Hey everybody!
Here's the newest chapter as promised updated much sooner.
Consider this to be a very lucky break from the usual updates; I doubt that this will last.
As usual please read and don't forget to review!
If you see any spelling errors I apologize for it.
Now onwards my dears!
Neji and Shikamaru had arrived at the Hyuga mansion more than a little pissed. Hiashi being the jackass he was had postponed seeing them for four days. It wasn't until Neji threatened to get Naruto that he finally relented. Shikamaru had been lucky to begin with that he was even allowed to accompany Neji to the Hyuga mansion. Hiashi would never allow an outsider to talk about such personal matters concerning the clan. The Nara had been informed by Neji what to expect, this was going to be no picnic in the park. This was going to decide what would become of Hinata and essentially Hanabi.
Naruto had already seen to it, that Hanabi was now under complete protection in Suna, thanks to negotiations with Gaara. But that didn't mean Hiashi wouldn't fight tooth and nail to try and get her back.
"Remember if at all possible to let me do the talking. I can handle my uncle's fury, he'll try to act tough and talk big but in the end he knows there's nothing else that he can do".
"Fine but don't think I'll keep quite the whole time. I have questions also".
"You got very lucky to be here today. Had I not convinced Hiashi to let you sit in there would've been no way you could join me".
Shikamaru nodded "Believe me when I say that I'm grateful, but I know this is more serious than it appears".
"Hmm you might have a point".
Shikamaru followed Neji through the entrance and into the compound. The sooner they had this talk the better, he really didn't want to have to linger. This was all so troublesome.
"So what would happen if he decides to rebel?"
Neji suddenly stopped walking which caused Shikamaru to stop also. "Something wrong?" he asked "No…it's nothing, let's go were wasting time".
The Hyuga male lead Shikamaru through the halls occasionally passing a member of either household, till they finally reached a large room were all clan meeting were held. Neji gave Shikamaru a silent warning to let him handle this and all Shikamaru could do was nod. He didn't feel like talking anyway, he'd much rather listen and think for this.
The two males walked in to the center of the room. Two pillows had been placed for them and farther ahead was Hiashi with a scowl on his face.
Shikamaru didn't need any words to describe the dangerous vibes he was getting. It certainly didn't take rocket science to figure out that Hiashi was not pleased about what's been going on. He resisted the urge to sigh. Something told him he was in for a long tiresome time in this room.
"Neji…Nara Shikamaru I welcome you".
Shikamaru stopped himself from cringing just in time. His tone was like venom. Taking his seat he had to mentally remind himself to not be intimidated by the man before him. He'd do his part and keep out of it unless necessary.
"Tell me to what do I owe this visit".
Neji clenched his fists "Spare us the small talk uncle; you know perfectly well why Shikamaru and myself are here".
If possible the room just dropped in temperature. Things were getting ugly very quickly.
"I told you before Neji. I will not give in to anyone. I fully intend to my daughters back with me. Do not think you will change my mind".
"Funny. I thought for sure you'd have figured that there's nothing you can do at this rate. But I suppose you'll never learn. Your too stubborn to do anything right".
Hiashi's scowl deepened "Watch yourself boy. You're in my presence".
Neji actually threw his head back and laughed. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, did he miss something? Soon as Neji calmed down he gave his uncle a cocky smirk.
"You really think I'm afraid of you? Come now uncle, you taught me better than to cower before anyone. You know that I can kill you. After all your intensions were to make sure that I would surpass even the strongest of the Hyuga and it looks like you got your wish".
Hiashi's face was starting to turn red; Shikamaru would've sweat dropped if he didn't already expect this to happen. Was it crazy? Yes. Could he do anything about it, probably not so he'd have to trust that Neji could stick to his word. He did have the most experience with dealing with Hiashi after all; best to leave it to an expert to do all the talking.
"Putting aside all humor I believe you have some explaining to do uncle".
Neji held out his hand and Shikamaru handed him the crumbled note. "If you would be so kind, would you explain to us why paper instructing to kill Hinata was in the possession of a Suna shinobi. Surly there's some kind of explanation of this misunderstanding".
Neji's face had been filled with anger, even though he kept his voice under control. It was quite obvious that he was trying his best to hold back from striking Hiashi were he was.
"Where did you get that?!"
"That is none of your business, just answer the question. Why did you think it would be best to dispose of Hinata-sama your own daughter none the less? What could she have possibly done that would make you want to kill her".
Hiashi clenched his fists "She's a weakling. Always has been I have no use for runts in my clan. One small link could collapse the whole chain and we Hyuga have always been a proud family that takes great pride in our abilities".
Shikamaru knew that something wasn't adding up. He could see a look in Hiashi's eyes that told him there was something much more personal behind the cover up.
He spared a quick glance at Neji. He was no better than trying to maintain his anger as Hiashi was. It felt like being in a room with two caged tigers eager to pounce and make the kill. Shikamaru mentally chuckled nervously to himself. Man, how he hated this feeling.
"What did you want to do if Hinata-sama was killed? Can you answer me that".
"Simple. I would've ensured that Hanabi had the title as heir. Without competition there would be nothing to stop her".
Neji felt his blood boiling with rage. How could he sound so nonchalant about it?! That was despicable! The nerve of this man. Trying to do anything to tip the balance in his favor.
"The hell is wrong with you Uncle! It is obvious that you no longer harbor any feelings for Hinata-sama or Hanabi whatsoever. In your eyes Hinata-sama is nothing more than an animal waiting to be slaughtered and Hanabi is only a puppet of manipulation".
"Very descriptive of you to put it that way Neji. But as clan leader I must do whatever is possible to ensure the Hyuga survive".
His tone suddenly becomes deadly "That means doing whatever necessary no matter the risks". He chuckled "I cannot afford to be seen as weak, I must make sure that nothing goes wrong when it comes to the prosperity of the Hyuga".
Neji raised an eyebrow; not liking what he was saying "What do you mean?"
"Tell me nephew do you recall why I was so persistent to marry Hinata off?"
Shikamaru then had a moment of realization and it dawned on him why Hinata had been married off so quickly. The pieces were slowly but surely starting to fall together.
"Ah I see. I thought that it was rather strange that Hinata was leaving Konoha so soon having recently married Gaara at the time. But it appears as though you intended to wed her and have her produce children of a different bloodline which you then intended to make part of the Hyuga clan thus having them grow more powerful".
Hiashi gave a sinful smile "Quite clever of you Nara Shikamaru. You are not even supposed to be here and yet you seemed to have solved most of what was to be kept a secret".
The Nara shrugged "Hmm I suppose so, but just because I solved that mystery doesn't mean there's more of the story to come".
Neji was having his own feelings of hate. It was starting to come together for him. His poor cousin, Hiashi had only wanted to turn her into a baby machine in order to benefit his own selfish desire. He was very much certain that if Gaara wasn't so protective of her Hiashi would've done something by now to take away their daughter and quite possibly their future baby. Well shit, this just got a whole lot more complicated then he would've liked.
"You do realize that it was an impossible ambition from the start. Hinata-sama would've fought back against you".
Hiashi waved him off "No matter, I still would've done something else".
Shikamaru couldn't stop himself from answering one question that he suspected would be the real reason behind all this madness.
"Why do you dislike Hinata so much? What has she done to make you want to kill her, surly there's a reason of past consequence that express your inner rage".
Neji kept his face neutral but on the inside he was becoming nervous. Shikamaru was tapping into dangerous territory. Nobody ever got anything good with sticking their noses into other people's business and Neji couldn't be sure what his uncle would do. He needed to do something to keep his friend from harm's way.
"Answer the question; does it concern your deceased wife?" Neji knew that all hell was about to break loose, but he needed to push Hiashi to spill the beans about this. He had suspected for years that most of Hiashi's fury to his daughters had something to do with his dead aunt but he never knew the full story behind it. Whenever he tried to get Hinata to tell him the answer was always the same. She was sworn in by secrecy and the punishment would be too severe. But this was a chance to hear a long lost answer that had always been in the back of his mind for a long as he could remember.
"You have nowhere to run Hiashi. You cannot make up any more excuses. Shikamaru and I will learn the truth now. Refuse and I'll have the Hokage involved. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'd suggest you pick the easy way lest you do something that makes the hole you've dug even deeper".
Neji knew that he sounded like he was making threats; but what choice did he have. He was tired of being in this room with a mad man.
The tension had become thick and all was silent as the two men waited for a reply. Shikamaru knew that he was potentially going to listen in on something very personal. Normally he'd leave people to their privacy but in this case, this would be the final piece of the puzzle that he needed before he could find a solution.
After what seemed like eons Hiashi finally relented. The look in his eyes was murder, if looks could kill Neji and Shikamaru would be ashes by now.
"That damned wife of mine…I should've kept a better grip on her".
Neji and Shikamaru listened very attentively as Hiashi had no choice but to tell them the story of what happened so many years ago.
"Your father had been a member of the branch family, but so was your aunt".
Neji anticipated that his father would be involved in the story. But he was going to force himself to listen, this was important.
"I knew that Hena loved Hiashi. I always knew this; it had been that way ever since we were all children". The hatred in his voice was enough to make a person what to find a deep hole and hide forever.
"Had my foolish younger brother not been in love with Hena then all would've gone according to plan. I knew that Hena would seek Hizashi that damn woman knew that my feelings for her were too great to be ignored. So I did what was necessary to make her mine I forced her to marry me".
Neji keep his voice under control as he spoke "What did you do?"
"When I become the clan leader I gave her a choice. Either she marry me and produce an heir; cutting off all ties with my brother or I'll kill Hizashi in front of her and then take her as my wife".
"You would've done that. Kill your own flesh and blood?!"
Hiashi's eyes were hard "If I needed to then yes, even though I respected Hizashi he was a threat to getting what I wanted and I couldn't stand for that".
Shikamaru wisely chose not to say anything. True he didn't know much about the Hyuga to begin with, but he was smart enough to know about the history of the two families thanks to Neji who had informed him ahead of time.
"Hena did the right thing to cut off her ties with Hizashi and marry me, but I should've known that she couldn't say away from him".
Neji braced himself for the climax of the story. He had a bad feeling about this.
"I must not have kept her restricted enough because she started to seek out Hizashi thinking that she could avoid me. I was no fool; I knew what she was doing. At first I didn't think much of it, since I wanted to give Hena a false sense of security before I made clear on my threats".
"You are an idiot uncle; my aunt never harbored any sort of affection for you".
Hiashi's face scrunched in anger as he replayed the scene in his head "One night I followed Hena as she went to find Hizashi only to discover her in his bedchambers".
A sick feeling spread throughout Neji as he tried to maintain his composure. He wanted to deny everything he heard, but he knew that would do him no good. Sometimes it was better to hear the truth as it was rather then try to deny it. He could only imagine how Hinata must've felt when she heard it, was she as disgusted as he is? Did she want to pretend that what she heard was a lie also?
"She must've known the things I would do to her as punishment for her acts of adultery so she killed herself before I had the chance to take my revenge".
He looked Neji in the eye "I sparred killing your father since I could not find in within me to harm my own brother. But regardless I wanted to take my revenge".
Neji didn't even flinch "So you took out your anger on Hinata-sama and Hanabi instead". He clenched his teeth "Damn you Hiashi, she never wanted that kind of life to begin with".
"You should know by now nephew, I always get what I want one way or another".
Shikamaru was suddenly hoisted up to his feet by an enraged Neji. "This is not over uncle, I will be back". That wall all he said before he practically dragged Shikamaru out of the room and into the courtyard.
Neji knew that if he didn't leave now, he'd do something he was sure to regret. He couldn't listen to anymore. It was just too much for him to handle all at once. Neji may be a strong person, but even he had his limits.
"Well that was just peachy". Shikamaru said sarcastically as he rubbed his sore arm. He knew that Neji was angry and it was best to let him calm down before speaking to him. He had every reason to be angry for more than one reason; Shikamaru knew that none of this was directly his business but at least now he had something to go on. He could try to calm his enraged friend, but he already knew that would do him no good. As of now this wasn't something that he could talk to him about.
"Shikamaru go and report to Naruto, I will join you later I'm going back to talk more with Hiashi".
From the tone in his voice the Nara knew he meant business. No matter, he had no more reason to be here anyway.
"If you insist". He placed a comforting hand on Neji's shoulder and a silent exchange was given between them. "I'm sorry" Neji sighed "Please don't be…this is my matter now I will try to find out more". Then he was walking back to the room, leaving Shikamaru to walk himself out of the Hyuga compound.
With one thing somewhat taken care of. He would need to tell Naruto all that he heard. Pinching the bridge of his nose he groaned in annoyance. Things were escalating much too quickly for his liking. But he still needed to carry out his job.
As troublesome as it was, at least he was a little closer to helping Hinata if at all possible. It wasn't much to go on to begin with but for now it was better than nothing.
It was going to be a long wait that was for sure.
Gonna stop here for now.
This chapter was a bit hard to write, I really wanted to make sure that things were progressing in this point in the story. Might have to do some thinking later for the next one.
Thanks for reading this, I'll try and post the next chapter up as soon as I can.
Till next time!
