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Hana
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When Hana first met all these people, they were kind to her. Under Sakura's appearance, it was easy to blend in, talk freely, and even laugh. The years she spent away from Konoha almost made her forget the one time when everyone liked her, when a simple smile on her part would open all the doors. But now, she has to get used to a completely distinct reality, one in which she has to ignore everyone's glares of mistrust and tune out their hateful comments.
"Isn't she the girl who tried stealing Sakura-chan's life?" a man asks Kakashi, eyeing her while playing with a senbon in his mouth.
"Aa," is the only thing the silver-haired man answers.
"And now you're telling me she stole Wolf's body?"
"Only after he almost killed her," Hana answers with a fake smile, pointing in Kakashi's direction.
The man throws his head back in laughter. "Right."
"Genma," Kakashi begins, but the said man interrupts him.
"You look different, though. Younger than expected. You still have Wolf's squared jaw and everything, but isn't your face rounder?"
Hana hurries to look the other way, and a curtain of hair shields her face from view. "I don't know what you're talking about," she answers under Kakashi's burning stare.
"And Wolf's chakra is running havoc in her body," someone says behind her, and when she swirls around, her wide eyes land on a handsome man with long brown hair and lavender eyes.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto brushes past her and throws his arms around a petite girl with silky hair standing a few feet behind.
Hana remembers pieces of information about the Hyūga cousins, like some of the Byakugan's abilities, and curses inwardly.
"How interesting," Kakashi says, wrapping a hand around her shoulder. "Care to elaborate, Neji-san?"
The man shrugs. "It is seeping out of her. I predict she will soon run out of it." Again, Hana ignores Kakashi's gaze, even though she feels drawn to it. Neji steps forward, arms crossed, and instead, she focuses on the muscles of his forearms moving as he clenches his hands. "Where's Sakura?"
"We got... separated," Kakashi answers, and even though he makes it look like it isn't a big deal, Hana can feel the shame radiating from him.
"Separated?" Neji repeats, his jaw clenched.
"He means she sacrificed herself for Naruto's sake, and now she's in hiding with her one true love," Hana says, and upon noticing the twitching of Neji's mouth, she snorts. "Don't tell me you thought it was you."
"Hana!" Naruto exclaims, brows furrowed while Hinata makes her way to her stoic cousin.
Hana ignores them and walks through the crowd of accusing bastards to the sake bottles laid on the table. She fills two cups and returns to Neji's side, under scrutinizing gazes and heavy silence. Her eyes stare into hard lavender orbs, and she forces a cup into Neji's hand.
"Sakura always had good taste in men," she says, raising her cup to her lips. "I'll be in my room if you wish to continue this conversation alone." She gulps down the sake and slams the empty drink against Kakashi's chest. With one wave, she's out of the kitchen area, strolling towards her room.
Someone falls into steps behind her, and a smirk stretches on her lips.
"I wasn't talking to you," she begins. "Although I'm sure Sakura appreciates the attention of her dear sensei for more than one reason." She trails off and enters her room.
A flirtatious smile makes her way to her lips when she hears the door close behind her.
"That's not why I followed you," Kakashi counters, arms crossed.
Hana sighs, drops to her bed and throws her arms up. "Then why are you here, Kakashi?"
"I need to know. Why did you decide to come with us? And why were you with Itachi and Kisame in the first place?"
"You already know the answers to those questions."
He snorts. "I've only heard your lies, but what I'm asking for now is the truth, Hana."
She glares at him through her long eyelashes and takes a moment to appreciate how the candlelight accentuates the curve of his broad shoulders and the sharpness of his jaw under his stupid mask.
"I didn't lie. I followed you because, of all the people I've met in the past four years, you and Naruto are some of the only ones I feel comfortable around."
Hana can swear she sees Kakashi's hard stare soften and hopes it isn't out of pity. "And why were you with them in the first place?"
"Kabuto told me the Akatsuki would have answers for me. I've been disappointed."
"Why would the Akatsuki have intelligence on you?"
"I don't know," she settles on answering, avoiding his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to help Naruto with the resistance? Because it mostly seems that you're obsessed with me, Kakashi."
"I'm not. But working on my team's and village's safety is part of my tasks."
"I'm not threatening anyone," she counters, picking at her nails.
"Genma is right, you know. You look younger than you should and less and less like Wolf."
She shrugs. "Maybe your memory is just failing you."
"And what was Neji saying about your chakra?"
She hums. "Neji. What a fine man."
"If I don't trust you, they won't either. This means you are officially banned from the kitchen area. Only when you start talking will you be allowed in again."
"And what if I'm hungry?"
"I'll send Naruto with a bowl of ramen once in a while."
She wrinkles her nose. "Am I under arrest, Kakashi?"
One corner of her mouth lifts upward upon seeing the effect of her flirtatious voice on him. She sees his jaw clench first, then he hurries to engulf his hands in his pockets and diverts his gaze.
"Stop playing with fire, Hana."
And without so much as a glance, he leaves her room.
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The next few days went by slowly, and except for Naruto and Kakashi, Hana didn't get to see anyone. On the first day, she tried listening to the conversations by enhancing her hearing with chakra, but the action turned out to be taxing and unsuccessful. Then, she wandered around the meandering corridors, sending longing glances at Sasuke's old room and stopping every time at the top of the stairs leading to Kabuto's office.
Hana has always prided herself on being unaffected by most things. She likes how annoyed the great Hatake Kakashi can be when he's unable to read her facial expression or guess what she truly feels. It's a feat Hana has learned as far back as the orphanage — in her other life. But when it's about Kabuto and everything that happened in his office, with or without her consent...
She sighs and drops to the floor, knees up to her chest, eyes glued to the bottom of the staircase. And to think all that pain had been for nothing, that she's slowly losing Wolf's chakra... She has always felt empty, but this is of another kind.
Her thumb traces one of her many scars absentmindedly. What will happen to her when she has nothing but muscles to protect herself? What will she do?
She engulfs her head in her hands at the realization that without Sakura, she's doomed to live a miserable life.
"Is your offer still standing?"
Hana snaps her head up to look at Neji's standing form. He's wearing a blank face, but something in his eyes betrays him.
"I didn't know Hyūgas could crack jokes."
"Sakura taught me."
She nods. "Are you two together?"
Neji shrugs and takes a seat beside her. "I think so. But she's a civilian, so we had to keep it a secret, and I don't think she liked that part very much. And now that she's alone with Sasuke... I don't know where we stand anymore."
"Sasuke will break her heart again," Hana begins, eyes glued to the ground. "When she returns, she'll be more than willing to move on. I wouldn't worry if I were you."
"Thanks." She can feel his burning stare, so she lifts her gaze. "You're much nicer than they led me to believe."
"And you're less constipated than you look."
Neji chuckles, shaking his head, before stretching his long legs down the stairs. Hana admires his profile for a while until their eyes connect again.
"Like what you're seeing?"
She sighs and copies his posture by unfolding her legs. "What do you want? I'm surrounded by handsome men. It is driving me crazy."
Neji says nothing, but his eyes trail down her form appreciatively. "You're not bad on the eye yourself, Hana-chan."
Hana suppresses the uncomfortable feeling brought by this suffix and the memory of the only two men who ever called her that. Even out of Neji's mouth, it sounds cold and calculated.
"I have a question," the man says, snapping her out of her thoughts. She inclines her head to the side to show she's listening, but keeps her gaze staring down the stairs. "Was it all for Sasuke?"
She frowns. "What? What are we talking about, exactly?"
"What you did to Sakura. Was it because of Sasuke?"
"What I did to Sakura... I did nothing to her, Neji-kun. I prioritized my safety over hers; that's it. It has nothing to do with Sasuke. I don't know why everyone is so bent on seeing me as the bad guy. In the end, she survived, thanks to me."
"But she wouldn't have needed you in the first place if you hadn't-"
"Get your facts straight, Hyūga," she snaps, interrupting him. "It's not like I had a choice in the matter, either."
"You could have stayed. Or at least not involved Uchiha in your schemes."
She rolls her eyes. "Why are you complaining? I made your life easier, didn't I? Otherwise, Sasuke and Sakura would still be together, and you'd be alone."
She thought Neji would keep on arguing. Instead, he seems to consider her words for a while.
"But you two have been together after that, haven't you?" he asks, taking Hana off guard.
"I don't think Sasuke would call that being together, but yes, I guess you could say that."
"And yet, you keep believing you did what you did, only to assure your safety." She casts him an annoyed look, then gives him one sharp nod of her head. "There was no jealousy involved at all?"
Hana narrows her eyes as her pulse quickens in anger. "Again, why do you ask? Why do you complain? It's been to your advantage all along."
"I'm just trying to see if I can understand you. If I condemned or not what you did."
"Why? It seems like everyone else has already made up their mind about me."
"Yeah, but I've not always been a nice guy. Sakura made me a better person."
Hana can't help but snort upon hearing that. "Of course she did."
"I'm jealous, even maybe angry. And there' are a lot of things I want to do to hurt them both," he continues, as if she hadn't interrupted him. "But I don't know if I should do them."
Hana holds his stare for a while and finally notices some things about Neji's appearance. A pink tint colours his cheeks, his eyelids seem heavy, and since the beginning of their conversation, his whole body has been angled towards her, leaning dangerously close.
"I know they say revenge is a dish best served cold," she whispers, leaning closer to him until the characteristic smell of sake enters her nostrils, "but as of now, revenge has been nothing but a good friend to me. I assure you, you'll feel better once you've embraced it."
That's a lie, of course, but Hana has become very good at uncovering men's desires and knows that's what Neji wants to hear. Her hand lands on his thigh, and she leans even closer, her eyes unwavering from Neji's lavender orbs.
He closes the distance a second after, his lips moving roughly against hers, his tongue demanding, fingers digging in her short, silver hair. The exhilaration of the kiss makes her heart beat faster, and her heaving chest attracts his attention when he leans back to catch his breath.
"We should go to your room," he rasps, hands now fumbling with the fabric of her shirt.
But by now, Hana's gaze has returned to the bottom of the staircase, and the memories of Kabuto's office are enough to clear her head. She shifts away from Neji's hands. "I believe you got your revenge. If we go further, Sakura will definitely hate me. And I can't afford that."
Neji sobers up and jumps to his feet with widened eyes, talking to himself. "What the hell did I just do? Maybe she didn't even do anything with him..."
Hana snorts at that. "Of course she did. He wouldn't have been able to stop himself. But they don't belong to us, and if we really care for them, we must let them go. That's the only way you might have a chance, Neji."
"So you admit."
"Admit what?"
"You love him."
Hana wraps her arms around her knees. "I don't know if I love him, but I care for him. Yes."
"Then why did you let me kiss you?"
She snaps her head towards Neji upon hearing his accusing tone. "Don't pin that on me. Since when does a civilian have any say on what a Hyūga can or cannot do? You kissed me, and I didn't push you away because Sasuke does not own me, and I always feel lonely. Then you were willing for more, and I said no."
Neji holds her glare with a just as challenging one. "Well, now I get why no one chooses you over her."
Hana reaches for her protruding sharp bone the second his words are left in the open, but Neji doesn't acknowledge her fighting stance, only turns his back on her.
"Keep the little chakra you have for a fight you might win, Nezumi."
She throws the bone because there is no way she would hurt herself for no reason, but he sees it coming and sends it away with one swirl of chakra. After a warning glance, Neji leaves the vicinity, and Hana drops back to the floor, feeling empty.
"That went well."
She closes her eyes in annoyance upon hearing Kakashi's voice. "Were you there from the beginning?"
"I caught the last part only. And I'm probably not the only one. The voices carry easily in those corridors."
"I see she's always falling for assholes," she says, ignoring his answer.
"I don't think Sakura ever felt for Neji what she did for Sasuke. That's the problem. Hyūga loves her and expects certain things from her she cannot give him. Not right now anyway... But I don't think he's an asshole. He's just hurt and lost."
"Just like Sasuke," Hana whispers with a shake of her head.
"Mmm. Maybe. But I was going to say, just like you."
"I might hurt all the time, but I'm not lost. I know exactly where I stand and where I'm going."
"You want to see Sakura again," Kakashi states, and Hana realizes she's less and less surprised by his perceptiveness.
"She's the closest thing I have to a family." Kakashi says nothing, but Hana sees him nod from the corner of her eye. "I want to go with you to Danzo's vacation house."
She can feel Kakashi's calculating gaze assessing her and keeps her poker face on.
"Why? Sakura is more likely to get to this hideout first."
"I have a feeling that's not how things will unfold. Sasuke and Naruto are like magnets. If Naruto is over there, then that's where I should go."
"But you wouldn't be going for the right reasons."
"Because you would?"
He holds her gaze for a while, pondering. Then he shakes his head with a sigh and says: "We're leaving tomorrow, at dawn, Neji included. Be ready. We won't be waiting for you."