When Hinata woke up the next day, her windows were open, and a dove was perched on the foot of her bed.
The curtains fluttered in a breeze, and Hinata sat up.
The dove cooed and spread out its wings, then flew out of Hinata's window.
Hinata blinked sleepily and looked around her room.
"Neji-niisan?" Hinata called softly. The white curtains fluttered again in the cool morning breeze.
Hinata crawled out of bed and adorned a light over shirt. Was it a dream? Hinata's brow furrowed.
If it was a dream, then maybe Naruto didn't really-
Hinata hugged herself and inhaled deeply. She smelled of pine…Neji's scent.
Then….What happened at the ramen shop was…true…
Hinata felt tears form in her eyes. Suddenly, she blinked them away.
"No!" I promised Neji-niisan!" she muttered fiercely. "If…it was even real," Hinata added quietly. She stared off into space, but then suddenly jolted herself awake. She glanced at her clock, and her eyes widened. She was late for work!
Hinata hastily threw on her jacket and darted out of her room.
Neji's intense Byukagan eyes seemed to scrutinize everything in its path. He glared at the trees, the ground, his sensei, Lee, Ten Ten, then his hands. He sat perched in a tree, deep in thought.
Why was Hinata so…upset over that dropout? That loser?
Sure, Naruto beat him in the Chuunin Exams…but if he himself wasn't so careless, he would have won.
Neji shook his head. Naruto won fair and square. And Naruto was the one who helped get Sasuke back…without Naruto, the mission would have been in vain. Both he and Chouji had experienced near-death fights - Neji almost lost his arm and Chouji went into a coma. Naruto also…had saved Neji from the darkness.
Neji's fist slammed onto the branch next to him in frustration. Several birds, alarmed, flew from their perches and flew a distance.
"Eight birds," Neji murmured, "I missed one again."
A mere shadow rippled from building to building from Konoha's rooftops.
The sun had sun lower into the treetops, and threw shadows into stretched proportions. Finally, it paused on a tree outside of Hinata's window.
Hinata looked out and took a slight step back. A shinobi perched on the branch, smiling at her.
Hinata tried hard not to let her eyebrows rise.
"Yo," the shinobi greeted, waving a hand. She had long, dark hair that fell to the middle of her back. She had a loose over shirt that had sleeves that ended just after her elbows. Netted garments stretched out of the sleeves and hooked over her middle fingers. A thin wrap hugged her waist, and training shirts reached the knee. A forehead protector wrapped around her wrap. She dressed in simple earthy tones.
Hinata set down a scroll Tsunade had made her go home and study.
"Konnichiwa," Hinata began uncertainly. Hinata noticed that the shin obi's right eye was covered over with a thin ribbon, and a spark jolted through her body. "Anou…you seem familiar…"
The shinobi nodded happily. "You saved me!" Her uncovered eye curved into a smile. It was grayish silver color.
"Huh?" Hinata's eyebrows raised.
"Ahhh…I thought you wouldn't recognize me ," the girl sighed. "I'm the one you used your Byukagan on that one day…the Fifth Hokage was with you."
Hinata's eyes narrowed as she tried to remember.
A heavily bandaged body flashed before her, and Hinata gave a small gasp.
"Oh!" Hinata smiled shyly. "Gomen…but you healed so quickly!"
Something flashed through the shinobi's expression. Then she smiled. "All thanks to your Hokage."
Hinata raised her eyes thoughtfully, then drifted down to the girl's hitai-ate. "It's blank," she realized.
"Huh? Oh…yeah," she replied, then plopped down on the branch in a more comfortable position. "Thanks for saving me," she said, evidently trying to steer clear of the subject.
"Welcome," Hinata said, still slightly curious. She thought it would be impolite to ask after she changed the subject so abruptly.
Hinata turned around as the door opened slightly.
"Hinata-sa-" Neji began. "Hinata." He broke off when he looked at the person Hinata was talking to just then. "Who-"
"Yo," the girl smiled. "Name's Amemaru."
Neji's eyebrows rose, and hesitated before nodding once in acknowledgement.
"It seems that I have many visitors today," Hinata said, mostly to herself.
Neji's throat was dry. He was hoping to catch Hinata alone - he had wanted to speak with her. Neji needed to make an excuse for coming. "Uh, Hinata, ah, H-"
"Hokage wants you, Hinata," Amemaru said, breaking off Neji. He looked slightly grateful.
Hinata looked up from her hands. "Ah…hai."
She got off her bed. "I-I'll be g-going now, then…anou…you g-guys can talk i-if you want…uh…" Hinata hurried out of the room, her face flushed.
Neji's eyes followed Hinata out, then he looked at the girl claiming to be Amemaru. He made sure Hinata was really gone, then turned to her.
"Did Tsunade really need her?"
"Maybe."
"…" Neji glared at the girl.
"No."
Neji scowled, but kept silent.
"She blushed really hard when you came in," Amemaru said lowly. "I think-"
"We're cousins." Neji said flatly.
Amemaru grinned. "I know."
Neji's eyes sparked dangerously. "Omae…why do you have Byukagan? You're not a Hyuuga."
Amemaru smiled. "Oh, so you noticed," she murmured and jumped off the branch and into Hinata's room. She slowly undid the ribbon covering her right eye, and it revealed her closed eye. Amemaru closed both eyes, then opened them. One was gray, the other pale white.
Neji made a noise in the back of his throat.
"It's cool, isn't it?" Amemaru said, advancing on Neji. "But you know what's cooler?"
Neji stared hard at Amemaru, who was smiling vixenly at him.
"It's this…" Amemaru closed her eyes again, and when she opened them, one was red, one was white
"The Sharingan," Neji breathed. "What are you!"
Amemaru placed a cool hand on Neji's cheek. "Not what. Who. I am a person, you know. I have…" Amemaru brought her face close to Neji's and said softly, "feelings."
Neji took a step back, and his fingers inched toward his weapon holster. Shuriken of kunai? So hard to choose…though it should be kunai for close range.
"But," Amemaru drawled in Neji's ear, "I will tell you…that I am an…experiment."
Neji swallowed. Her aura was pulsating off her like waves of the ocean. Suddenly, he slipped his hand out of his holster and brought it up to slit Amemaru's throat. His eyes widened as Amemaru's hand stopped him effortlessly, even without her looking.
Amemaru leaned onto Neji.
"Get off me," Neji demanded softly. His eyes flashed dangerously.
Amemaru ignored him. "Neji-kun, you know why you only see seven birds and miss the eighth?" When Neji didn't reply, Amemaru continued. "You are missing something. Something important…"
Her voice lowered to a whisper. "You have strength, you are a genius, but you lack something important, very important." Amemaru spoke to Neji so that he could barely hear her. "Think about what I said before, Neji-kun. Then, all eight birds will be yours-"
Neji plunge his kunai into her heart, and she stopped dead. Her hand automatically went to the kunai embedded in her chest, her hand clutching at the bloody spot. Then, she raised her eyes level to Neji's and smiled. She vanished in a cloud of smoke.
"Doppelganger," Neji hissed. He turned and whisked out of Hinata's room.
Hinata let a way-haired shinobi pass as she stood outside the Hokage's door.
"Come in," Tsunade called wearily.
Hinata obliged, and walked in softly.
"Perfect," Tsunade said briskly as soon as she saw Hinata. "I have a job for you."
Hinata groaned inwardly. But it was true that she liked this job better than training.
Neji leaned against a tree. That girl earlier - she couldn't be older that fifteen, yet she was strong…and what was the deal with her blank forehead-protector?
Neji closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet dusk air. She was extremely odd indeed…
The image of her edging closer and closer…Neji let out a low growl. A Sharingan and a Byukagan together on one person - that was remarkable, and creepy at the same time. And she said something about being an experiment. Was she a product of the illegal shinobi testing he'd heard of? Maybe they've somehow enhanced her or maybe, just maybe, she could be the result of an Uchiha and a Hyuuga?
Neji shook his head. It's impossible. She said experiment. But then she could be lying. A voice said inside his head. Possibly…
Neji could've read the lie on her face; it would have been easy. She said it without hesitation and without a single flicker of emotion on her face. Her two mismatched eyes bored straight into his own. Neji was almost positive she wasn't lying.
Neji closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Byukagan!"
He let his mind wander in silence, then de-activated his Byukagan.
"Eight."
Neji threw an explosive tag over his shoulder, and closed his eyes. A small smirk played on his lips.
The tag exploded, and several strands of Neji's dark hair escaped his low ponytail.
Nine birds flew up into the air.
Neji's fist connected with the trunk. "Kuso."
There was something missing from his life, and he knew it. But what? More exuberant youth? Neji almost laughed out loud. Yeah, right. Females?
Neji prided himself in knowing that he did not have time to mess with the opposite sex; Shikamaru may be right, females are troublesome.
Did Neji need brains like Shikamaru?
Food like Chouji?
Spirit like Lee?
Bugs under his command like Shino?
Hair like Sakura and Ino? Again, Neji almost laughed out lout.
Fan girls like Sasuke?
A pet like Kiba?
Determination like Naruto?
Neji stopped himself from venting his frustration on the tree. Everybody had something unique to them! Even Sakura, who had pink hair!
What did he, Hyuuga Neji, have that nobody else did? He shared may of his physical traits with his father; long dark hair, deep, troubled eyes, and physical strength. He couldn't ask for more from that category.
It frustrated him to know that the freak of a girl Amemaru was right.
Neji stared up through the thin canopy of leaves above him to the darkening sky. The skies were flawless, unlike him. Like Hinata…
The snap of a twig brought Neji's eyes to a small person. Her arms were in front of her, as always, and she looked shyly up at him through dark, even bangs.
"Hinata-sama," Neji said automatically, too preoccupied with his previous thoughts to remember to just call her Hinata.
"Neji-niisan," Hinata said quietly, casting her eyes to the side. She inched slow to a tree, and attempted to hide herself behind it. Neji almost sighed in exasperation. Why was she so timid all of the time? It really bothered him how Hinata acted around everybody.
Hinata felt her face turn red. She wished that Neji would stop staring at her. She was still flustered over that fact that she cried so badly in front of him last night. Hinata edged along the tree and bit her lip.
The locks of hair beside her ears brushed against the side of her face and her eyes widened.
"Why do you that, Hinata?" Came a soft voice from behind her. Hinata gasped a little and spun around.
Neji stood motionless before her.
"W-wa-watashi-" Hinata attempted breathlessly. "I-I d-don't know."
Neji took a step loser. "Are you afraid of me?"
Hinata hastily shook her head. "N-no, Neji-niisan, I just-"
"You are. Why?" Neji continued softly. "You could stop me whenever you wanted. You could stop me with the cursed seal. Why didn't you? Why don't you?"
Hinata tried to flatten herself against the tree.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Neji said quietly. "Not anymore." he leaned towards Hinata and brushed his cheek against hers. Hinata's cheeks were so soft, so tender-
He placed a hand on the trunk on either side of her. He could feel her shaky breathing; her relentlessly pounding heart.
"I-I'm not afraid," Hinata finally murmured. Neji removed his right hand from the tree and gently placed it on Hinata's cheek.
"Then show me, Hinata. Don't flinch."
Neji had no idea of what he was doing. He could hear two sets of heartbeat, two sets of hitched breathing. He moved his face from the side of hers, then pressed his lips on her own.
He felt Hinata give the slightest flinch, and his heart jolted with disappointment.
Neji replaced his hand on the trunk and pulled away from his kiss with Hinata just as several objects sliced through the air and made him slam into her. He felt cold metal rip through his flesh and tear deeper into his skin.
Hinata gave a small cry. Neji stood firmly in front of her; he had used himself as a shield.
"Neji-niisan!" Hinata whimpered. She had just realized the blood trickling out of his mouth.
"Kkgh…"
Neji coughed out blood and spat it aside. "Hinata, get away," he muttered under is breath.
Hinata shook her head agitatedly. "No."
Neji growled. "Get away, you'll be hurt!"
"You cannot fight her alone, not with me here, Neji-niisan!" Hinata's body shook, but determination glowed through her eyes.
Neji hissed impatiently. "Hinata, you have to go! It is my duty to protect you with my life. Now go! Hayaku!" He removed his arms from either side of her and pushed her. "Go!"
Hinata bit her lip, then nodded hesitantly and disappeared.
Neji turned around slowly and gave a smirk. "You're back," he called. "Thought you wouldn't have the courage, seeing you used doppelganger on me last time. "
"Oh? Whoever attacks me first is dead, and you, Neji-kun, are one hell of a fight-starter."
Amemaru jumped down from a tree, her ribbon tied securely over her right eye. "Cousins, eh?" she smirked.
"Cousins don't usually kiss, you screwed up shinobi. Just like your name, Neji-kun." she smiled sweetly.
Neji closed his eyes, then activated his Byukagan. "Like that's going to work on me," he said, opening his eyes. "Come, so I can kill you."
Amemaru gave a mock bow. "As you wish, Neji-kun." she darted forward, pulling out kunai. They whisked through the air and Neji dodged them easily. He caught one, then reflected it back at her.
She whipped out a sword and blocked the flying obstacles.
"Your wimpy cousin - she just ran away like that. What a disgrace to the name of Hyuuga."
Amemaru halted and her hands danced through several katas.
"Don't you preach to me about us Hyuuga!" Neji snarled. "You don't understand us-"
Neji crouched down into his Jyuuken stance and waited.
"Fine, Neji-kun, I'll come to you." Amemaru sneered. "You stubborn piece of trash."
"…"
Amemaru held up a glowing hand. This is what I used on poor Hinata….It gave her a very realistic nightmare, ne?"
"So it was you," Neji spat.
"I'm so clever, ne? And the green hair you found…a figment of your imagination."
"Urusai na!" Neji snarled. He dashed forward and began attacking as fast as possible; he was trying to inflict as much damage as he could.
"Oh, I don't think so," Amemaru said breezily. She seemed to vanish into thin air right in front of Neji. He whirled around and there she was behind him. It was a matter of milliseconds; it wasn't human. Neji barely dodged a thrust and he twisted, jumping away. She definitely specialized in illusionary techniques; range was a big problem.
Neji jumped backwards a few more spaces. He needed to think it through. She didn't seem the type to specialize in weapons; she was a mind-tricking player.
Neji specialized in taijutsu; something she wouldn't let him have the upper hand of. He could somehow attach and connect something to her and send his chakra through it, just as he did to the sound nin…
Neji kept his eyes on the girl and snuck his hand into his back pocket. He felt the cool rings of the spools, and slipped his fingers through the holes. He drew his hand out and paused.
"Your illusionary technique - it fools with out heads - time doesn't stop. You make it sound as if you controlled time - you don't. You merely hypnotize your victim and move, so it seems that you have vanished, then teleported somewhere else." Neji straightened up. "Fake. And for your Byukagan and Sharingan - they're fake too. They're not real at all. They are just tools to help your time-meddling techniques."
"Oh, very good! I can see that your Byukagan is much better that mine…of course, mine was surgically attached, to me, so it isn't originally like this. You are the first to see through my attack strategy." Amemaru said. "Congrats."
"Shut it." Neji said, tightening the tie holding his hair in place. He brought a hand to his mouth, bit, then pulled it away, gossamer strands of metal string glinting in the sunlight. "Shikamaru's the one good at these things, not me, but this will do," Neji muttered.
He lunged forward and sprinted at Amemaru. Strings were connected from the fingertips of one hand to the spools on the other. "Hakkeshou Rokujuu Yonshou!"
His arms were a flurry of hits - two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four!
Finally, he pulled away and flipped backwards. Amemaru hacked and fell to her knees. "Omae…" her hand gripped the string and pulled at it, "It's stuck to me!"
"When I hit you with my attack, I shoved the sting and chakra in your tenketsu," Neji said. "Now…" Neji pulled on the string and brought it closer to him. Blue chakra surged openly through the strings and toward Amemaru.
She cried out as the glow met her skin.
"There's no way you can survive this," Neji smirked. "All sixty-four tenketsu in your body are hit and being deprived of your chakra."
Amemaru smirked back. Blood trickled out of her mouth. "I'm not…letting you get away…unhurt, Neji-kun."
Neji's grip on the steel string tightened.
Amemaru grabbed onto several of the strings and her illusionary chakra began to consume the string. Neji's eyes narrowed. He watched the glow slowly climb over his own chakra and toward his hands. His senses told him to let go - but his mind told him to hold on; Amemaru lasted only a little while more.
Amemaru coughed suddenly.
"Your chakra pathways are being destroyed. Give up," Neji said quietly.
"Heh." Amemaru murmured. Blood dripped from her mouth and onto the ground. "Neji-kun, keep safe in the next world," she smirked. "Because I'm gonna kill you."
"Na-" Neji looked at the green force that had already touched his skin.
"Now….Die!" Amemaru snarled.
Neji felt intense pain sear through his hands, his arms, his chest. His insides were burning as if they were on fire. Dimly, through the pain, he heard Amemaru cough and fall to the ground. He forced his eyes open and looked at his arms. The strange chakra was consuming him; he knew he had to let go but he couldn't. It was as if his hands were permanently attached to the string.
The pain seared through every inch of his body; it was unbearable. Neji let an anguished yell escape his lips and he felt his knees sink to the ground.
His eyes burned red - that was all he could see. Blood gushed up his throat and he felt it choke him, then splatter out of his mouth and onto the ground. It tasted of metal. The blood red in his eyes intensified, then relaxed and Neji felt light-headedness. Vaguely, he felt him become unbalanced and as though in slow motion,. He fell sideways onto the ground with a thud. The red in his vision edged with black, and Neji passed out.