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Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, otherwise the NejiTen would be canon.

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Enjoy.

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Chapter 3. Apparition I

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The week before the Christmas vacations he had seen a sign in the common room of his house, it wasn't very usual that there were, so he read what it was about. It was an announcement from the Ministry of Magic in which they talked about the additional course that students could take to learn the ability to Apparate, there was the value, which was for students from sixth year who turned 17 before the start of the new school year. In other words, all sixth year students, although it also opened the door for seventh year students who hadn't enrolled the previous year or failed the final exam.

Enrollment would take place upon returning from vacation, along with the corresponding payment, and then during 12 weeks an instructor designated by the Ministry would teach the classes on Saturdays. So there was time to think and be able to decide whether or not he wanted to learn that form of transportation, and whether or not he wanted to spend his Saturdays that way.

Money didn't worry him, his family was wealthy and although being a minor his uncle was the one who controlled his finances and the inheritance that his deceased father had left him, the man gave him more than enough money to buy whatever he wanted. What had him thinking was whether or not he wanted to learn how to apparate. While it was an efficient form of transportation, it had its risks of being done wrong and required an advanced level of magic to be able to master it, so not just anyone would sign up for classes. It was well known that the risk of getting it wrong was always there, and that some veteran wizards had suffered at least one splinching once in their lives.

On the train back to the city to later go to the mansion, he heard his companions talking about it, neither Hidan nor Sasuke were interested in learning it, according to them the traditional ways of transportation were enough and neither were they thinking of spending every Saturday for a couple of months in an additional class whose grade wasn't even a requirement for graduation. He was still thinking about it, considering precisely the usual ways of transportation didn't really appeal to him.

He wasn't a big fan of flying on a broom, the first thing is that the great heights gave him a bit of aversion, the second thing was that the wind while flying made his long hair tangled and always when he landed he had to spend at least a couple of minutes to return it to its usual appearance. Portkeys were very practical and fast, he couldn't deny that, but they had the limitation that if they hadn't been previously approved and put in place, they couldn't be used, that is to say, they depended on the portkey being in place, the route already existed and that limited the places to which people could go. The other usual way was the Floo Network, or traveling between chimneys connected by using Floo powder, in his concept that shouldn't even be an option for any self-respecting wizard or witch.

Well, he had to correct himself, arriving at the destination covered in ashes didn't always happen. Unfortunately not all wizards did proper maintenance and cleaning of their chimneys, so he tended to avoid using them. Although being a minor it was the quickest way when he had to accompany his uncle somewhere, besides it didn't require a license. Because to apparate required a license given by the Ministry only upon passing the exam.

His uncle hated enchanted cars because he said they were impractical, he knew Hiashi had the license to apparate but he didn't like to do it. He wasn't going to ask him why, he just decided that he would take the classes, learning something new wouldn't hurt. It was important that it would also be a good way to entertain herself on Saturdays and by the time he came of age, he would choose from his options how he would transport himself.

The atmosphere at the mansion hadn't changed much, when he had started his second year his cousin Hinata had arrived at the school for her first year. He remembered perfectly well that from his table he had paid attention to the moment his cousin passed to the Sorting Hat chair, he had to disguise his reaction when he heard the voice echo with a clear "Hufflepuff". The hat hadn't even hesitated or taken longer as with some students, for example himself the year before, and through his mind only went the possible implications that was going to have when his uncle found out.

Hinata was the first Hyūga not to go to Slytherin, not only that, she had been left in the house that Hiashi always described as the place of the mediocre. The comments at the time from his housemates weren't long in coming about being a disappointment, for his part he wouldn't say it out loud, but he admitted that he had never managed to imagine his cousin in his house's signature green. That was why he had sought her out and spoken privately, seeing that she seemed justly happy not to have been sent to the viper's nest. He didn't blame her, it took a very strong personality to survive there.

It wasn't that he thought Hinata had no personality, it was just that her character was too noble. And at the way her father rejected her, she had only lowered her head but she didn't look as affected as he had thought she would be, she wanted to be true to herself and to the memory she had of her mother, the woman had always been kind and she wouldn't stop being that for any reason. Her plan when she finished school and came of age was to leave, to find a place where she could be herself.

Hiashi hadn't shouted or sent a Howler, first and foremost he kept up appearances in front of others and didn't let the real annoyance of having a daughter who in his concept had disgraced the family name. Swearing never to speak to her again and that he would disinherit her, he could not throw her out of the house to prevent anyone from investigating why there was an underage witch wandering around, but it was clear that as soon as she turned 18, he didn't want to see her again. Showing in the few moments that father and daughter crossed paths in the mansion that for the man it was almost intolerable to breathe the same air, diverting all his attention to his youngest daughter, Hanabi, and to him for that matter.

Since that Christmas vacation of his second year it had been clear that his uncle was now pinning his hopes on him, that it was his responsibility to represent and uphold the family's reputation. That was why there was always the constant responsibility to have near perfect grades in his subjects, including that in his fifth year when he had to present the O.W.L., he had the constant pressure not to fail any subject and that his lowest grade was an 'Exceeds Expectations', an 'Acceptable' wouldn't be allowed under any circumstances.

Apparently his uncle was also starting to make plans for what his future would be once he graduated, he had heard the man mention in a meeting with other wizards that he was interested in dabbling in the political arena, having a Hyūga for the first time as Minister of Magic. It was that moment when his cousin's idea about going to a place where she could be herself didn't sound entirely far-fetched to him, he didn't want to be Minister, he wanted to be able to live in some of the visions the mirror gave him.

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When he had found the mirror of Erised in his third year he had thought it was foolish, remembering the phrase he had read in a book, «Men have wasted away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible.». That time he had believed that it was utterly impossible for such a thing to happen, and that if it did happen it was because the wizard or witch deserved it for allowing themselves to be blinded by false images.

And then he had seen that first vision, to date he had lost count of all the things he had seen in the mirror, but that first one he remembered perfectly. That first time he had seen his father's face smiling proudly in his direction, his face completely clean and without any of the scars that the dragon pox created on him as the disease progressed. Instead the man had what appeared to be the beginning of the color change in his hair, that appearance of a few gray hairs that denoted the passing years and that he was no longer as young as he once was. His heart had been beating fast the whole time he stood there immersing himself in what he was seeing without knowing what exactly to think.

That time he had returned to his room, thinking about it while he told himself that it was all false and it wasn't worth the trouble to waste his mind on it. Yet two weeks later he had returned, somehow seeking to get back that feeling that had invaded him in the time the vision lasted and that in no other circumstance did he have.

The number of times a month he went increased as his years at school went by, becoming not a month but a week. Now in his sixth year he went almost every day, being scarce the days of the week that he missed, because that was the only place where he could have peace and somehow recharge himself to be able to continue with his life.

For that reason he had gone there on Friday after finishing his day, the next day the apparition classes were starting, and he was tired of listening to Sasuke and Hidan making derogatory comments about those who would take that subject, including him. That they would make fun of him or tease him was nothing new, it was all the same to him and somehow that was how his friendship with them worked. Although well, he wouldn't define his relationship with them exactly as a friendship, it was something more like hanging out with them for the simple fact of sharing a room and not being completely alone during the school year.

He should also keep in mind that it was a friendship based mostly on the fact that they were all from old families in the magical world, so they used to coincide in meetings that were made outside the school and attended by their parents, or his uncle in his case. All of them had great surnames of families whose lineage remained pure, that was what Hidan and Sasuke remarked the most while they looked down on the other students, mumbling among themselves every now and then that the magical world was decaying by allowing pure-bloods to mix with mudbloods and were plaguing everything with half-bloods.

The Hatake, who were Hidan's family, were an old family although not as old as the Hyūga. At gatherings they always bragged about Kakashi, Hidan's older brother, and how he had managed to become the youngest teacher in the school by being a prodigy in transfigurations. The older silverhair was a renowned animagus who since 3 years ago had become the Transfigurations teacher, and that implied that the younger silverhair now disliked that subject, avoiding even entering. He didn't have any siblings, so he couldn't quite identify with the rivalry shown by his classmate.

He could probably say that the issue of having siblings was something complicated in itself, not only thinking about his cousins and the rivalry that Hiashi had always tried to create by showing a certain preference for Hanabi, and later stopping talking to Hinata because of her being a Hufflepuff. But another clear example of sibling rivalries was the Uchiha brothers.

Itachi had graduated at the same time as Kakashi, and while many referred to the Uchiha as a prodigy as well, the man had shown no interest in teaching or working for the Ministry of Magic, preferring to move to another country and dedicate himself to the study of dragons. That left all of Fugaku's attention on Sasuke, constantly pressuring him to have excellent grades just like his older brother, while telling him that he should choose a career that had a better future. And clearly like any pure-blooded family, they expected him to help keep the lineage pure and get involved as little as possible with lesser beings.

That was why Hidan and Sasuke got along so well, they hit it off about having the pressure of an older brother overshadowing them, and that their families were purists. Well, indeed the Hyūga, Hatake and Uchiha could have been cut from the same cloth, Hiashi was also a purist and more than once had mentioned to him that it was his duty to continue to uphold the family name and preserve his important pure lineage. But then again, he couldn't care less about something as absurd as blood.

That Saturday morning when he woke up, he took a deep breath, he liked the prospect of learning something new, and it crossed his mind that rather than wanting to learn how to apparate, he was more interested in the opposite, disapparating.

Knowing that when the time came, he could simply disapparate, and if possible leave that life he didn't like behind.

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All corrections and comments are always well received, they help me improve a lot.

I hope you like it!

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Regards, Sally K.