Chapter 15.

Title : Revelations.

*In The Hyuga Household, Konohagakure*

"Uncle Hiashi, you called for me?" A certain dark haired man, with pearlescent orbs to match with his cousin, came forth inside the restricted room of the Hyuga clan's head, Hiashi Hyuga. Neji and Tenten, had returned home shortly after witnessing his dear cousin's marriage ceremony with the Fifth Kazekage. It was a no brainer that the Hyuga prodigy held a sense of doubt for the Kazekage, a feeling that was justified due to the latter's monstrosity. It was unfair that Hinata was forced into marrying Gaara Sabaku – for business purposes no less.

"Neji, have a seat will you?" Hiashi spoke, in a rather curt voice. He was known throughout the household, and throughout Konoha as a powerful man, embittered in nature and extremely rigid and brutal. He had turned embittered even more so, after the death of his wife, and upon realizing that his first born, Hinata, was of no practical use to him and the clan, he turned against her. However, it was not that he did not care for his child; he just could not bear to live with such a disappointment of a daughter. Especially since, his own nephew was clearly more well suited to be the Hyuga clan leader – a fact that caused family ties to loosen, between Hiashi and his twin, Hizashi.

He had, upon realizing that his first born, Hinata, bore no benefits to the clan, and without second thought, packed her off to Sunagakure to wed her. A good riddance, he had thought to himself over and over, to lighten the slight guilt that was piling on his chest.

And yet, here he was today. Embittered even more, and somewhat negligent to the matters of the household. He no longer, came out of his lair- only for meals, and for occasional strolls around the household. He no longer entered Hanabi's room, to even chat with her – a fact that was actually quite alright with Hanabi, for she herself had vowed never to speak with 'father' for as long as she lived, for packing off her dear sister to an alien place. Hiashi Hyuga, was embittered and in ruins, as was the household's atmosphere. Had it not been for Neji and Tenten's implied authority and efforts, the entire household would be in ruins too.

A dark cellar is lighted with dim lights; the light without which, the room would be invisible, and gloomy and extremely cold. It seemed like an over-exaggeration to the highest extent, but everyone in the house knew it. Hinata may have been a weak ninja, but her presence lifted the spirits of the otherwise gloomy, dull household. And now, even Hiashi was forced to admit this, somewhere deep in his mind.

"Do you need me for anything in particular, Uncle?" Neji, too had held a slight grudge on this man, ever since that fateful day. He knew all the reasons, selfish and wise, and knew with obviousness that his uncle's reasoning was more selfish than wise. He knew that, Hiashi had been looking for an excuse to send Hinata away, and for that, Neji hated his uncle. Even now, he tried to show his disdain for the older Hyuga, in his voice which was laced with rigidity and aloofness.

"Have some sake, my boy." Hiashi had been kneeling in front of a traditional Japanese mahogany zen table that was rather bare besides a bamboo tablemat, a bottle of strong sake, and two traditional clay containers. He poured the colourless liquid in the second container and pushed it forward, gesturing his nephew to take a sip. When the younger man declined, Hiashi smiled a rare smile and gulped down the contents of his glass. Silence ensued and Neji started growing impatient, if tapping his fingers together was any indication.

"I have called you to let you know that, Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya will be visiting the manor tomorrow." The elder man finally spoke, his voice heavy and hoarse from all the sakes he had been drinking in the past couple months. He could no longer, activate his Byakugan with ease, for he lacked concentration now that it was clouded with alcohol. He had become everything he hoped never to become – a shadow of his former self. "You and Tenten must be present to welcome them."

"Uncle," Neji spoke almost instantly, without even giving the Hyuga head a chance to take another sip of his sake – his pale eyes narrowed just slightly, and he took his chance to unearth the buried topic that Hiashi, so despised. "You forget that I am not the head of this family, she is." He was well aware that Hiashi would understand the meaning, and he most certainly did, for he sipped on his sake too fast and had to succumb to a vicious coughing fit. Neji did not flinch, and simply waited for the old man to respond, when he had reconciled.

"We do not speak of her, you should know that better than anyone else." Hiashi spoke in hushed tones, contempt clear in his voice. He would have raised his voice, but was seemingly unable to. His health had been failing him recently, and it was not unknown to the man himself.

"What I do know is that you were selfish to have pimped out your first daughter, to a monster!" Neji spat, his voice growing clearly louder and overriding his uncle's. He did not care, and was surprised to find that his throat was choking up just slightly. He clearly remembered the day, when he was present during these discussions of his cousin's apparent marriage. He knew things were not going well in Konohagakure, but to resort to this?

Flashback :

"The situation here in Konohagakure does not look very promising, Hiashi – you ought to appoint a more able leader." An elderly man in white and blue robes, and donning an oversized hat spoke in a soft but urgent voice. Three other men were present. Out of these three, Hiashi, Neji and Kakashi Hatake were from Konohagakure. The other elderly man, in robes, was from Sunagakure – a powerful desert land and business partners with Konoha.

They had been sitting inside the business office of the Hyuga manor, which was rather dull and unfriendly, and only included the basic décor – a large U shaped office table, and zen chairs. Lighting was sufficient what with the large windows overlooking the Konohagakure hills of Hogakes. However, the environment was that of gloominess and seriousness. Neji had felt extremely out of place, amongst a small crowd of elders, and wished more than ever to take a stroll with his wife and cousin side by side. He wished he could call Hinata inside too – after all, she was the heiress of the clan and not him.

"I am aware of the crumbling state, and Lady Tsunade is doing everything in her power but we simply do not have sufficient funds it seems."

What a lying bastard, Neji thought to himself bitterly. He was well aware of Hiashi secretly stealing, and living a more than comfortable lifestyle here in his manor, whilst the common men of the village could not find bread to make ends meet. It was all because of that wretched excuse of a man, Zabuza who had been plundering the village with his gang. No less than a monster, Neji had thought. The man pretended to be innocent, and secretly plundered the riches of the village using either weapons, most times, or selling his wares at exorbitant prices, through a middle-man.

Now though, Tsunade was the Hokage of the village, important matters were always passed onto the two most powerful clans of Konoha – Hyuga and Itachi. This case of importance was specifically given to the Hyuga clan to decide, for the council member, so named Asuma, had specifically asked for Hiashi's opinion. It was no surprise that he hid an ulterior motive to be approaching Hiashi- for one, the Itachi clan did not have any heiresses', just heirs.

"If your village turns to dust, where will I visit in times of need?" the old man named Asuma joked, good naturedly, while taking a sip of his jasmine tea. He had a rather creepy habit of sniffing everything in close distance to him. It was not the jasmine tea that he sniffed easily, but the fear that was evident in Hiashi's normally dull, pale eyes. "This village will cease to exist if you don't do anything quickly."

After hours of talking, and negotiations, the meeting came down to a conclusion – Sunagakure would reach out a helping hand to aid Konohagakure's crumbling village. So far, it sounded like a fairly innocent agreement and Neji was content with it.

Until…

"You know about Gaara Sabaku don't you? Our current Kazekage?" Asuma coughed slightly, upon choking on the jasmine tea that he was casually sipping.

Hiashi did not flinch, and he was pretty content and grateful to Asuma for offering assistance. He simply nodded, while taking his sip of tea. He just nodded, very slightly, but enough for the other older man to understand.

"He is in need of a wife." The man from Sunagakure spoke, bluntly and to the point.

"Well, isn't that lovely? We shall not miss his upcoming wedding." Hiashi responded curtly, the idea of the upcoming decision not even entering his mind for the moment. He was too busy thinking about how he could secretly stash away more funds that would be coming his way in the near future.

Asuma sighed once. It was hard not to miss the emphasis he put on the word 'wife', and yet Hiashi had failed to comprehend it. The former man, smiled rather slyly and remarked, "Why, we have enough time to decide whether the wedding will take place here or in Suna, don't we?"

Neji froze right there. Hiashi stopped drinking, and set his tea-cup down. He went blank for a minute or so, before the wheels in his mind started spinning dangerously.

For the first time, that evening, Neji spoke. "What do you mean, here or in Suna?"

Asuma was only too glad to answer, and extremely sweetly too. "Why, I would have expected that Hiashi would return my favour in some way, or the other?"

Hiashi stayed silent, whilst Neji stood up in a newfound sense of rage, punching the table as he rose. "Speak clearly, alien!"

"Neji, apologize to the man at once." The elder Hyuga commanded, whilst Kakashi who had stayed silent throughout, patted his back to calm him down. Even he, looked shocked.

However, Neji simply looked away.

"Hiashi, if you want Suna's help, you shall give your first born's hand for marriage to our leader, Gaara."

"Hinata? Why of course. She is all yours." The man spoke with no emotion, and actually spat upon taking his eldest daughter's name. She was a failure throughout her life, and finally there had come a time for her use. There was no way Hiashi would back down. Besides, she was simply a waste of resources, and a burden. She had also been interfering with Hanabi's training by turning her to mush, just like herself. Good riddance to bad rubbish, he had thought.

"Uncle, I will never allow you take Hinata away like that!" Neji cried out, in sheer anger and hatred. He was aware of the older Hyuga's manipulation and brutal ways, but he could degrade to this level Neji could never fathom.

"Kakashi, please escort my nephew out of the room." Hiashi spoke, unflinchingly without even turning to look at the young male being dragged out. However, just before leaving, Hiashi warned his nephew to keep his mouth shut about this to Hinata AND Hanabi, and that if he dared to open it, he would be personally answerable to him. He also mentioned that the young man would face dire consequences as a result.

"Welcome to the family." Asuma had spoken, the slyness not missed in his voice.

End of flashback

"Neji, do not forget who you are speaking to. I am still the head of this family and you bow to me." Hiashi coughed up the last bit of his sentence, acidly. He knew deep inside that what he had done was wrong, to his daughter. As a father, he had done something terrible but he had given his word. Besides, it was not that he had not benefitted from the regular flow of income that came his way. Somehow, it is a habit of people like him – to allow money as a means to suppress emotions. Why, people do it all the time. The man had simply been cast by the magic spells of money.

"I no longer bow to you, uncle." The entire time, Neji's pearlescent orbs remained dull and lifeless, but somehow upon responding in this manner, the younger Hyuga's eyes changed – they were bright, and determined. As if, he were prepared for anything. He stood there for a minute or two, in complete silence allowing his words to sink and when he received no response from the head, Neji smirked to himself, and turned to leave the restricted lair of the Hyuga manor, leaving the other man alone to his miseries.

*Meanwhile, In Sunagakure; Sabaku Tower*

A certain redhead man with dishevelled hair, dressed in traditional white Kage robes, sat at his office table, whilst his gaze rested on the view below, from the bay windows that stood near the table. He had been pacing out often, but as of then he was concentrating fully. The fountain ink-pen in his hand, lay ignored as it blotched ink on a sheet of paper that seemed unimportant as it was dreary.

Gaara had seen something far more interesting. His gaze was on a certain indigo haired woman, who had been taking a stroll around the small garden that Temari had managed to upkeep. The garden however, lacked lustre and greenery like the ones found in Konohagakure – the only flowers it was capable of growing in the dusty, sandy weather were cacti plants- mainly Optunia and Sansevieria, and very few blood red roses. They all looked beautiful, but were dangerous to touch, if anyone dared.

The indigo haired woman, had been strolling lazily, allowing her hair to fall gracefully in a messy braid and donning a floor length white dress. He could not see her face, but he knew that she would be looking beautiful in anything she wore. He had seen proof on countless occasions, and right now, he wished that she would turn around and glance upstairs to catch him watching her.

He had been grateful to her for nursing him back to health after his hospital episode- he had noted very carefully, how she used to make it a point to physically feed him his daily chicken soup – one that was so mundane and tasteless that Gaara actually despised it. However, he was prescribed it for it had proper healing properties, and his family had made sure he would take it. Just to make things easier, his wife had conveniently added noodles to the soup to make it more interesting and it had helped the Kage revive his appetite immensely, for he too like his friend Naruto, liked noodles.

Just a couple days ago or so, the Kage was back to his health and had been busy with preparing for the council members' arrival which was supposedly two days from that day. He had been wanting to hear reports about their trading partners in Konoha, and the Water Village and in fact had other important matters to discuss.

However, at that moment, he could not help but forget about his impending work and simply watch the woman who had suddenly crouched down to examine a certain genus of plant, and was seemingly fixated on her work – whatever it was. Within a flash of seconds, however, she turned around to apparently, call someone for assistance. Gaara could not see who it was, but he had seen his wife's face which had been pale as usual, but there was beauty in her pale complexion. Her pearlescent orbs looked bright, and almost happy. And, after a long time, he could see her break into a smile. She had beads of sweat on her forehead that caused her hair to get matted, but even that looked beautiful on her.

It had been during this analysis, that Hinata quickly glanced upwards towards the Kage's office window from where Gaara had been watching her. She had caught him red-handed, and he froze for a minute, his face expressionless. His eyebrows knit together just slightly, and he would have turned away instantly had it not been for her smile. No, she had not been smiling at the assistance that she had asked for, but she was smiling up at him. He could not tell if it was a nervous smile, or a smile out of fear, or a simple genuine smile – but it was a smile.

Too bad, he did not smile back. He just blinked down at her, and turned away towards his mundane office surrounding trying to justify his abnormal heart beat rate. He was probably startled at being caught, he thought to himself. Maybe he had not expected her to catch him, he had thought.

That brought him momentary relief, until he drowned himself in his work for the next few hours.

A/N : So, this was some revelations. I mean, there might be more for later. MIGHT :o im not saying anything for certain lol.

In the meantime, lets enjoy Gaara acting cute. You have to admit, he IS cute for secretly watching Hinata and hiding upon being caught.

Guys, please feel free to critize too if theres any complaints. I mean I'd like to know where I'm going wrong and your reviews will help fix my mistakes.

Please Review, Follow/Favorite blah blah my story :3