Thanks to my friend LexKixAss for the use of her twins. As always, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

Shou sat on the floor around the corner of Hinata's new office. The wall he pressed his ear to was the far side of his big sister's office, but he could hear conversations within—when they were arguing, at least. There'd been a lot of arguing lately, usually with Neji or Naomi and sometimes Hyobe. Today, Hinata fought with Neji.

Before Hizashi died, Hinata only argued on rare occasions, now Shou heard her voice through the wall every few days. Naomi told him it was the stress from taking over the clan and it'd get better as time went on, but Shou didn't believe his mother. It was getting worse, and Shou would know, since he liked to hide near Hinata when he didn't feel up to playing with the other kids.

Miki no longer watched over him every day now that all the little kids in the compound stayed together, and his new caretakers weren't as attentive to any one child. It was easy to slip into the main house even when the watcher was Hyuuga.

Shou didn't like to play with the others on the days he missed Hizashi. If his father were here, then Hinata wouldn't fight with anyone and the family would be happy again. Shou wasn't very good at reading people yet, but he knew no one he loved was happy.

"That's enough, Neji! I don't have time for this." Hinata's voice carried through the thin wall, and Shou sank closer to the floor, though no one was nearby to catch him.

That was the second time he'd heard her not add -niisan to Neji's name. The last time they were arguing, too, but that shouldn't stop her from calling him brother. Maybe it was like when Naomi would get mad at Shou for being naughty, and she'd say his name in that serious Mom voice he couldn't escape from. He tried to convince himself that was all it meant.

Footsteps thumped heavy on the wood floor and Shou scrambled to the corner to peek at his brother leaving. Neji closed the door to Hinata's office but stood there for a few seconds, his posture slumping and his face tight. It wasn't sad tight; instead, Shou read a different emotion, one he'd seen plenty of times during the attack that destroyed Konoha. Fear. Shou saw fear on Neji's face a lot after he talked with Hinata.

Shou waited until Neji turned the corner of the opposite hall before padding up to Hinata's door. He raised his little hand to knock, but couldn't bring himself to do it. It wasn't the arguing or the anger he heard in his big sister's voice that stopped him—Hinata would never take anger out on him. It was the question he wanted to ask and the uncertainty of the answer he'd receive.

In the distance, Shou heard footsteps approaching. He could have run off to not get caught away from the caretakers; he'd done it many times. But Shou missed Hizashi a lot today, and he hurried inside Hinata's office the way he used to with Hizashi when he would hide from Miki.

"Shou?"

He grimaced and turned around to find his big sister behind a desk full of folders and books with her head up propped up in one hand. She looked ready to fall asleep. Shou didn't like Hinata this way. Her skin was too pale and dark circles lined her eyes. Most of all, she didn't show any real emotions, not like she used to.

"Hi, Oneesama." Shou dropped his gaze and dug his toe into the floor with a sheepish expression on his face.

A soft smile brought life back to Hinata's face, and she motioned for him to come closer. Shou ran right into his big sister's arms, letting her pick him up to sit in her lap without detaching from her embrace. What Shou wanted most was for Hizashi to hold him, but Hinata made him feel safe and loved, too.

"Do you miss Uncle Hizashi today?" Hinata asked in a voice that sounded like the sister he knew and not the one she'd been lately.

Shou nodded and snuggled closer. "How'd you know?"

"I've gone through this before at about the same age as you. When I really missed my parents, I'd run off to a place that reminded me of them. I know this wasn't Uncle Hizashi's office, but I bet it feels familiar to you anyway."

He nodded against her chest. "There's nothing left of Papa. Pain destroyed everything."

Hinata rested her chin atop Shou's head and her body sagged in time with her sigh. "I understand. I didn't have much left of my parents to begin with. Now, all I have is one of my mother's books, but that one doesn't remind me of her anymore. It means something else to me. Sometimes, I feel like I lost both of them, again."

"I wish I had just one thing—anything." Shou tried not to cry in front of the other children, but the love in Hinata's embrace destroyed any restraint. Hinata rocked them both while Shou released blubbering sobs.

"You haven't lost everything that was a part of him," Hianta whispered. "You still have Aunt Naomi, Neji-niisan, and me. The five of us were a family, so you will always have a part of Uncle Hizashi with you in your heart as long as we're together."

"Will we . . . always be together?" Shou asked, wiping his face off on Hinata's jacket. This was the question he'd been afraid to ask, because he heard too many things from adults who didn't think he was listening.

Hinata stroked his hair like Naomi did to comfort him. "Of course. Why would you think we wouldn't?"

"Cause some of the grownups said we have to leave once the compound is all Hyuuga again, cause you're clan head now. And sometimes . . . sometimes when you're mad at Oniisama, you call him Neji, instead of Neji-niisan, like he's not your brother anymore." Tears ran down Shou's red face once more, though he managed not to blubber this time.

An expression he wasn't use to crossed her face. It wasn't quite the radish face his family got when Hyobe was nearby, but it was definitely a bad face. Tears welled in her eyes, and Hinata blinked them away before they could fall. The office remained silent for several long seconds, which only made Shou's fears worsen. Did he really have to leave?

"You," she said, her voice cracking. Hinata took a deep breath before speaking, again. "You will always be my precious little brother, Aunt Naomi will always be the only mother I can remember, and Neji-niisan will always be my excessively over-protective big brother. Nothing will ever change that. And no one is leaving the main house unless you want to."

"I'll never want to leave!"

His outburst softened the pain on his sister's face. "One day, you might. When you're ready to build a family of your own, a little more space and privacy could be appealing. But I will never force you from the main house, because it's our home—all of us."

Shou's heart burst with happiness at hearing his world wouldn't change anymore than it already had, but a sliver of unease kept his joy from overflowing. "Then why don't you use -niisan when Oniisama and you argue?"

That pained, but not-radish-face expression returned, and Hinata looked away.

"Neji-niisan . . ." She paused, then started again with a stronger voice. "Back when my parents died, I wasn't strong or brave. In my world, Neji-niisan was the only person I could rely on to always be there for me, to always protect me. That was our relationship for a very long time, but as we grew up, that relationship became bad for both of us. I needed to let him go more, and he needed to stop protecting me all the time. When I became genin, we created a new relationship that was much healthier."

Hinata shut her eyes and sat quietly until the muscles in her face relaxed. "I know that everything Neji-niisan does comes from a place of love, but our lives have changed, and we have to change our relationship again to match it. He doesn't understand that what he wants only makes it harder for me to let go."

Shou snuggled closer. Hugs helped him when he was sad, and Hinata looked very sad at the moment. "What do you have to let go?"

"Everything," she whispered, her jaw trembling. "My life outside the clan, my team, things . . . things that can only exist in a dream that will never come true. I have to let it go. My life is with the clan now. If I don't live for them, then I won't be the clan head they need."

Hianta's voice grew softer until her words felt like a distant sound drifting in the wind. "I can't let them see anything else."

Shou didn't understand everything she said nor the meaning of the sad, pained expression carved into her face, but it seemed like growing up meant lots of changes. He wasn't sure he wanted to go through it. Shou wanted to go back to when his family was happy and Hizashi was alive.

She kissed the top of his head and sighed. "Don't worry, you're one thing I'll never let go of, and I'll always make time for you, no matter what."

Hinata held him for a long time. People passed in the hallway, but any who tried to enter, quickly apologized and closed the door. Shou knew Hinata was busy—many people told him not to bother her—but he loved the safety of his sister's embrace and she never tried to push him away.

Neji hurried through the village with a glower on his face that made passersby give him a wide berth. It took exceptional self-control not to blow up at his little sister these last few days. There was something wrong that she refused to acknowledge, and it did nothing but hurt her. Neji could see it in that placid, controlled expression she'd never used with him before. She'd found that strength in order to withstand the guilt and hate of the seal. For her to use it every day revealed the constant agony she must feel behind her mask.

Neji couldn't free Hinata from the clan the way his father had, but he could offer her the reprieve she needed to process her feelings with people who didn't see the head of the Hyuuga clan when they looked at her.

So, why wouldn't she take his help? Why wouldn't she run to Kiba and Shino like she always did when the clan overwhelmed her? Why did she have to do exactly what Hizashi feared she would?

If this continued, either Hinata or Neji was going to say something they won't be able to take back, and that terrified him. If Hinata pushed him away—pushed the family away—then she'd be alone with Hyobe as her sole confidant and advisor. Neji needed to do something before that happened.

He was so lost in thought, Neji missed the people he was searching for, but they didn't missed him or the emotion plain on his face. A hand on his shoulder pulled Neji to a stop.

"You're really unhappy," Osamu said, examining his cousin with knowing eyes.

The simplicity of the statement irked Neji. He was beyond unhappy. "You're supposed to be able to read people better than that."

Standing next to his brother, Isamu whistled and shook his head. "You do not want us to tell you everything we see in you right now. Trust me."

It frustrated Neji even more that Isamu was right. He needed to calm down. Taking a deep breath, Neji refocused himself on his cousins. "I was looking for you two, but you probably already figured that out."

Osamu offered a consolatory grin. "We do try to let people tell us things on their own. A few of our friends threatened to give up on us if we didn't."

Neji sighed. "Right now, I need you to tell me everything you see concerning Hinata. I know she's struggling, but I can't figure out what else I can do to help her. It's damn frustrating."

The twins glanced at each other, their faces quiet with placid indifference. Osamu began the back and forth dialogue that they cultivated in Interrogations. Neji suspected it was now a reflex when something troubled them.

"We'd love to tell you what's wrong. . ."

". . . but we can't."

"And we do mean can't."

"Hinata-sama won't see us."

"Not for more than a minute . . ."

". . . and even then she's guarded."

"There's something she's afraid we'll see."

"Terrified we'll see."

"So she doesn't say more than hello . . ."

" . . . and then sends us away."

Isamu's gaze dropped as he ended the exchange, and pain leaked through his mask. They were Hinata's friends—some of the people she loved best in the clan—and she refused to talk to them.

"So, you don't know anything?" Neji asked, not expecting an answer despite the hope the question reached for. Osamu and Isamu had been his best shot at figuring out what was going on in Hinata's head, and she'd cut them off. "What am I supposed to do then? She refuses to let me help her."

"We do know two things," Osamu clarified.

Isamu nodded. "First, whatever she doesn't want us to see . . ."

". . . she's ashamed of it."

"Shame and guilt are all we can catch for certain."

"But what she's ashamed of or why . . ."

". . . we'd need to talk to her to find out."

Neji hesitated. He'd never seen shame in Hinata, and as close as they were, he should have found most of what Osamu and Isamu did. Guilt, yes. "Are you sure it's shame? I've seen the guilt before—usually when she's not able to do everything she thinks a clan head should—but not shame."

Both men nodded in unison. "It's definitely shame."

What could Hinata be ashamed of? Whatever happened had to be fairly recent. Did Hyobe say something to her and that's why she's pushing herself so much? Neji set the question aside to think about later. Osamu and Isamu had more information.

"What is the second thing you know?" Neji asked.

Isamu spoke this time. "We can tell you what will help."

Neji perked up at this. "I'm willing to do anything at this point."

Their masks slipped, and for a second, Neji saw pity for him. That wasn't a good sign.

"The first thing you have to do . . ." Osamu began again.

" . . .is accept you can't help her."

"No one in the clan can help her."

"What do you mean I can't help?" Neji balked at the idea despite knowing the twins' skill at insight. Neji's genius was acknowledged by the clan and village. How could he be incapable of helping his little sister?

Osamu's eyes softened, and he glanced at Isamu—not to communicate, but as an older brother. "Sometimes the only way to help someone you care about is to give them space."

Isamu chuckled beneath his breath at Osamu's attention. "If you could help, Hinata-sama would have let you by now. But she's ashamed and willing to cut off anything that could risk exposing the truth to those closest to her."

It was difficult to refute their logic given Hinata's behavior. Neji stared at the ground, jaw clenched at his own futility. "Who can help her, then?"

The brothers silently conversed before Osamu answered. "Her family can't, and as long as she's around the clan, nothing will work. Hinata-sama won't get better until she confronts whatever she's ashamed of."

"We're one hundred percent positive she won't talk to anyone close to her about it," Isamu said. "Ninety-five percent sure she won't say anything around the clan."

"Ninety-five only?" Neji's bitterness increased the longer they talked, and finding a flaw in their insight soothed his anger.

Isamu shrugged. "When Hinata-sama looks at us, there's overlap for close-to-her and clan. It can muddle our reading when the interaction is too short."

"The best chance to get her to face what she feels is with someone she trusts outside the clan," Osamu explained.

"And not just talking to them. Hinata-sama must be away from the entire clan or she won't risk discussing it."

Neji's shoulders slumped in defeat. "All I've done for the last two weeks was try to get her to go visit her team. That's the biggest thing we fight about."

"Of course it is," Osamu said in a tone that indicated Neji should have figured that out by now. "They make her feel safe from the clan, so if she saw them, she'd have to acknowledge the problem. She doesn't want to do that."

Isamu nodded in agreement. "Denile hurts less at the moment, even though it's eating away at her mentally."

"Maybe I should just have Kiba and Shino kidnap her from the clan," Neji muttered.

The twins grimaced in unison.

"That might work," Isamu admitted.

"But it could also drive her into a corner."

"Right now, we can't tell which."

"And the last thing we want is Hinata-sama cornered."

"She won't feel safe enough with them to admit anything if she is."

There really was nothing Neji could do but watch his sister push everyone away. No. Neji refused to accept that. If she wouldn't go out for Kiba, Shino, or Kurenai, there was still Tenten, Ino, and Sakura. They had a girls' night enough for it not to be strange. Or maybe they could get all their friends together. Hinata would have a harder time saying no to a big group event.

Neji straightened up as a new idea popped into his head. "What about Naruto? She'd go out if he asked, don't you think?"

The twins considered this aloud, making it sound like an internal conversation rather than one between two people.

"Naruto . . . now that's an idea."

"He's not so close that she'd feel compelled to tell him all her problems like with her team."

"But he's close enough . . ."

". . . and she likes him enough . . ."

". . . that she wouldn't want to say no."

"Especially since he's not likely to leave the village anytime soon."

"And he did save everyone."

"She let him near during the funeral . . ."

". . . plus everything that happened between them during the war."

"And once she's away from the clan for one person . . ."

". . . she won't be as likely to say no to others . . ."

". . . which her team could capitalize on . . ."

". . . to get her away from the clan."

Osamu and Isamu nodded to each other with their usual over-the-top attitude. "Naruto could work."

Neji's frustration settled as the plan formed in his mind. "Well, then, it's time I paid Naruto a visit."