20: Their Confronted Fathers

Hinata felt her stomach rise in her chest as the great glass elevator eased itself down in front of her father's home. The elevator kicked up a bit of snow and sleet as it landed, obscuring their view of the Hyuuga mansion. "Well, here we are!" Wonka-san said as he pushed a button, causing the doors of the elevator to open.

"W-Wonka-san…" Hinata said nervously. She wasn't sure about facing her father. Wonka-san gave her an encouraging look.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'm right her to help you along." He said.

The three of them walked out of the elevator and onto the snow-covered ground outside the mansion. Wonka-san put out an arm to Naruto, motioning for him to stop. "Little boy, would you be a dear and use your blonde shortness to watch over the elevator?" he said.

"B-but…" Naruto protested, "I wanna help you convince Hinata's father!"

"Ah, that won't be necessary. I'm sure we'll be perfectly capable of handling ourselves. Besides, Hinata should be able to show her own strength now." Wonka-san said, clapping Naruto on the shoulder. He nodded in agreement and waited by the great glass elevator as Hinata and Wonka-san walked ahead.

The two continued to walk up to the front entrance of the mansion when Wonka-san spoke up, "Oh, I see we're being expected…" he pointed ahead of them.

Hinata looked forward to see what Wonka-san was talking about, and nearly froze in her tracks. There was a long haired boy with white eyes standing by the steps of the front door, his arms folded and his white eyes glaring at them. Hinata shivered, not do to the cold, but of what the presence of this person might be.

"Do you know that boy?" Wonka-san asked under his breath.

"H-he's…" Hinata stuttered, "H-Hyuuga Neji, m-my c-cousin."

"Hmmm…I see…" Wonka-san said as they approached him. The boy met their eyes as they walked up to him.

"Hinata-sama," he addressed Hinata curtly, "why are you here? Who is this person with you?" his voice was a monotone, but held an underlying coldness.

"N-Neji-kun," Hinata shivered. "We're…I'm h-here to s-speak with my father."

Neji scowled. "Hiashi-sama said that you weren't to return unless you'd proven yourself to be stronger. You'll have to prove it to me." He raised his hand up and gestured for her to fight him.

Hinata trembled. She remembered the last time they had fought. It was during the Chuunin exam. Neji had almost killed her. She still had nightmares about it once in a while. While she feared her cousin, she knew what she had to do. She raised her arms and formed a similar stance.

Wonka-san, however, had stepped between them.

"Boy oh boy," he said jovially to Neji, who looked confused. "You sure look angry! A child you age shouldn't frown so much. It causes wrinkles, you know. I bet you'll lose at least fifteen years off of your life if you kept on frowning like that all the time. Geez, lighten up. It's snowing out, the sun is shining, you should be out enjoying yourself instead of standing here being all grumpy!

"Here," he said as he took something out of his jacket pocket, "have some of this, it'll do you good. You look like you haven't had any fun in years!"

Just then, he took what was in his hand and stuck it in Neji's mouth. Neji's eyes bulged with shock as Wonka-san pushed the thing into his mouth. "Now start chewing, it'll taste phenomenal!" he said.

And, as if on command, Neji began to chew. The dark look on his face lifted and he seemed tranquil.

"C'mon," Wonka-san said as he took Hinata's hand. "let's leave your cousin to his standing. We've got to speak with your father!"

And with that, the two of them entered the mansion.

Hinata walked into her father's sitting room, bowing as she did. Right across from her was her father, Hiashi Hyuuga. He was dressed in an elegant white robe, his long hair tied back almost exactly as Neji had had his. Her father's eyes were his most striking feature however, they were milky white, like her own, but her father's eyes were piercing and hard as steel. She felt that his gaze would be able to turn you to stone if you looked at him for too long.

Her father, sitting on a cushion on the ground, was lighting some incense on a table in front of him. The wall behind him carried a few candles for light. The coldness of the elements was quite apparent in this room, whether it was truly from the weather, Hinata thought, or from her father's personality.

"Hinata," her father said slowly, watching her make her entrance. She moved as carefully as she could, as if her every move was being examined and judged with the highest scrutiny.

"O-Oto-sama," she said, standing in front of him.

"Sit down, daughter," he said, gesturing for her to take a seat. She did. The floor was rigid, cold, and uncomfortable.

"Oto-sama, I-I've come t-to tell you something important," she stammered, "I-I've come to tell you about…w-what I've decided for my future…I want to say…"

"Hinata," her father interrupted, "I've told you before…I won't allow you to return to this house under my care unless you can prove to me that you are indeed strong enough."

"I know t-that," Hinata said, "I've come to tell y-you that…t-that…I am strong. I am strong enough!"

Her father gave her a bemused look. "Really?" he said, "From what I hear of it, you've been spending your time doing frivolous things. News has reached me that you won some sort of contest, allowing you a trip to some chocolate factory. Is this true?"

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond.

"It w-was in the n-newspaper…y-yes, I mean, yes…I did." She managed. "Oh, I have someone w-who can t-tell you a-about h-how I've become s-stronger. He's right b-behind me…"

Hinata turned around to look through the open door behind her where Wonka-san had stood waiting. Her mouth fell open.

Wonka-san was on his knees playing a clapping game with her younger sister, Hanabi Hyuuga. The two were clapping their hands together and chanting along. "Who can take a rainbow," they sang as they clapped, "wrap it in a sigh, cover it with chocolate and then serve it with a smile, the candymaaaaaaan, oh the candyman can!"

"H-Hanabi!" Hiashi yelled across the room. "What are you doing!"

"Playing a game," she called, her attention still at on Wonka-san.

"S-stop it!" Hiashi cried. "You're too old to be doing something like this nonsense!"

"Oto-san!" she called, giving him an irritated look, "You never let me have any fun!" she stood up and bowed to Wonka-san. "Thanks for playing, I'll see you later, ne?" she whispered to him. He nodded and smiled as she ran off.

"Who are you?" Hiashi Hyuuga called out to Wonka-san as he stood in the doorway.

"Who, me?" he asked playfully, pointing to himself. "Well…let me think. I suppose I'm the frivolous chocolate man that your daughter went to see today. Ooh, I'm also the man who, let me think, saw your daughter act with both compassion and kindness to others today as well." Wonka-san was now walking slowly towards where Hiashi was sitting.

"Oh," he continued, "and I'm pretty sure that I'm the guy who saw your daughter resist a major temptation in order to defend her friends, and I do believe I'm the hip groovy cat who witnessed your little girl come between two very angry shinobi and disarm them both, as well as convince them to follow a path of peacefulness."

By now, Wonka-san was standing right over the table near Hiashi. He took a seat right in front of him, then proceeded to lean over the table.

"Oh, and between you and me," he whispered to Hiashi, just loud enough for Hinata to hear, "I'm the shinobi who observed your little kunoichi perform the 'Hakke Rokujuyon Sho', which, if I'm not mistaken, is a high level technique only possessed by strong shinobi of the Hyuuga clan!"

Hiashi Hyuuga looked into the eyes of the man across from him.

"You saw this?" he asked defiantly.

"Oh yeah," Wonka-san said calmly, "totally. She landed a successive sixty four powerful palm blows on a ninja who had to be twice, if not three times as skilled as her!"

Hiashi turned to Hinata, his eyes wide.

"Hinata," he asked, "is this all true!"

Hinata nodded. "Hai, Oto-sama."

Hiashi Hyuuga sat back, letting his legs relax a little from his tense crouched position. He gave a small smile to his daughter.

"This…" he said, "…is indeed good news."

Hinata smiled.

Hinata walked confidently along the hall of the Hyuuga mansion, Wonka-san close behind. She wore a big smile on her face and her eyes were cheery.

"Well, that went well, wouldn't you agree?" Wonka-san said to her.

"Hai," she answered, "much better than I ever could have expected! Oto-sama told me that I can return and live in his house with him anytime I want!"

"I don't see why you'd want to," Wonka-san said, giving a bit of a shiver. "Such a cold and drafty old house. That place could use a bit of livening up!"

Hinata laughed. "He also agreed to your proposal as well!"

Wonka-san smiled. "That…was what impressed me. I wasn't sure whether he would agree or not, but I'm ever so happy that he did. Thing's are going to get much better now!"

The two of them walked out of the mansion and into the frosty air where they were met by the roaring sound of laughter. They looked out to see Naruto running up to them.

"Oi! Wonka-san! What did you do!" Naruto cried as he approached them. Hinata was confused and asked him what he meant. He pointed over near the great glass elevator. Hinata gasped in surprise.

She saw her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, rolling on the ground in absolute peals of laughter. She could see his normally grim face, totally alive with laughter, his eyes squinted shut as he continued to wheeze and titter and chuckle, right before roaring in laughter again.

"Oh my goodness! What's wrong with him?" Hinata cried.

"Nothing!" Wonka-san said reassuringly. "He looks like he's enjoying himself quite thoroughly. Though I'm not sure what the source of all this comedy is. I gave him a piece of Wonka brand Laffy Taffy, which I thought would lift his spirits a bit. I certainly see that it has."

They approached the elevator and looked at Neji, who had gotten up and staggered towards them. He gave a clap to Hinata's shoulder and held his side in laughter. "H-Hinata-sama (chuckle), It's so good to see you again! (guffaw) And Naruto! (hee hee) You're just as funny as ever!" he finished this sentence with a mighty laugh. He then turned and ran towards his house, leaving Hinata and Naruto quite surprised.

"Whoa…" Naruto said.

"Wonka-san," Hinata asked, "he's not going to be like that forever, is he?"

"No, of course not," said Wonka-san, "the effects of the candy will wear off in about ten minutes or so. I just thought that the boy could use a laugh, don't you?"

The three of them chuckled for a minute. Then, Wonka-san's face turned serious again.

"Hinata," he said, "I'm quite glad that I was able to help you with your father."

Hinata smiled, "I can't thank you enough!" she said.

"Well, actually, I was wondering…if maybe you would do me a favour." He said.

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond at first. There was something that Willy Wonka-san would ask her for help with? She looked at him and nodded.

"You see, I'm glad that I was able to help you with your father, but it has reminded me of my own family problems…you see, I have a father much like yours. We are alike in many ways. I haven't seen my dad in, like, forever, and I was wondering if…I mean, if you're not doing anything, if you'd…wanna help me go and see him."

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Of course! I'll go with you to see your father!"

"So will I!" added Naruto.

Wonka-san's face lit up with excitement. "Really! You guys would do that for me? Wow! Thanks a million!" he grinned a very large grin and opened the doors to the great glass elevator, inviting the two of them inside.

"We'd better get a move on! The day is almost through, and this is the biggest, most importantest thing yet!" he cried.

Pushing yet another button, the doors closed and the elevator rocketed upward into the sky. Hinata took a deep breath, thinking about all that had happened in such a short while. Not only had she been given an entire chocolate factory, but she had also made amends with her father at last. She could only guess at what Wonka-san had in store for her and Naruto next.