As always, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

Neji rotated his shoulder and grinned as the previously torn ligaments stretched and relaxed without pain. Yumi's reputation as the best med-nin in the clan was well founded, and Neji was lucky to be in a position in the clan to visit her. That day's injury had been courtesy of Lee's brilliant idea to charge the group of Iwa shinobi lying in wait to ambush the target they escorted.

Two were at least jounin level, so an encounter was inevitable, but Tenten could have taken out the weaker ones before the enemy noticed them and saved them all a lot of hassle. What was the point of having byakugan if the team didn't use it to their advantage? Tsunade must have made Lee chuunin due to his sheer juggernaut power, because he had a lot to learn about strategy before he was promoted to jounin.

Thanking Yumi, Neji headed back to the main house. The clan felt strange as he walked the grounds. A few branchers passed him, but they kept their eyes low or looked away entirely. It had been a long time since he'd witnessed such behavior, but its re-occurrence wasn't a good omen. People didn't want to be read. More specifically, they didn't want to be read by those close to the main family. Questions needed to be answered. One question, which quickly spread like wildfire through the clan after the family's return two weeks ago.

His grandfather's ultimatum had left them divided. Many agreed that Hinata should return home; the longer she was on active duty, the greater the chance byakugan could fall into the wrong hands or worse. Many feared what losing the only heir would do to the clan. Others, fewer in number but not insignificant, saw the unfairness in forcing a fourteen-year-old girl to consider marriage. It was a bluff Hinata couldn't call Hyobe on, and everyone, even those who agreed, knew it. The fact that Hizashi and Hyobe were seen openly arguing in front of the clan only put the branch family more on edge.

The one person who he wanted to talk to about it, refused. Hinata kept to herself for days after coming home, and then Neji was called out for the escort mission. Before he left, there was a seriousness in her gaze that he hadn't seen before, as though each thought, each second, was vital to understanding what was happening—as though she were deciding her entire life and was determined to make it count. He hadn't seen her since getting back, but if people were still avoiding his gaze, then a decision must not have been reached yet. He wondered how long Hyobe would let this go on.

To his surprise, Hinata was sitting on the front porch in a pair of training scrubs watching the people pass by. It had been a while since he'd seen her out of her usual jacket and pants in favor of the more revealing training outfit. When she caught sight of him, a bright smile welcomed Neji home. Not exactly what he expected of his previously detached sister, but perhaps that meant Hizashi had worked things out for the better.

"I heard you'd come home," she said by way of greeting. "Are you hurt? They said you went to see Grandma."

"Just a problem with my shoulder, nothing she couldn't handle." Neji rotated his shoulder once to make his point. "How about you? You look better than before. Did Dad finally get Grandpa to give up his stupid ultimatum?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, but I've had time to think, and Kurenai-sensei helped me figure some things out."

"What kinds of things?" Neji asked, arching his brow curiously. Why was she so pleased if she still had to choose to leave her team?

"What's important to me. What I'm not willing to give up." Pushing up from the porch, Hinata brushed off her clothes despite the fact she wasn't dirty. She was physically distancing herself from the conversation. "So, Neji-niisan, do you feel up to sparring a bit? We haven't trained together for weeks."

Neji considered his little sister carefully. There was something about her tone that wasn't normal. A quickness to her words and a higher pitch that hinted at deception. Deception in sparring, though? After a mission he generally rested alone to recover from the flurry that was Rock Lee, but her countenance had him curious. "I suppose I can. The trip home wasn't taxing. Let me put my things away first."

"Great." Hinata's grin brightened and for a second her gaze flickered away. She was pleased, but it wasn't only about his agreement. "I'll meet you at the central field."

It was becoming increasingly difficult not to reveal his confusion to her. "The central field's a bit public. Are you sure you don't want one of the training areas in the back?"

Hinata waved him off, her body already turned away from him. "It's fine. The central field is bigger than the ones in back."

"I'll meet you there then."

Neji was far beyond perplexed by Hinata's behavior; he was downright stumped. Before he had left, Hinata hadn't been acting normal, but it at least made sense. This . . . this mystified him. She was hiding something. No, she was planning something. She'd been waiting for him, having "heard" he'd returned. Then, the sudden turn of the conversation to the spar and hiding her face from him at the end. She wanted to spar and she wanted it to be where people would see. But why? It made no sense.

He quickly deposited his bag in his room and headed for the training field. His clothes already reeked from a week and a half of travel and fighting, better to spar in it and then shower up. Besides, he didn't want to waste time when there was a mystery to be solved. The servants he passed remained as tense and nervous as before, so whatever was happening didn't involve the clan.

Hinata was moving through a kata warm up when he arrived. Neji always enjoyed watching her performed the basic katas; it reminded him of when they were little and he and Osamu and Isamu would go through them with her until she got it. The movements were far more graceful now, instinctual rather than forced.

"So," he called to get her attention, "do you want to work on anything in particular? Sixty-Four, maybe?"

Her eyes did not meet his. "Let's just spar and see where it goes."

Neji nodded, not pressing her dishonesty. Whatever she wanted, it started with the spar. He wondered where it would end.

A few servants paused to take note when they both dropped into their beginning jyuuken stance, but they all quickly went about their normal work. Neji activated byakugan, and this time the shock was palpable. When did her coils system get that strong? For the better part of a year, he'd noticed fluctuations in her coils system, but nothing this drastic. He'd chalked it up to her being female; women's chakra tended to vary slightly depending on the time of month, and he wasn't stupid enough to go asking about that.

This was different. Hinata was practically glowing with chakra waiting to be used. This wasn't growth that happened in a few weeks. Was this what she was hiding? If so, how had she done it?

Before he could ask the plethora of questions vying for dominance, Hinata attacked. As if everything he saw wasn't strange enough, Hinata was starting on the offensive. Usually their spars turned into familiar dances of attacks and counters, with him leading to improve on a deficit he could perceive. That was not this match. Between his bewilderment and her strengthened coils system, which meant her chakra reach was much further than normal, Neji struggled to defend himself.

With little choice left, Neji switched to the regular taijustu Gai taught. It left him exposed momentarily to her attack, which she took advantage of nicking his left arm, but it forced her back enough to give Neji a chance to regroup. He couldn't keep thinking of this fight as a spar. Each hit had been strong and precise and not once did Hinata offer a hint of doubt. In her eyes, Neji saw the resolution of someone pushed too far.

"What are you trying to prove?" he asked.

"Nothing to you," she replied.

Without byakugan active he might have missed the flicker of her eyes toward the main house. That was why she wanted the central field. She was waiting for someone to see this. Hizashi? Hyobe? There was nothing Hinata hated more than being judged in front of their grandfather, especially against Neji. Could that really be what she wanted?

Whatever her reasons were, Hinata gave him no opportunity to figure it out. Unlike at their start, Neji was ready for her. Though he remained on the defensive, their movements matched closer this time. Her chakra still wasn't as strong as his, which gave him the advantage in the long run, but he wasn't going to presume to be able to predict her actions. Obviously something had happened that changed her inner coils in a matter of weeks. There was a good chance she had other tricks up her sleeves, and he needed to be prepared for the unexpected.

If he hadn't been so flabbergasted by her, he would have been proud. This wasn't the little girl struggling not to cry because she couldn't learn jyuuken's basics anymore. There was confidence in her—a strength and control that had the formerly uninterested servants pausing to watch. She was different. Whether it was from Hyobe's demands or her own doing, Hinata had changed since he last saw her.

In fact, he was starting to enjoy the fight. Hinata's flexibility had always given her an edge in evasion, and now she had more force behind her palm strikes, making her a danger offensively as well. The confidence only increased her threat; there was no hesitation to give an early tell or opening to counter before the strike. They were going to have to move to larger attacks soon for any real damage to be done and call a winner, but Neji held back. Hinata was obviously waiting for someone, and if it was Hyobe, Neji wanted him here, too. Not even their grandfather could disparage Hinata fighting at this level.

A minor pause allowed Neji to graze her abdomen and push her into a defensive stance, and he immediately understood the cause of her distraction. From the house, Hizashi and Hyobe both emerged, joining a small gaggle of curious onlookers watching the fight. Despite losing the offense and getting hit by his chakra, Hinata grinned. Brief as the expression was, Neji felt her demeanor shift with it. Things were about to get interesting.

The best option would have been to disrupt her chakra by targeting her tenketsu, but after their first chuunin exam, he'd never been able to bring himself to use that skill against Hinata again. Sixty Four was still an option, but not yet. He'd leave that for last after seeing what she had in mind. He'd start with a mid-level technique. Collecting his chakra around his hands, Neji began interspersing his jyuuken with regular taijutsu. A solid hit with the latter might not do as much damage as a precise hit with jyuuken, but using a precursor to the Twin Lion Fists technique would do triple the initial damage to muscle and bone as a normal punch. Switching styles constantly, a good skill to have against another jyuuken user, kept Hinata from gauging the next attack.

She managed to match him, not giving any strong openings but not landing any solid blows either. A quick double strike had her retreating just in time to avoid the full force of his chakra-laden punch, which cracked the ground beneath Neji's hand. The effect of his hit to her abdomen was beginning to show in her labored breathing—his own left arm wasn't feeling too peachy either—but she refused to back down. He was starting to like this new Hinata.

Readying himself for another volley, she charged once more. The corner of her mouth was his only warning as the run turned into a sliding sweep to his legs, forcing him into the air. He could have righted himself, but a blast of chakra from below sent him tumbling to the other side of the field. Hinata's vacuum palm landed solidly on his newly healed shoulder and sent bursts of nerve pain mixed with tendrils of numbness down his arm. In their last spar, Hinata had only managed to push him back a little; he hadn't even lost his balance. Neji needed to stop underestimating her chakra levels.

Hinata didn't get out of her attack unscathed, though. The broken up ground had been in her slide path and left her legs a bloody mess of cuts and embedded debris. It was mostly superficial, but would probably reduce her speed. Considering Neji was used to sparring with Lee, any reduction in speed was not to her benefit.

As he got back to his feet, Neji glanced over at the bystanders watching them. No one was moving around anymore. Every pair of eyes was transfixed on the fight, and none were more surprised than Hizashi and Hyobe. Both had byakugan active and were seeing the same enhancement in her coils system as Neji did. Neji wondered what his grandfather was thinking, watching Hinata holding her own and getting a few good shots in as well. Perhaps this would change his mind about taking her from her team.

Returning his attention to Hinata, he quirked his brow up in questioning. How long do you want to draw this out, little sister?

Neji wanted to applauded the amount of arrogance Hinata manage to pack into that tiny twitch of her lips. I'm waiting for it to get good.

You asked for it, he shrugged.

Neji's left leg swept back behind him as he extended his arms out. His body, both contracted down low and held open wide, betrayed all too well what he planned to do next. So long as the attack landed, it didn't matter who knew. Strangely, Hinata didn't move to brace herself or show intent on countering. There was something in her gaze, though. Anticipation? Was this what she wanted?

Chakra focused, Neji sprinted from his place at full speed. If she was confident enough not to move out of his path even a little, then he'd put her to the test. The chakra in her coils brightened, his attack from earlier hampering her only minimally. It continued to swell, but unlike his contained, precision attack, hers grew throughout. By the time he noted her foot pushing off into the rotation, Neji was too close to stop his momentum. It wasn't called an ultimate defense for nothing; he slammed into her kaiten and the kaiten won.

Neji was tossed back, rolling several times before catching the ground and skidding to a halt. He stared at her. Hizashi and Hyobe stared at her. Everyone nearby stared at her. Hinata had used kaiten.

It wasn't perfect. The strike to her abdomen had diminished the uniformity around the center and she would still need to strengthen her coils system for larger or numerous enemies, but it was as decent a kaiten as Neji's early successes. More than that, he had no idea she'd been working on it. That explained the change in her coils system—though he still didn't know how it happened—and her excitement at Hyobe's arrival. The unfit heir finally showed everyone what she was capable of. If that didn't help her cause, nothing would.

"Hinata," Hizashi said, befuddled. "when did you master the kaiten?"

"With my team," she said evenly. A statement of fact and declaration of resistance all in one sentence. Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she exhaled, conviction steadied her, showing from the calmness in her body to the defiance in her eyes. "The clan is important to me. I want to see it greater than it is, and that means I need to be better. My team does that for me. I'm not willing to give them up yet, so choose my suitor. I'll marry."

"Hinata!" Neji couldn't believe what he heard. There was no way she said that. Marry?

Hizashi strode toward her, his face barely holding back his frustrations every time he heard someone mention marriage. "Hinata, your grandfather and I haven't decided anything on his . . . demands."

"It's not your decision," she snapped, stopping Hizashi mid-step. Stopping everyone.

Neji studied Hinata. Her jaw trembled, but there wasn't fear in her countenance. Hesitation, yes, but not alarm. At her sides her fingers curled and the muscles in her hands tightened.

"It's mine, and I made it," she said, her gaze fixed on her grandfather.

Hyobe might have appeared calm on the surface, but with byakugan active, Neji could see the small ticks of befuddlement, shock, and frustration leaking from him. The twitch of his fingers, widening of his eyes, narrowing of his brow. "Do you understand what it means to agree to the marriage?"

Hinata nodded. "It means I get to choose when I'm ready to return to the clan, and you no longer have a say in that until I come of age."

A cynical scoff escaped Neji's lips. Hyobe pushed Hinata into a corner and she called his bluff. But at what cost?

"Hinata," Hizashi began gently, "are you certain this is what you want?"

Though she didn't look away from them, Neji noted how her lips thinned at the question. "I'm certain it's what is best for me."

Hizashi sighed. "Well, Father, you wanted her to make a commitment. Will you keep your word?"

"It was our agreement," Hyobe answered, his voice tight with resignation. "If that is the choice she has made, so be it."

Neji's hands fisted at his sides. Hyobe forced her into a choice no one wanted, but he was going to go through with it anyway. He had to; Neji understood that on an intellectual level. If he didn't then he would be admitting the option was there simply to forced her back to the clan, and it wouldn't be good moral for the clan to see him backtrack on his word to the heir. They were supposed to be equals, whether or not Hinata lived up to his expectation. Not to mention, Hyobe's pride wouldn't allow him to admit he'd made a mistake. Understanding that didn't make it any easier to watch this play out.

Glancing around, Neji blinked several times. A few branchers, who had stopped to watch the fight, mirrored Hyobe's disappointment, but many others revealed something different. Respect. Neji had never witnessed such an expression for Hinata before. Reluctant acceptance or worried caution, but never honest esteem. Perhaps it was learning kaiten . . . no, the longer Neji studied their reaction, he could see the reason. She'd stood up to Hyobe. It didn't matter why or what the decision was, as clan head she would have to stand on her own to protect the clan and she finally demonstrated that she could. She was no longer the main house mouse.

"Now then," Hyobe said, shifting topics to avoid any further debate, "Hinata, let us see you perform kaiten again."

The flash of joy enlivened her eyes as Hinata nodded and readied herself once more. Neji let byakugan recede and quietly joined his father, who had returned to the porch. Hizashi's arms were crossed over his chest while he regarded Hyobe's instruction of Hinata.

"Sometimes I forget you two aren't children anymore," he said, a modest grin warming his face.

Neji shrugged. "In your defense, people usually have kids while their others are still young and not teenagers."

"Yes, we'll blame this on Shou."

"Actually, I was going to blame you, but . . ." Neji chuckled. They stood together in silence for a moment before he continued. "Make sure Grandpa doesn't choose someone who will make her unhappy."

Hizashi placed a hand on his shoulder, and somehow the simple act made him feel like the little boy nervous about visiting the main house for the first time again. "I'll make sure she has her say. Or," Hizashi paused with a sigh, "she might make sure of it herself."

Neji tied his wet hair at the nape of his neck and shook out the rest to help it dry faster. Normally he preferred a looser low tie, but for bed a regular ponytail kept him from yanking on it while he slept. Sleeping would be interesting enough that night. Gingerly, Neji reached back and touched the discolored skin of his right shoulder. He hissed and immediately regretted not going back to Yumi to check him over. Once again he had underestimated the power of Hinata's attack. The damage had come on slowly, as jyuuken wounds did, and now it was too late to go bother the old woman. The wound wouldn't kill him to deal with one night, annoying as it was.

He was about to lay down for the night when a soft knock sounded. Neji looked down at himself. Receiving someone in a pair of boxers was exactly proper, but he was too tired to get dressed again. Compromising, Neji grabbed a robe from his closet and tied it loosely at the waist.

"Come in," he called.

The door slid open and a young woman, who wasn't quite the same as before, entered. "Neji-niisan, I came to see how you're feeling."

Neji sat down on his futon and eyed her skeptically. "Oh, you mean after you kicked my ass?"

"I wouldn't say that," Hinata said, looking away. "Tossed it around maybe, but not kicked."

He laughed at the smirk she couldn't hide and motioned for her to sit with him. "So, are you finally going to tell me how you did it?"

Like him, she'd opted for a simple kimono over her usual clothes, and she favored her side as she sat. She must not have gotten to see Yumi either. Once down, Hinata turned away from him and pulled her hair up high. At the base of the skull, the hair had been shaved away to allow a small paper seal to be placed, but Neji didn't recognize the markings drawn on it.

"Chakra suppressors," she said happily. "I've been wearing them for about a year. Actually, I got the idea from you talking about Lee wearing weights to strength train."

"That explains a lot. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"You kept telling me to wait for my inner coils to mature, but I was tired of waiting. Besides," she paused, looking away in memory, "I wanted to feel what it was like to be you. To just show up one day and know how to do something the first time. You should have seen your faces . . . . It felt really good."

Neji let any sore feelings he had about being left in the dark dissipate under the smile on Hinata's face. It was about time she got the chance to show everyone up, even him. She still had a long way to go, but it was worth it to see the shock on their grandfather's face.

Breaking the pleasant atmosphere wasn't something Neji wanted to do, but questions he couldn't let go of still lingered. "Are you sure about marrying? You could have talked to me."

Hinata shook her head. "I knew what you'd say. It'd be the same thing Uncle Hizashi and Aunt Naomi would have said. 'Uncle Hizashi will take care of it.' But it's my life." Hinata huffed and flopped back onto the futon, cringing a little from the pain when she landed. "I always thought I didn't have a choice but to do what I was told. But it is my choice, because there's always the option to leave it all. I just had to decide what I needed."

Leave? Leave the clan? Had Hyobe pushed her so far she was considering such a drastic option? Neji brushed the hair away from her bare forehead. That unmarred skin marked her as much as the seal marked him. "What do you need?"

She smiled at him. "My family and my team. I need them both still. If the price of that is marrying, that's what I'll do. Grandpa was never going to leave me alone unless I came home, but it's not his choice anymore."

"But is it worth it? At our age, we're supposed to be figuring things like that out, not settling down." He thought back to that awkward tightrope he walked with Tenten. That was hard enough to understand; he couldn't imagine honestly considering marriage to anyone, especially one he hadn't met yet.

"I was always going to have to marry in the clan. All I'm doing is changing when that happens. But I'll only have right now with my team, and they make me better. So, yes, it's worth it."

"What about Naruto?"

Hinata rolled onto her side away from him. He caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes before she turned away. After a quiet moment, she answered. "A part of me will always love Naruto-kun. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll come to love my husband as much."

Neji wanted to say something to convince her not to do it, but he knew his father was correct: they weren't children anymore. He needed to acknowledge Hinata knew what was best for herself, even if he didn't agree with it.

Instead, Neji took her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze. "You've gotten brave, Hinata, so don't let Grandpa convince you to settle for whoever he picks."

Hinata leaned back a bit to let him see her face again. Determination suited her. "Don't worry. It's my life, and I'm going to have a say in it from now on. I just had to get their attention first."