected," she said. "He nearly killed all of the Hyuuga on the beach that day, including Hizashi-sama, and he didn't even need to join the main fight to do it."
"But Hinata's not like that. She'd never use something that would hurt people without a reason. And I might not know about this seal, but I know Hinata. She wants to end the division, cause you're all her family. She told me so." Naruto rose in labored breaths as he finished refuting their concerns with as much denial as Neji had at the beginning.
It hurt to watch the image of someone you care about shatter and find out they're terribly different from what you thought. Unfortunately, Neji had seen his sister change too much since the end of the war to deny it any longer.
"You weren't listening, Naruto," Neji said, not unkindly. "Hinata's already used the seal on someone she considers her own mother, and the entire clan knows it. I'm sure most expected Hinata was too soft-hearted to use the seal the way Hiashi-sama or Grandpa did, but that misconception is gone. The more stressed she is—the more she and I fight—the more the clan is going to fear her."
Naruto's jaw clenched and his blue eyes simmered with restrained fury. "You actually think Hinata would do that to someone? Hinata!?"
Neji would never beat Osamu and Isamu when it came to insight, but he was skilled enough to read Naruto, who wore his feelings clear on the surface. Naruto saw Hinata as the shy girl who befriended him at the academy, as the woman who selflessly fought to protect him, and as the friend who spent hours searching the debris to find a picture to make him happy. He didn't know the girl who fought tooth and nail to gain control of her life and who used to seal on Neji because it was necessary. He didn't see the woman who buried her grief while standing over Hizashi's body and who hadn't allowed herself to feel anything since, because the clan needed her to be strong.
Neji didn't flinch from Naruto's rebuttal, even if his own word tasted like ash in his mouth. "I know that Hinata is refusing to let anyone who could help her anywhere nearby. I know that instead of my father bringing her into the clan, she only has our grandfather to teach her. And I know that no matter what I do, I'm only pushing her closer to a line she shouldn't cross. I don't want to believe she would use the seal the way the old clan heads did, but she's changing, and I can't do a damn thing to stop her."
Naruto glared at Neji like he hadn't heard anything the last sentence. "You're just giving up?"
"One of us has to!" Neji grabbed Naruto by the shirt collar with the same ferocity he'd shown when Naruto told him not to kill Pain. "If I don't, Hinata could end up doing something she can't come back from, and . . . I don't want to hate my sister."
What words had failed to break into that blonde skull, the helplessness on Neji's face succeeded. The denial fled Naruto's eyes and a steady hand detached Neji's grip on his shirt.
"I don't understand any of this," Naruto said, "but there has to be something that can help."
A sad chuckle was Neji's reply. "You were my last hope. The twins said no one in the clan can help her. She needs to be with someone she trusts—preferably, Kiba, Shino, or Kurenai-sensei—without any Hyuuga nearby. But even when they come to visit, she won't leave the compound or see them for more than a few minutes."
Blue eyes turned thoughtful, searching the past for answers. "Is that why she's afraid of me?"
"She's afraid . . . of you?" Neji tried to place that fact into the puzzle of his little sister and could find any spot it fit.
Naruto nodded. "That was one of the reasons I came to talk to you. All I wanted was for her to explain what was going on, but when I grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving, I don't think I've ever seen Hinata that terrified before."
"The twins said that, too, that she was terrified of them," Neji said, thinking aloud. "They said she's ashamed of something and is terrified the clan will find out. That's why no one from the clan can help. Her being afraid of them makes sense—given enough time they'd figure out what she was hiding—but why would she also be scared of you? It doesn't make sense."
"Maybe she's afraid he'll figure it out," Tenten said, rejoining the conversation now that it wasn't heated anymore. "Or maybe she wouldn't be able to hide it around him."
Neji rubbed his temples to stave off the growing headache. "Osamu said that's the reason she won't see her team, too. She needs to deal with whatever she's ashamed of, and to do that she needs to get away from the clan—out of the village if that's what it takes."
"What about the chuunin exam?"
White eyes stared blankly at Naruto while Neji's brain failed to process the unexpected suggestion. "What about it?"
"Hinata told me that the chuunin exam was gonna be the last thing she did before going back to the clan. According to Shikamaru, the next one starts at Suna in a few weeks. And didn't the foreign genin stay in Konoha between the preliminaries and finals, so couldn't she stay in Suna, too?"
"You want her to take the chuunin exam?" Neji asked to confirm for himself the turn of the conversation.
"Well, yeah. If she was gonna do it anyway, then why not? It gets her away from the clan and that's what she needs right." Naruto rocked back onto his heels looking proud of himself.
"It's not a bad idea," Tenten said encouragingly. "Her team could always visit her in Suna. She wouldn't be able to run away from them there."
Neji had never been good at dealing with self-doubt, and the longer he failed to help Hinata, the bigger those doubts grew. Every time he thought he had the right answer, the situation got worse. Could he trust this was a good idea? It sounded like it could work, but how did they get past all the complications.
"Hinata officially resigned from service. How could she enter?"
Naruto wiped at his nose gave them a smug grin. "Leave that to me. I'll convince Kakashi-sensei."
Neji shook his head, too afraid to give himself anymore hope no matter how plausible the plan sounded. "It doesn't matter if she can enter if she refuses to go. I can't get her to go to lunch with her team, how am I supposed to convince her to leave the clan for a month?"
Tenten took his hand in hers and the simple touch grounded Neji. "You said Hinata's acting like your grandfather and he's the one teaching her how to run the clan. He might be able to convince her."
His lips curled into a scowl. "He doesn't think anything's wrong. After all, she's finally doing exactly what he wants her to."
"Then don't frame it that way," she continued. "Tell him it's to give her closure over losing her team and to let her grieve. She's barely cried for your dad since the funeral, right? Say it's too stressful in the clan for her to deal with his death the way she needs to."
All of that was true, but would it be enough? Doubts or not, Neji didn't have a choice but to try. The twins were right; Neji couldn't help Hinata. He had to rely on others, and if that meant Hyobe, then so be it.
Neji sighed. "I'll do what I can. I just hope it doesn't backfire as much as my idea to send you to get her out."
Naruto flashed his usual over-confident smile. "Don't worry, I'll take care of my part. Everything will be fine."
"I have to say I'm surprised how well you're taking this, Naruto," Tenten said, but the tender expression made it the compliment she intended. "After what she said, a lot of people would be really mad."
The smile faded from Naruto's face as his whole demeanor quieted. "I'm not taking it well at all, but I figure she must have felt like this back then, too."
"This doesn't guarantee anything will be fixed between you two," Neji said. It might not fix anything at all.
A weak grin replaced Naruto's previously cheerful one. "I know, but I don't ever want to see one of my friends that scared again."
Neji chuckled softly. "Hinata was lucky you two became friends back at the academy."
"No. I was the lucky one. That's why have to help her, even if she doesn't want me to."