And that brings Concepts to an end!

A bonus almost crack Nejiten chapter should come out soon after I revise it!

Big thanks to Elle, a guest reviewer whom I didn't get to reply to.

Enjoy the last chapter!

Summary: All of the world's unproven things could be explained in concepts: fate, freedom, fear, love...and a girl obsessed with birds made Hizashi question everything he believed in and made him believe. He didn't question it, he just let it be. After all, change is just a concept too.

Word Count: 7634

Deciding not to bother Hizashi about his love life was probably the kindest thing his brother had ever done for him, though Asuka would argue that it was not kind, it was customary. She had a point, but that didn't stop him from being grateful. She also said that not being subject to pain whenever he did something the main house didn't like should also be customary, but he reminded her that it was the Hyuga clan, and it wasn't like they could do anything about it.

For the next few years, they dated, nothing coming in their way. He felt happy when he was with her, he felt safe, and to her relief, he consistently felt free. The limits that being in a relationship put them in were happily obeyed. He never forgot her words about freedom being a concept, as everything had limits. He had no problem with being unable to pursue other women or to have to tell his guy friends to stop when they were talking about how hot she was. There were many benefits in their relationship anyways.

Their skills as shinobi improved greatly and the most bonding part of their relationship was always the training. She helped him learn the rest of the jutsus reserved for the main members, helped him develop his own and pushed him to his limit every day. Asuka had made contracts with several more kinds of birds and they called her Konoha's Feather Fighter.

They did go through a couple of disagreements, as it was healthy for couples to, it was nothing terrible. The bigger problems were getting out of their multiple ANBU missions alive and trying to avoid all contact with the clan whenever possible. This gave them more privacy and more time for themselves. They were young, in love, and those were the only cares in the world.

Time seemed to pass like crazy until one day, they lay in bed at 22 years old, and he found himself wanting to be in this routine for the rest of his life. His smile faded at the realization, then came back bigger than ever before. Asuka looked at him and examined his face.

"What?"

"Nothing, everything's great," he said, still smiling like a maniac.

She didn't look convinced in the slightest but he didn't care. He didn't care until he realized that he'd somehow he'd have to bring it up to the clan, and somehow, they'd have to discuss their future. After all, she hated being a caged bird like he had to be.

"How long do you want to do this for?" he asked her solemnly.

Asuka paled. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No," he sighed. "I'm giving you a chance to break up with me."

She just kissed him, kissed him hard, and pulled away, only to say. "I'm never gonna break up with you. You better not either."

He smiled at her but the thoughts of trapping her still shot guilt through his system.

Hizashi declared it to his father the next day, who brought him to a clan meeting to discuss it. They didn't approve, as Hizashi was talented and they wanted to pass on his strong Byakugan without fail.

"I'm not a part of the main house, therefore it is not a requirement for me to even have children," he said, suddenly grateful that he was the one branded, not Hiashi. "She has no Kekkei Genkai, she's an intelligent, capable, talented, beautiful, and renowned kunoichi. If anything, she will make this clan stronger, not weaker. It's not like she knows little of our clan. She was the one who helped me master the kaiten, the main house jutsu. I've known her for ten years and Asuka hasn't leaked a single secret of the Byakugan. My child still has a good chance of inheriting our eyes. And mustn't you save our other cousins open to choice when Hiashi starts to marry?"

Hiashi reddened at his reminder.

"She still can be a threat. I heard of all those birds she has." said an elder. "Couldn't she use them against us?"

"Or she could use them to our benefit as she has for me."

The banter went on and on until Hizashi finally stood up and cleared his throat. "If you have ever known love, for your spouse, for your children, or for your village, then you will permit me to propose because I love her more than anything I have ever known. I would much rather die painfully in the hands of the cursed seal than live a life without her."

He didn't know what convinced them in the end; the fact that he was hopelessly in love with her or the fact that they'd lose the most powerful member of their clan, branch or not.

Regardless, he picked a ring immediately. He didn't have to find out her size. After knowing so long, it was easy to pick one. After all, he hand ran his through hers multiple times. He knew her hands by heart.

It was a minimal gold ring. As he walked to her house, he held the small black box tightly in his hands, careful that she wasn't around as he stared at it. The ring was asymmetrical, one very thin gold band where one end curved slightly upwards and the other curved downwards, a beautifully cut diamond square between the ends of the band. He tucked the box back into his pocket and sighed. He was anxious to get it over with.

When they took a walk around Konoha, everything felt normal.

"Do you ever want kids?" he asked, even though he knew the answer. It wasn't like this conversation never came up before, they discussed it, even with their team.

"You know I do. Maybe two, just so they can learn compassion." she smiled. He was surprised to see her smiling widely. "You do too?"

"Yes. I would like kids in the future. Though I'm still quite surprised that you do. I would have thought you'd feel trapped."

Asuka shrugged the golden sunlight making her honey eyes look warmer. "I can see where you'd think that, but I wouldn't feel trapped if I could love them. Being a housewife though, I don't think I could do that unless my husband was one too. Otherwise, I'd be insanely jealous."

Hizashi smiled at the ease she held when she mentioned the word "husband". "So you absolutely want kids and to settle down?"

"Settle down? When you put it like that it seems a little scary. Hopefully, I'd still get to go on missions. My husband and I would alternate and I'd still train with the team all the time. Parenting is supposedly a mission anyways. I'd hardly call that settling down. If it's easy, you aren't doing it correctly."

"So in your vision of the future, you're married," he smirked.

Asuka blushed. "Well, I wouldn't want to raise them alone and I'm not planning on having an unplanned pregnancy."

"I'm sure that's why they call it an "unplanned" pregnancy."

"My point exactly. I'm not planning on becoming pregnant unless I'm married."

"Would you plan on becoming pregnant, married to me?"

Her eyes widened in shock and he saw her running the sentence in her head over and over again, which gave him a good chance to kneel. Her mouth dropped open. She threw her hands to her face as he slowly opened the box, showing her the ring.

"I've been in love with you, for probably longer than I've admitted. You make me better, you make me happy, and you make me feel like I'm actually free. I know that you won't ever let yourself be a caged bird and I know how you feel about my clan. If you feel like you'll be held back, caged or anything less than free, I would understand if you left. But Asuka, I'd be honoured to give you my name, my name, not theirs, because I know how you feel about the clan."

She suddenly interrupted him. "Stop it with your clan nonsense. I don't care about it. I won't let the clan hold you back from what makes you feel free any longer. So just ask me."

Hizashi smiled wider than he ever did before. "Will you marry me?"

His answer was a kiss on the lips, making him dizzy with excitement. "Kids with the Byakugan and bird obsessions and all."

Their wedding was small with just a few close friends, his brother and his future sister-in-law or cousin, the only two Hyuga who attended the wedding. She was his very distant cousin, who was very pretty, with raven hair that tinted blue and a permanent blush. He had a hard time introducing her to his friends, as he was confused about whether to address her as his sister or his cousin. However, despite the lingering coldness between the two twins, the petite branch Hyuga was very sweet and she urged Hiashi to attend. He decided that she was a very nice person to be around.

It was the most traditional wedding one could have, with one exception: the headdress. Asuka refused to wear the headdress because it symbolized submission to the groom. She argued that she would never submit herself to anyone, even him. After all, you could barely get any more of a raging feminist than she did. Shy nature would not determine passion.

"It's not like you haven't been submissive to me before," he whispered huskily in her ear as she was fitted for the white wedding kimono. "I do recall you begging for more as I—"

"Not around the tailors!" She blushed harder than Hiashi's fiance would.

"Afraid I'm gonna taint your dress?" he smirked. After all, the white was supposed to symbolize purity.

"Not like you haven't tainted me." Asuka rolled her eyes.

"Well, they do say—"

"Save it for that actual night, Hizashi!"

And he did. He didn't care whether she wore a headdress or not. For all he cared, she could have stained her kimono red with the blood of all the people she had slaughtered and he would have married her on the spot anyways.

All the birds were silent that day to watch her, after all the years she had watched them. Feathers were weaved into her hair and her lips were painted a soft red. She looked stunning. Simply beautiful. As they walked down the aisle together, her hand was in his and he ran his thumb down the familiar traces of her palm.

Kazane-sensei took the place of both of their mothers, being there for both of them. Kenji was the first to make a toast and the first to give them their wedding gift, a picture someone had captured of them alone, back when they were still genin. He was forever grateful for their presence on his big day.

As a married man, Hizashi didn't think his life could get better.

Yet his life was full of surprises.

He had come home one day and Asuka had cooked dinner. Though she didn't admit it when he told her so, she was the best cook, even if she wouldn't cook chicken, (or any bird for that matter). Yet in the middle of slurping on her famous dish: herring soba, he smelled burning, which she said she didn't sense. Strange, because as shinobi, their senses were always hyperactive. Ignoring her, he went to the kitchen and noticed a burning dessert in the oven. He quickly took it out with an oven mitt and fanned away the smoke.

"Asuka, why is there a—uh, cinnamon bun in the oven?"

"You put it there," she replied smoothly.

"No, I didn't, I just got back."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "Of course you did. Who else would?"

"Well, I mean, you could have,"

"I could have put the bun in the oven, all by myself?"

His mouth dropped to the floor before grinning like an idiot and spinning her around as if he was doing a kaiten. "We're having a baby!"

She laughed before he planted a kiss on her lips, activated his Byakugan, and admired the small child in her belly. It was healthy, barely there, but nonetheless, he could see the swirl of chakra.

"You better stop doing that. I want the gender to be a surprise."

Hizashi was more than happy to comply. He carefully rushed her around the compound, first telling all the branch members he was close to, screaming that he was going to be a father with a ridiculous grin on his face. His family members would gasp and five Byakugans would activate at once, focusing on the fetus. He told them to take a good look because he wouldn't give them the chance to find out what the gender was.

It was a boy.

Why was it so fitting that in the delivery room everything silenced to give way to the cries their son made? That when the two looked to her feet and they first met the eyes of Kenji, who had helped them deliver the baby and was the one holding out the scissors for Hizashi to cut the umbilical cord. That Kazane-sensei, though she insisted that she shouldn't be called that anymore, was the one who expertly wrapped a blanket around their child as careful as she did with her own child. That she was the one who brought them together into a family and was the first to welcome a new member into their team.

He was a beautiful baby boy with dark brown hair that was almost black and lavender eyes of the clan's Kekkei Genkai. Whether his hair was inherited from his mother or father, they wouldn't know. After all, they had the same hair colour. Hizashi and Asuka loved their son, possibly more than they loved each other. He smiled a lot, laughed a lot, and lived like a free bird. Subconsciously, Hizashi would push away his child's bangs, which was already past his shoulders at one year old and feel the unmarked forehead.

One summer day, they took Baby Neji on a stroll to an orphanage, revisiting the place Asuka used to reside and making sure that the kids there were treated well. They hadn't been there in over a year and they noticed two new babies around his age. One was with chocolate brown hair who was constantly grabbing at hazardous objects and another was a boy with shiny black hair with bushy eyebrows who was very loud. Though Neji very much disliked the loud nature of the baby with black hair, he seemed to take a huge interest in the girl with brown hair. He examined her thoroughly, the way Hizashi would when he found an opponent, then grinned with Asuka's smile.

When they left, Neji threw a loud tantrum, apparently missing the two orphans. They tried very hard to calm him down but he didn't, just flailed his arms in the direction of the orphanage and screamed.

"ENEN! EEEE! ENEN! EEEE!" he cried, very similar to the two babies' names: Tenten and Lee.

Asuka held him and shook him as he slapped his arms on her shoulder. Hizashi followed his wife and tried making faces to calm his child down. Then suddenly, Neji silenced in a very terrifying way. In a way that made you feel the impending doom. And when he screamed again, veins protruded from his temples and he was even quicker than before.

He was now thrashing in his mother's arms and in a very familiar fashion, he poked two fingers into her mother's neck then into several other random places and continued to flail unknowingly.

Asuka gasped and quickly rushed him back to the orphanage, complying with his orders. Before Hizashi could question it, she gave him a look and raised her eyebrows.

"He just disabled the tenketsu point in my neck and my shoulder. Neji's one! He's 13 months old and he just disabled my tenketsu!"

It was a very good idea to let him play with Tenten and Lee for just a little longer before he fell asleep.

"Did I spoil him too much?" she asked.

"Well, he hasn't thrown a Byakugan tantrum before…"

"Yea, I freaked out a little bit…"

"I bet they'll be on the same genin team when they are older." Hizashi smiled. "The way they destroyed that block castle was a perfect indication of teamwork."

"We would know. After all, our team destroyed everyone when it came to teamwork," she said.

"I wonder who their sensei will be."

"Could be Hatake Sakumo's kid."

"Maybe the Hokage's son," he grinned.

"Or the Uchiha boy, Obito. He shows promise."

"The kid who's Sharingan hasn't awakened yet? He's 15 already. I would put more money on Maito Gai. He defeated him in the chunin exams after all."

"To be fair, if he's as good of a teacher as his father was to him, Neji will be better than we are." she pointed out.

They were both terribly excited to see their son grow up.

That same year, Hiashi's daughter Hinata was born as an heiress of the clan. Both were truly happy for the couple. She was the spitting image of her mother; dark blue hair that was nearly black and a soft smile. She was almost just as beautiful as Neji was. She could even be on the same team as Tsume's second child Kiba.

When Hinata's mother and Hizashi were in daycare, letting their children play together, she grew strangely silent. His cousin/sister was quite shy in a way that made her more socially awkward rather than choosing to be quiet like Asuka. Asuka wasn't great with starting conversations though she could maintain one, while Hinata's mother stuttered a lot and blushed a lot too. However, as the years went by, they warmed up to each other. He was grateful that she didn't push him to resolve his relationship with Hiashi because she was aware of how complicated it was. Hizashi liked to consider her as his friend.

"I need to tell you something," she said very softly.

"What is it?" he put Neji down and let his child attempt to walk properly.

"It—It's about Neji. Th—The elders have been discussing plans on giving the cursed seal to the newest generation of Hyuga when Hinata turns three. So that's anyone who is more than three years younger than you which means that—"

"Neji will be branded," he replied, interrupting his sister-in-law.

Dread filled his stomach. Funny how the pain of someone you love hurts you more than your own pain will. How could he let Neji be branded with the same fate he despised?

"I—I thought Hiashi was planning to stop branding us with the cursed seal," he said with shaky breaths.

"The first step to becoming the clan head is to brand the branch members. He can only stop the generation after that from being branded after all the elders die out."

"So Neji—He's going to—" Hizashi resisted the urge to vomit. "I need to talk to Asuka."

When she found out, she immediately burst into tears.

The guilt swarmed his stomach, clouded his thoughts. He shouldn't have ever brought her into this life. This wasn't the life she ever wanted. How could he be the one to cage her? He continued to apologize to her until she yelled at him to stop.

"I don't care what life I live! My cage is only a cage if you two are not there," she cried. "But Neji…"

Their child had no idea what was going on. He just watched them as they held him, crying as a family. They always believed in the concept of freedom. That they would be able to make their own choices. Maybe both of them would still be free even with the cursed seal because being with each other brought them freedom. Yet to let Neji be branded without putting up a fight would cage them for the rest of their lives.

They tried talking to the elders. To negotiate a deal. To bargain out a solution where the no was happy but Neji was unbranded. Yet they stood their ground, refusing to give him the freedom he deserved. For all they cared, they'd rather unbrand Hizashi if it was possible than let his child be free.

So when Neji was four years old, the day before Hinata's birthday, they went to the Hokage. When Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't find a solution because apparently, he didn't want the entire Hyuga clan to turn on him or the village to lose their influence, Asuka and Hizashi resorted to the last act. They were furious that their village forced them to act this way, but Hokage granted permission for Asuka's discharge. She received a permanent leave that would simply say she left the village under unforeseen circumstances. She wouldn't be under any bingo book and she wouldn't be erased.

Hizashi wished he could follow his wife, but he had the cursed seal already. This was the best way. He was ok with living without Neji or Asuka if it meant that they could be free. He would do anything to make sure they would be free.

In the middle of the night, she left.

It was a tearful goodbye yet a quick one. She promised to send letters with her birds and pictures of Neji as he grew older. They would go to Suna because most of the people there used wind release, so she'd fit in well. She left flying. She always left flying.

He lay back in bed, sleep refusing to come. However, it wasn't even an hour before the main members barged in and cuffed him. They brought him into the meeting room, despite his struggle against them. This was where they would interrogate him and he would refuse to say anything about where his child would go. The cursed mark would probably be activated, they'd probably treat him worse than they already did, but he knew deep down it would be worth it.

Yet as he crouched on his knees and bowed his head, Hizashi heard a dreadfully familiar scream. His head shot up towards the direction of the sound, praying that it wasn't what he thought it was. It wasn't possible. How would they be able to catch her when she was the fastest shinobi in Konoha and she had a head start? The scream couldn't be Asuka's. It couldn't.

They had considered the risks before, yet how was it that she wasn't able to outrun them? She had massive summons which would act as another form of transportation if she happened to sense people chasing her. How in the world had they done it?

When they shoved her into the room and brought her to her knees in front of him while pulling Neji roughly by the arm, he felt his heart drop. He hadn't ever been so terrified in his life. What was going to happen now?

His father then entered the room with Hiashi, who quickly scanned the room and expression morphed into astonishment. Then it turned into anger and he glared coldly at the two.

"You should be much more subtle about your plans of escaping." the clan head spat. "One of the maids overheard your little plans. I expected someone of the most prestigious clan in the five great nations to come up with a better escape than on the night before their child is to be sealed with the curse mark. Do you know how easy it was to spring an ambush on someone unsuspecting and running in one direction?"

"You—"

"This should teach you, branch members, a lesson. Brand her first, Hiashi."

He protested at first, but with the stern look their father sent, he complied.

Hiashi put his hands together and formed hand seals quickly, then placed his palm onto her forehead. A piercing scream ripped through the air and he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Seeing her in so much pain and not being able to do anything was far worse than experiencing it first-hand. Neji started to cry as well, whimpering in the rough arms of two other main members.

"Mother! Help her! Mother! Father, do something!"

"I'm sorry Neji." Hizashi choked. "I'm so sorry."

"Mother! Mom! Mommy! STOP IT, UNCLE!"

Hiashi looked to their father who didn't seem to feel any remorse for the screaming woman on the floor, clutching her head in pain. Suddenly, his father formed another hand seal and the screaming went to an abrupt halt. The branch member was relieved at first, but he saw her eyes roll back and her body hit the floor.

"NO!" he shouted, panting, gasping for air.

Her face was still in pain as she lay dead, killed by her own father-in-law. Her hair seemed to lose its shine, her body lost its elegance. This had to be a bad dream. It all had to be one extremely bad dream.

Neji was released by the guards and he immediately crawled to his mother's side, shaking her shoulders.

"Mommy," he said softly. "Mommy wake up."

It broke his heart to see his child so innocent, tainted by the cruel ways of the clan. The mark had only burned on her forehead for a mere minute and now it was gone. The mark played two uses: one to inflict pain, the other to seal away the Byakugan once someone was dead. Yet without one, for Asuka that meant that the seal would kill her instead.

"Mommy!" Neji cried, starting to sob. "Dad! Mommy won't wake up!"

"I know, Neji," he said softly. "I know."

"Make her wake up!"

"I can't, I'm so sorry."

"Bu—But Daddy, you can do anything."

"Daddy can't make mommy wake up—"

And suddenly he couldn't hear himself anymore. Once again, the agonizing pain of the activated seal burned through his temples. Yet just before his vision clouded into red, he saw a glowing green hand press onto Neji's forehead. He immediately grabbed for his son, trying to keep him from the pain. Pure determination was enough to ignore his temples throbbing but his father increased the agony.

The red started turning into white and he saw a familiar figure, now full of life again. As she started coming into view, he was about to run into her arms again until she ran at him first. Her ponytail flew behind her and she quickly pushed him back where he came from.

"Not now, Hizashi," Asuka said, her voice blurry in his head. "You aren't going towards the light until I say so."

He went back into consciousness and his eyes shot open. The pain was much less now but it still hurt. No one was in the room anymore. There was only him, Asuka's body, and Neji. Suddenly, his eyes shot over at Neji, who was sobbing by his side, head buried in his knees. He looked so vulnerable, was so vulnerable, and he swallowed thickly. On his forehead was the cross of the Kanji and two lines beside it, painfully familiar. It was identical to his.

"Oh Neji," he said softly.

His son's face shot up and he wrapped his arms around him, hugging his father close. "You woke up!"

"I did. It's ok, you're safe."

"My forehead really hurts." he whimpered. Hizashi hadn't even seen anyone looking so scared.

"I know," he said softly. "I know, Neji, but it gets better, ok?"

"Does it?"

"It does," Hizashi assured, though he only referred to the immediate pain. The other pain, the pain of losing someone you loved and the pain of being caged, didn't always get better. "Let's get you some bandages and an ice pack ok? And we're gonna go to Uncle Kenji's house so you feel better."

Kenji gave Neji a very small dose of morphine and offered some to Hizashi, but he refused. He said that he should probably not be under any influence when he said what he was going to say. He started off by breaking it directly. Asuka died.

His teammate blinked, then again, then again, then ran to the bathroom and vomited. The retching sound wasn't as disgusting as the sound of heartbreak. When he came back and Hizashi asked if he was feeling ok, all he said was that it wasn't important. Of course, he wasn't feeling ok, but Hizashi no doubt felt worse so he had to be there for them. The three boys headed over to Kazane-sensei's house to break the news to her as well.

Their teacher clutched at her chest and she was trying to hold everything back. She was usually the one comforting them but it was something they had to grieve together. When Kazane-sensei could breathe again, she rubbed Hizashi's shoulder, the way she always would when he was angry at the world back when he was a genin.

"After my fiancé died, I thought nothing could get worse than that. We were young, 26 years old, and our wedding was in a month. I told myself there was no reason to live. He was the person I loved incredibly deeply, also the person who loved me deeply. On the day we were supposed to get married, I was about to kill myself." The two jonin looked at her, surprised. They never heard this part of the story before. "You don't hear about it a lot, but when someone desperately needs a deceased loved one and it is impossible for another to fill their place, that person can reappear to guide you. That day, he put his hand over mine, lifted my blade away from my neck, and he saved me. Hizashi, you'll see her again. Don't you ever believe you won't."

"I saw her," he replied and Kenji stared at him, listening carefully. "The curse mark was about to kill me too and I was in so much pain that I could even feel my mind preparing to shut down all my organs. I was running towards the light, but she pushed me back and said that Neji needed me. How many times will I be able to see her again?"

Kazane-sensei looked out the window to a swift that was fluttering away soundlessly. "They say that there is no limit, but if one will put themselves purposely in danger to see the deceased, then nothing will happen. I believe that I haven't seen my fiancé again because I have found others to help me ease the pain, though I'm sure that when I am close to death, he shall guide me to heaven. I'm sure Asuka will be there too."

All three passed out in her house that night, though neither of them really slept at all.

Unbeknownst to them, that day, ninja in Kumogakure had come to sign a peace treaty, only to kidnap Hinata. War seemed to be breaking out once again, and the Hyuga clan was furious. Kenji babysat Neji as he attended the conferences to figure out what to do. That week passed by very slowly, as no one was able to find any solution as they demanded Hiashi's body, who was the clan leader now.

Identical twins shouldn't look so identical, with the same length of hair, posture, eye colour, skin tone, face shape, and voice. Yet at the same time, they shouldn't be so distinguishable by a single glance. From the back, you may not tell the difference between Hyuga Hizashi and Hyuga Hiashi, but one look in both of their eyes and they were about as similar-looking as a kunai and a shuriken. One held burning hatred in his eyes, the other with no emotion.

Yet in Hizashi's eyes, underneath all the hatred at the clan for killing his wife and branding his child, you could find a little love. Love for Neji, love for the village, even a little love for the brother who even though caused him a lot of pain, spared him lots as well. He could take the place of Hiashi, as they looked identical, and his Byakugan would be sealed away. It was a foolproof plan.

But was he willing to sacrifice his own life, to leave his son's side and to be unable to help him grow up into a fine shinobi, unable to stand at his wedding, unable to meet his grandchildren?

He excused himself from the meeting. They had one day left to figure out a plan. He needed to visit the cemetery.

Something was off about her gravestone that day. The flowers he left on her stone hadn't wilted yet. It seemed as if birds were always singing around her, even in death. He liked to believe that her summons sent them to remember her by. They were always loyal to her and she was always appreciative of them.

"It's ironic, isn't it," Hizashi mumbled. He really thought they made it. He thought that she was right, that every concept she changed his mind of, really did benefit him. "We survived the Third Shinobi War, were war heroes, but still you die because my family killed you. I thought we'd die on a mission and I guess that's how I wanted us to die. That's probably why they tell you never to let your guard down."

Hollowness was now eating him alive.

"I can save the clan's secret," he said to her.

Sometimes she talked back to him. It only happened in dreams or the moment before he fell asleep, but he knew it was more than just longing. His imagination wasn't strong enough to completely smell her shampoo or to feel her fingers in his. She only came when he needed her and longer for her the most. Yet her voice was always hazy, being in a dream and all.

"I can save the village from a war," he said.

The choice sounded so easy. He could give up his life. He would give up his life.

"But Neji...he's going to be alone. He—he just lost you. He just received a cursed seal. I—I want to see him grow old." Hizashi choked. "He's the one who keeps me from dying. I would have died with you that day. I would follow you anywhere, even to heaven. But no matter where I follow you, I can't let him die."

The birds silenced, quieter than their wedding, quieter than her funeral.

"Asuka...I don't know what to do."

A tear streaked down his face and a hand was on his shoulder. A presence was behind him and he turned around to meet her warm brown eyes. She was just as beautiful as ever. Much better than how he had last seen her. Hizashi desperately grabbed her hand, and though it was not warm, it was enough. She was translucent, clear enough to be a spirit. She was half-present.

"Oh, Hizashi. You know deep down what you're going to do," she said softly. Though her hand was cold and her body translucent, her voice was just as rich as it used to be.

He put his hand on her jaw, brushing back her hair reminiscently. "I don't know if it's the right thing to do. I—how do I leave him? How can I leave him? He'll be alone like I was and I promised myself I'd never had a kid who didn't have any love or—"

"Hey," she said soothingly as he trembled in her arms. "He won't be alone. He'll have a team. He'll have a wonderful sensei. He'll have friends. We'll still be there for him. He'll always have us. Neji will forgive you. He'll understand when he's old enough."

"Do you visit him?" he asked.

"You can only visit the living in dreams or truly desperate times."

"I'm going to die," he said, voice shaking. Hizashi bent his head over her shoulder and she held him, in the way she'd always hold him. He wanted her to stay. For her never to let go.

His eyes closed and she pushed him back lightly, cupping his jaw with both hands. He felt her breath near his face and wondered if she was going to kiss him. He longed for her kiss again, just once more as he lived. There was a pause, then he felt his wife's lips on his, slowly sealing into his mouth perfectly, the way they always fit.

Her lips were slightly cold, like the brush of the winter wind. He softened into her embrace, his body melting from its stiffness. She pulled away devastatingly slowly, first her face, then her hands, then her body.

When he opened his eyes, she was gone.

He barged into the conference room nearly two hours after he left.

"Let me take Hiashi's place."

It was safe to say that every pair of white eyes stared at him in confusion.

"Excuse me?" his brother asked.

"I'll take Hiashi's place. Give them my body in exchange for Hinata's."

"Lady Hinata," one of the elders corrected.

"I'm sacrificing myself to save this damned clan and this village!" he yelled, before going on to explain his plan. "They cannot tell the difference between Hiashi and I. My Byakugan will be sealed away and Hinata will return to the village safely."

"You can't." He was surprised to see that Hiashi was rejecting his idea. "I'm going. I'm the clan head. She is my daughter. It is my responsibility to take care of it. I don't want to command you to die, brother. I have controlled your fate enough."

"You have," he said because his brother had controlled every bit of his life until this moment. He had only learned to be happy about some parts of it. "Yet this is of my own choosing. I am dying for my brother, for my family. I refuse to die for this wretched clan who chooses to kill its own members off like pigs for slaughter. I shall only die for my family and my village. I shall choose my own fate."

The elders looked at each other, then at Hiashi, who was still reluctant.

"I will spend my last day with my child. I would like not to waste a minute of my time left. I shall come back at midnight so we can go to Kumogakure."

He left the room at once, heading straight to Neji's room. His son had been training his Byakugan so he already sensed him at the door.

"What a pity that you were not born into the main house." he sighed, ruffling Neji's hair.

"I know, father. You've already told me." he smiled.

"Do you feel improvement?"

"I do, father."

"That's good."

"Will you help me with dinner?" he asked.

"We aren't going to be eating with the other branch members?"

Hizashi shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "I'd like to try and make herring soba. Does that sound good?"

"It does, father."

It was quite sad that Neji viewed cutting fish as training, rather than just a time to bond. It appeared as if the competitive nature of the Hyuga clan had already got to him.

When he asked if this would help him wield a kunai, he shook his head and said it would help him with being able to cook excellent meals for his loved ones. He was pleased with the answer and continued to slice the herring.

The soba was ready in a bowl of broth, half a fish on their bowls for each. Neji happily ate his meal, without a care in the world. Hizashi hoped the rest of his life would be in a similar way.

"How is it, Neji?"

"It's good, father," he said politely, slurping on them eagerly.

"They say food tastes better when you make it yourself."

The four-year-old shrugged. "It's not as good as mother's."

"If it was, then there would be a problem." he chuckled lightheartedly. Although the meal couldn't even compare to Asuka's cooking, it still brought back a wave of nostalgia.

"I miss her," Neji mumbled.

"I do too."

Neji listened to Hizashi's tales of being a shinobi that night. He told her about how he met his team, their first day together being the first bonding moment. How they had his back since the first day and how he followed Asuka's commands literally blindly. He told him of their first mission, their first real mission, the chunin exams, all of his battles, all of her battles, the night she kissed him on the cheek and Hiashi's jealousy.

His son took great interest in his mother and uncle's chunin exam battle, how she used birds to defeat her enemy. He explained how his mother was always free, unlike him. He told Neji of how the love of his life introduced the concept of freedom to him and the concept of being caged. Unfortunately, death may be his only freedom now. Yet being here with his son in his last moments may be freedom as well.

He told Neji of the first summoning contract she developed. He told him about how they used the birds to spy on Hiashi's lessons so he could learn the main house jutsus. He told him of the pranks Kenji would play on them and how his teammate and sensei would occasionally throw their prosthetics at them abruptly, never failing to catch them by surprise.

He talked about little things like how she would use her wind jutsu just to listen to the leaves rustle in this air or how she walked like royalty but was born an orphan. He told him of the big things like the first time he told Asuka he loved her, the time he proposed, the time she told him she was pregnant, the first time they held him in their arms.

He talked about himself too, like how he hated the world for making him the younger sibling. How he saw death as finally being free. He talked about fate a lot because he truly believed in it at one point. He talked about the concepts he never figured out and all the ones he did.

Neji was wide awake the whole time, almost as if deep down, he knew that this was their last moment.

Minutes before midnight, he tucked the small child in, kissing him on the forehead, and telling Neji to always be brave and to remember that his mother and father love him. Lastly, he told him to always spread his wings as wide as he could and to soar. He nodded and drifted off before the lights even went out.

Arriving in Kumo was a blur. He could barely focus as they took back Hinata and led him into a room with concrete walls lit by torches. He didn't comprehend the chains around his wrists or the way he knelt on the floor.

The blade of the sword against his neck wasn't as cold as he expected it to be.

"May you give me one moment to think before I die?"

They had enough mercy to let him take a breath, holding him tightly in the chains.

"I'm facing death," he whispered, in acceptance, without grief. "May I see you for another moment as my feet are still with the earth instead of the sky?"

When he didn't feel the cut of the blade, he looked up to see things moving so slowly that the rest of the world seemed frozen.

His breath caught in his throat the same way it had done millions of times before, and there she was again, this time on her knees before him, in front of him, smiling warmly. She didn't look as ghostly as the last time she appeared at his desperate moment and her body was much less translucent, though she was very much still a spirit. He assumed that she looked almost alive because she was here to take him to heaven.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"How am I supposed to feel?"

"I didn't expect to die, so trust me, it was a surprise to wake up in heaven," she said lightheartedly. "Everyone will feel differently. So, how do you feel?"

"I'm not sure. Possibly disappointed that I do not have more time to spend with Neji, that it is so early. However, I am ready." Hizashi breathed, staring into her eyes, hoping she wouldn't vanish. "Will you stay as I die?"

"Of course I will."

"Does it hurt, Asuka?"

"Until your heart stops."

"Will you walk me home?"

His lover's face softened from the sad look at seeing him die, to a reminiscent one. Usually, he asked to walk her home and this time, it was her turn.

"You don't have to ask."

Time unfroze, and there was pain. He felt himself getting dizzy, and his eyes drifted closed. As his grip on her hand loosened, hers tightened. It felt like sleeping at first, feeling extremely tired until a hand shook his shoulder awake. When he opened his eyes, everyone was where he left them, but the room was brighter, and her hand was warm instead of cold.

He sat up and carefully ran a hand down his jaw, to his neck where the blade had pressed. There was no cut, no scar, nothing. The jonin felt lighter, saw his bloody body on the floor, lifeless. He started to leave his human form and his wife helped him from it and then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he was in the clouds. Hyuga Hizashi was finally free from everything, even the concept of dying.

It really has been quite a ride developing Hizashi's character, especially since I have no references to see how others would write him romantically. I saw so much potential in his story so I had to grasp the opportunity. Unfortunately, I don't see myself writing much more of him but it was very fun to play with. I wanted to play with as many Team Gai parallels as possible, such as the relationship between Kazane and Kenji, Hizashi and Asuka, yet not copying it. The idea of Asuka was written in trying to find the parts of Neji that could possibly be different from his father and I took the bird symbolism quite a bit further if you've noticed. Lastly, in Hizashi and Hiashi's relationship, it was pretty challenging to try and portray hate and love at the same time. I think that Hiashi's reluctance to hurt them played a big part over why Hizashi ended up saving him, mostly because in the end, the intent is everything.

Please review, as I'd love to know more of your opinions on this story.

Love you all!