The Law for Traitors

Author's Notes: The seven distances of relatives execution law was inspired by how the emperors in China used to do things… when a new dynasty came into power, they would often execute seven distances of relatives to the previous emperor to prevent themselves from getting overthrown by the last royal family. Females escaped the purges more often than males, but the environment was very patriarchal back then. In the world of Naruto, I believe there is more equality, so I did not allow the extra leniency to females. The waiting for a week before execution is inspired by an old custom for one of the more ancient civilizations. It was supposed to allow the prisoner to suffer for the limited life span left.

Writing this was a personal challenge for myself. It was originally intended to be only Hinata/Sasuke and Itachi was not even in the plans. The story wrote itself and I was led by my mind as it instructed me on what to do. I found doing this of great amusement as it brought up old memories of stories I have written before for reminiscing and was… interesting, to say the least. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I liked writing it.

When he had stood in the doorway on his last morning with her, she should have known something was amiss. But attempting to respect his introverted manner, she had assumed he would be able to settle it all himself and left him to his own devices. It was a few hours later that she heard her husband had assassinated the Hokage, leaving her stunned and nearly weeping in horror and disbelief.

"There is nothing you could have done," her cousin, Neji, consoled her. "He was set on doing what he did. We should be surprised he did not do this sooner."

Hinata looked down at her hands and replied, "But Naruto was our friend." She felt rather helpless at the latest turn of events. "He brought Sasuke back to Konoha and helped him get started with his honor again, and…" the female trailed off.

Neji put a worn hand on her smaller one in silent support. There was nothing either of them could say. No matter what anyone might say about Uchiha Sasuke, Hinata only knew that he had looked at her with the eyes of a man determined to do something and uncaring of what might happen in his journey to reach his goal.

That afternoon, a few relatives from her maiden family stayed with her, mostly males of the Branch House. The Main House could not be bothered to see her, as she was technically an Uchiha now, and they placed a higher value on their time. Branch House males were generally reserved for guard and message duty.

When Neji noted that she needed more feminine comfort, Hanabi was sent to keep her elder sister company. Some of Hinata's friends dropped by with information, but Hanabi always silenced them. She would go to see the people who called at the door. There, they would murmur quietly about the information the caller had brought before showing the person in to see Hinata. It was unnecessary for the Lady Uchiha to know how her husband had fled after assassinating the Hokage or how he had tested his new Magekyou Sharingan on pursuing ANBU. She did not need to hear details about the Hokage's body, which was now a pile of ashes with tatters of his official robes scattered on the ground.

But she did.

In the darkness as night entered the Uchiha compound, Hinata waited for her children to fall asleep before carrying them to the sitting room and waiting. She was not left alone in her vigil. Her sister was still with her, as was her cousin, Neji. The Hyuuga guards outside were silent, as were the three in the room. There was no need to speak.

No one needed to tell Hinata that her husband was a traitor or remind her of what awaited a traitor's kin. Shinobi had to be acquainted with the laws and were supposed to study them while attending the Academy. If Sasuke had never felt anything for her, she would not have been surprised to learn it. But he must have felt something for the twins who were currently asleep upstairs. She had sometimes seen him smile to himself in a fond manner while looking at their son and wistfully soften his eyes while gazing at his daughter. It was difficult for Hinata to believe that Sasuke could have done what he had, knowing that as soon as he committed the act, his children would die for his crime. She spent the night in slight terror, relaxing as she caught the reflection off the white eyes of her sister and cousin and stiffening as she remembered her children upstairs.

The next morning, four ANBU came to the compound. Hanabi led them inside to the sitting room. They did not speak right away, but they seemed to glance at Hinata and her children, who were currently breakfasting in Hinata and Neji's arms. Immediately, Hinata knew why they had come.

"They are children," she protested in a quiet voice.

"They are a children of a traitor," answered one of the masked ninja, "and will grow."

"The law is set," added another. It was an ancient law, from more barbaric times. If someone were to assassinate a Village's Kage, all of his kin to seven distances could be called for execution.

Neji stood up and handed the child in his arms to Hanabi. His voice was firm as he spoke. "If you are determined to carry out the task, at least be decent about it. They are mere babes and cannot possibly understand what wrong their father has done."

One of the ANBU sneered, "We know what we must do, and you are lucky you are not being taken into custody along with those children." It was fortunate for the Hyuuga's that they were the oldest family of Konoha. Not to mention, the death of seven distances' worth starting from Hinata would impact the forces of the Leaf greatly.

The Hyuuga genius stared at the ANBU who had spoken with unblinking clear eyes. "If I must, I will die, but those are children who are less than a year old. I know you are a father yourself. You could at least let the---" Neji cut himself off abruptly, realizing that he should be more delicate with his choice of words. "…this be done properly," he amended.

The ANBU leaned back slightly in discomfort, both from the stare and from the words. "We must do this. What can you expect from us? Get Uchiha's wife away and give us the children."

"I am coming with you," replied Neji. Hinata gasped and clung tighter to her daughter. How could her cousin do this to her? He was standing by almost serenely and allowing the ANBU to take her children. When Neji took the child back from Hanabi, Hinata fairly leapt at him. "I am sorry," he murmured before temporarily paralyzing her and taking her daughter as well.

Hanabi caught her sister and held her up so that she could see Neji disappear through the door with the twins in his arms and four ANBU following. There was an audible thud as the door closed behind them when they left the compound. It was then that Hanabi undid the paralyzation Hinata had been trapped in. The soon to be bereaved mother fell, exhausted, into a chair.

There would be one week of waiting, and then her children would die.

"Why did he do this?" wondered Hinata out loud after she had calmed somewhat. "He knew what would happen if he did this." She spoke softly and almost weakly. In a way, she wished Sasuke had been caught so that she could ask him the question and hear his reply.

"He wanted revenge," answered Hanabi truthfully. "You know what he has always tried to achieve." She poured another cup of tea for her distraught sister. "Drink this and then rest."

The elder attempted to push the drink away. "No, I cannot. Merely imagining what is happening to my children right now…"

"There is nothing we can do at this time. So rest first."

Hinata saw the logic of her sister's words and slept most of the morning away, as did Hanabi.

Neji returned in the evening with a mask and an assignment of his own. He quietly shook his cousins awake when he entered the room and saw them sleeping. His steps were slow and measured. When he looked at Hinata, his eyes told what his duty was. She requested that he first tell what happened to her children.

"They put the twins in the hospital with ANBU guarding the room, because of how young they are," he told them.

After a few moments of silence, the sisters embraced before Neji took Hinata to the prisons.

The next morning, she was out in the forest, looking for Sasuke. There was nothing else she could do. By assuring the Council that Hinata was most thoroughly a Hyuuga, Hanabi had managed to get her sister freed--- but not the children. It was with Hanabi and Neji that she now searched. It had been simple to get the papers to leave, considering the Hyuuga Clan's position in Konoha, but their task would still be difficult.

The Council had ordered her son's death within the week but the Hyuuga's were appealing for her daughter's life. It had come down to whether or not the children possessed the Sharingan eyes. One of the arguments Hanabi had used was that Hinata had the Byakugan, not the Sharingan. Of the twins, the girl had the white eyes of a Hyuuga, but the boy had his father's black eyes, implying that he would grow up to have the Sharingan. She had to find her husband.

There was a low, mournful wail suddenly, and it took her a moment to realize that it came from herself. The world felt cold and heavy. It seemed to weigh her down, and she slowed her leaping in response. Soon, they came to a river and stopped. She pushed aside the cloak she wore and buried her face into her jacket's thick cloth on her arm. She might have sobbed, if it were not for the fact that she came from a caste that rarely showed emotion. It was useless for her sister and cousin to turn around to give her privacy, since all of them had full sight of every direction except for a small area called their blind spot, so they stayed as they were: facing her.

Hinata undid her outer clothing and stepped into the river until it lapped against her chin. It was like a liquid blanket of safety against everything outside. The slight chill of autumn came through suddenly, and the feeling of safety left. Instead, it was the memory of her husband's eyes as she last saw them, with the silent determination. She stepped further into the river, not quite sure of what she was doing. Neji stiffened in alarm when he realized what was happening and stepped out onto the river, using his chakra to stand on the water. He signaled for Hanabi to stay on the bank, because her fourteen-year-old strength would be little help in the situation. When he had run out to where his submerged cousin was, he pulled her up and carried her to the bank.

It took a bit longer to get her mind there as well. Hinata kept thinking about what had happened. In the year and few months she had been married, she had become accustomed to her husband's strange silence at times and allowed him to be as he was instead of pressing for answers, believing that when he was ready, he would explain. Mayhap, she now thought, it might have been better for her to know.

It had not always been this way. When the Hyuuga Clan had arranged the marriage, the man they had chosen was well off, respectable, and influential. Sasuke had returned from his second stint with Orochimaru, after helping Naruto to kill the Sannin. Considering that Orochimaru, with Kabuto and Sasuke's help, had killed Tsunade and Jiraiya, some people had originally doubted the Uchiha's loyalties. However, when Naruto returned, he loudly proclaimed that Sasuke was a true Leaf shinobi and helped his friend back into society. Uchiha Sasuke needed someone to help him rebuild his clan, so a few days later, he had put in a bidding for Hinata's hand. They accepted, and he seemed pleased with her when they met formally at the engagement party. When the twins had been born, he had been satisfied and sometimes held them.

After that, the trouble began. It might have been because he had finally children to carry on the Uchiha name that he turned back to his old goal of killing his elder brother, Itachi. Hatake Kakashi had been the sixth Hokage, but he stepped down and named Uzumaki Naruto as his successor approximately a year and a half later. It had been Naruto's first day of unofficial duties as Hokage when Sasuke killed him. Although the official ceremony might not have taken place yet, Naruto's robes and activity at the time should have hinted what he now was.

But in spite of all that, Sasuke most likely would have killed Naruto, anyways. Like many humans, Sasuke dwelled on the thought of revenge too often. He had grown possessive of Naruto's company after the birth of the twins, possibly waiting for an opportune chance to kill him and gain the ability of Magekyou Sharingan. He had tried to rile Naruto many times, to provoke him into attacking first. The other boy seldom was roused by the bait and usually laughed it off. But once, for one time, instead of laughter or slight sparring, insults were exchanged, which Sasuke took to heart. The next morning, he had sought to heal his wounded pride by murdering his best friend and rival.

"Hinata!" cried Hanabi, as she tried to shake her sister out of the stupor she had fallen into.

The older female glanced, unseeing, at the speaker and recollected another time Hanabi had called to her in that way. Hinata had been outside, tending to her garden, with the twins near her. The call had startled her, and she looked up to see Hanabi and Neji coming towards her. They had led her into the Uchiha compound with her children and gently explained what had happened to her husband. Apparently, he and Naruto had gotten into a fight, but it had been broken up before anyone could get too injured. Both had been beaten senseless and were taking a stay in the hospital. She had wanted to go to her husband, but the Hokage had said that no one would be permitted to visit either of the boys for the duration of their stay. From Hanabi and Nei's observations, Hinata also had her guess confirmed that when Sasuke was not pretending to be stable, he alternated between fits of reflective revenge and an unfeeling ruthlessness. Though the latter might be useful for his mission duties, the former could threaten those around him.

"There is nothing we can do for him," Neji had stated.

"He just lies there and stares murderously at the wall," added Hanabi, who had been one of the ANBU assigned to guard Sasuke and Naruto's rooms.

"What else could the Hokage do? Both of them are too powerful in Konoha, and it is a choice time to get rid of one--- or both--- of them." Hinata forgot which one of them had said that when she asked why she could not visit her husband, but it was true.

It was a week before the Lady Uchiha saw her husband again. The sound of his steps were sharp as he walked into the compound between two Hyuuga guards. His eyes were emotionless and he kept a careful blank façade to hide his feelings. He gave a careless glance at his children after the guards had left. When one of them started to cry, Hinata quickly hushed the child. She recognized that Sasuke had to be alone.

She had been afraid that he might commit suicide for a period of time following his return. A day after he resumed residence in his ancestral home, Neji and Hanabi came to visit him. They had Hinata retreat to the upstairs with the twins while the two Hyuuga's extracted an oath from Sasuke that he would not kill himself. In low, harsh voices she could barely catch, they told him that killing himself was precisely what Itachi might have wanted and he ought not give his older brother the satisfaction. She was unsure of whether or not it was a kindness. In the somewhat equal but still more patriarchal modern society, women were created and trained to survive such abuse. It was often their lot in unhappy times, but the honor of a male could not bare it.

Of course, it was not until now that she realized the "killing himself" meant going after his older brother for the revenge he had desired for so long.

Sasuke did not leave the Uchiha compound for a while. He brooded in the training area by himself, destroying several dummies. A messenger from the Hokage came a few days later, saying that he was promoted to ANBU. A few weeks later, he was promoted to being an ANBU squad captain. She saw less of him after that.

At that point, Neji became a regular visitor to her compound to see to her welfare and that of the twins. He had been named Hanabi's protector by this time, but Hanabi sent him to guard her sister. The younger had become ANBU already, though not a squad leader, but she could quite easily defend herself. The other Hyuuga's had decided that this was a good idea, as it would look rather badly if the sister of their heiress were to suddenly die in such a way that might have been prevented with a more capable fighter nearby. So it was, that he often stayed the night and slept in the nursery adjoining Hinata's rooms when duty did not call him away. It had been his support that helped her to get through many of the days.

Hinata had often depended on others to help her confirm her beliefs and feelings. But what could anyone do now? Exhausted by the lack of sleep for two nights in a row and the stress of recent events, she collapsed.

By the river, outside of the musings of Hinata's mind, Hanabi and Neji looked at each other before glancing down at the Lady Uchiha's body, which was limp between them. They knew that she would refuse to go back, so there was no choice but to continue on. Silently, the boy took up his cousin's body and followed Hanabi through the woods to find a shelter.

For three days, they searched for Uchiha Sasuke, but he was nowhere to be found. Their tracking methods were imperfect, but risking interference from an outside party was not an option. There were ANBU searching for the criminal as well. The three had to avoid them while following the broken links of the traitor's trail. They were able to find that he had gotten to a certain place, but there were no more traceable marks of his presence traveling outside the area. At that point, Neji and Hanabi had to return to Konoha because if they stayed any longer, people would question their activities. With the assurances from the other two that they would make excuses for her and supply the documents to support their claims, Hinata stayed to continue searching.

She found an Uchiha the next day, but not the correct one. She sensed something moving and activated her Byakugan to see an Akatsuki member. Immediately, she started leaping away. Unfortunately, Orochimaru had not feared Uchiha Itachi for nothing. He caught up soon enough and focused his attention on his brother's wife. The way he eyed her was not so much a brother seeing a sister-in-law but that of a scientist observing an experiment.

"Wait!" gasped Hinata when he was standing in front of her. Mayhap… he could help. It was her only choice.

Itachi looked at Hinata with a cool, nonchalant gaze and remarked, "If you came to plead for your husband, I have no intention of sparing him."

She faltered in her step, but still spoke. Her voice quavered as she forced out her appeal. "I know my husband intends to confront you, but my children are to be executed. My children have nothing to do with this, his desire for revenge. They will not be returned to me."

The man's façade was firm. "Did you know what he planned in the course of his revenge?" It referred to the Hokage's death.

"No," denied she. "He did not speak to me of it."

"You heard nothing?" he questioned, his voice naturally calm as a result of much practice.

Though no thoughts could be gleaned from the tone, the inquiry seemed to suggest he had doubts. It was all Hinata could do not to throw herself at his feet to beg for his assistance. "Nothing! At times, he brooded, but I did not interfere with his reflections." The intensity of his dark eyes examining her was becoming unbearable. "Please, I never knew what he planned. My children are merely babies. Your nephew and niece should not have to pay for his ill-timed crime."

Itachi seemed to become more interested at the mentions of his brother's children in the possessive form indicating his relations to them. "I will do what is decent, but no more than that. I have no desire to father children, but I cannot allow my family's lineage to die out yet," he stated. "And mayhap, it will be your children who will seek to take their revenge on me."

"My children will know better," said Hinata in a barely audible voice, still half in disbelief at his words. He would give her what she had asked, and it was enough. Pity was not something she had expected from her brother-in-law.

At her words, he gave a wry half-smile, as though he no longer knew how to express the emotions other people knew. "Then they will be wiser than my brother."

"Thank you…" murmured Hinata.

The other looked vaguely irritated at being thanked. He seemed about to say something, possibly an admonishment, but turned his head almost imperceptibly when he sensed something. "Mayhap you should know one more thing," he remarked. "Your husband will die today."

She was unsure of what to make of the words and thought she might have heard them incorrectly. The battle that would decide whether or not Sasuke would have the vengeance he craved for would happen today, then, and there would be only one survivor. She was unsure of how she felt about the statement issued so certainly. If Itachi won, Sasuke would never be able to complete his dream. And even if Sasuke were denied his idealized solution, he would have exacted a terrible revenge for his failure upon those left with the assassination of the Hokage and the execution of his children.

It was at that moment Uchiha Sasuke rushed into view. He saw his wife and his brother both standing in the branches of the trees before him, both seemingly at peace with each other. "And now you steal the rest of my family!" he shouted as he prepared to fight.

The battle was shorter than it should have been.

And Sasuke lost.

When Hinata returned to Konoha in the night, she was told that her children were still in custody. She did not speak of the events in the forest, for there was no need to tell of how her husband was defeated and his corpse burnt to ashes. She should have been back long before.

"There are several imprisoned now. The Hokage tower guards at the time, the people on duty at the gates when he escaped, and some I do not know."

"Why is nothing else done besides arresting people?"

"The Council has not ordered otherwise. No one dares to do something that might not be to the Council's liking. Hatake Kakashi, who stepped back up as Hokage, has been too busy with paperwork to take time to coddle the Council currently."

"And my children?"

"They are still to be executed. The appeal for the female child was unsuccessful."

After the Hyuuga messenger gave the answers, Hinata knew that she would have to appeal directly to the Council for the lives of her children. She did not know what Itachi planned, but being in his debt worried her. She would have to take a step herself. There was always a chance that the Council would order her death again, but her heart was heavy enough for her not to care. She would ask them to spare the lives of her children. It mattered little if she would be imprisoned and her body incinerated after her death. She informed the messenger of her decision and asked him to bring news of her plans to her sister. He nodded obligingly and rushed off to find Hanabi.

When Hinata returned to the Uchiha compound half an hour later, Hanabi and Neji were waiting. There was no need for them to ask for confirmation that her request had been declined, for she looked pale and wan and had no babies in her arms. The three sat in silence for a while before dispersing.

Another messenger came with information on the sixth day.

"They found Uchiha's ashes and hitai-ate," he said shortly before fleeing the area. She wondered why he had left so quickly and also why her sister and her cousin had not been by to visit her. Shrugging lightly, she decided that they were most likely busy with something or another. She had no way of knowing that they were under temporary house arrest for allowing her to leave Konoha with them on their "vacation", as the papers had said.

On the seventh and last day, she was given Sasuke's ashes by a dour-looking, sulky ANBU, along with a cruel reminder to attend the public execution of the "traitor's children". She thanked him politely and closed the door. The ANBU lingered at the entrance a moment longer to see if he would hear any sobs, but was disappointed and left. When Hinata could no longer sense anyone nearby, she put the ashes into a pouch and attached it to her waist. The scattering of the ashes would have to wait for a more opportune time.

When it was time for the execution, she could not bear to go. She activated the Byakugan and saw many people walking to see the deaths of the traitor's kin. It was appalling to think that so many, young and old, thought that death could be a wonderful spectator sport. With a sinking feeling inside, she realized that Itachi had not come to rescue the twins. They would die and she would be left alone. Fatigued and shattered by the supposedly broken word, she fell asleep at the table, the pouch holding Sasuke's ashes clutched tightly in one hand.

"He was not a very bad child," someone said as Hinata awoke.

She looked around her in astonishment. The first thing she noted was that the twins were by her side. She felt ashamed of having doubted Itachi suddenly, but pushed the feelings aside to focus on the children first. It had been a week since she had seen them. They seemed as delighted to see their mother as she had been to see them. To her relief, they had not been treated badly while waiting in the hospital for their execution. The twins were as healthy as they had been before.

"I am, of course, speaking of Sasuke," Itachi continued. He had been facing the other direction, doing something, but now turned to look at the bereaved female. "Ever since he was old enough to understand things, he has been hearing stories about his genius older brother. There were some who considered me ill-favored and would speak of it. He sometimes hit them but then would come back to my father and ask if it were true. There was much gossip about me, and it was almost impossible that some of it would not be known to him."

There was a pause here as he thought about how to continue. Hinata licked her lips nervously before turning her oculi to her children's rescuer. "I do not understand," she whispered.

He seemed not to hear her soft interjection. "He looked up to me because of how things were," he continued. " People told him what they thought of me, and he believed it. He was determined to train hard so that he could grow up to be a true shinobi… and so that he could grow up to be like me."

"He never told me of such things." Indeed, all Sasuke had ever mentioned when he spoke of his relationship with his older brother was that he wished to kill him.

Something in Itachi seemed to snap closed. "He grew up." The answer was brief and almost curt. A reflective look came into his dark eyes as he continued, "Boys at a certain age bring their troubles home to speak about it. He had always wanted to grow up quickly so that he could be noticed."

"Please," she pleaded, hoping that he would stop speaking.

The Uchiha genius ignored her and went on. "He was not a bad child at all. He was a fine boy amongst all the more grown-up people such as my father or myself."

Unable to stop herself, Hinata closed her eyes and felt the tears she had held back for so long finally coming. "You are tormenting me with something that will never be."

"I thought it might be a good thing for you to know how well he was in his youth." He glanced at the children in her arms. "I slaughtered all members of our clan except for the two of us. He was seven at the time. Seven is a reasonable age to start growing without a mother." Hinata unconsciously tightened her hold on the twins. "My aunt drowned her infant son before following it with suicide when I killed her husband. She believed my rampage had been her fault and that it was best her children die and then herself." He looked harshly at his sister-in-law, paralyzing her to the spot in fear. "You will make sure my nephew and niece survive."

His words from before came back to the clear-eyed female suddenly. "I will do what is decent, but no more than that. I have no desire to father children, but I cannot allow my family's lineage to die out yet." What had he saved them for? It was difficult to believe that there was no exterior motive. Either way, he had given them this chance… "Yes," she agreed quietly.

He relaxed somewhat and drew out a pouch from somewhere inside his robes. "My brother's ashes?" he asked.

She nodded in confirmation.

"We will scatter them tomorrow, since there is no one else to do so." He slipped the item back into his clothing. "He might have succeeded, if he had only waited. He was probably pushed into this… both coming after me and killing your Hokage."

"What do you mean?" she wondered.

"There were those who wanted Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi vessel, dead and there were people who wanted Uchiha Sasuke, Orochimaru's former apprentice, dead. There were also those who had wanted both deceased. They just had to know the right person to speak to and the correct way to push. Sasuke was revenge-driven, making him ridiculously easy to manipulate. And as we all see, they were able to succeed." He paused to measure his words. "That is why there are missing nin. In the Hidden Villages, there are mobs--- controlled mobs, but still mobs, nonetheless. Outside, it is not so much what the mob demands but what an individual values."

She nodded, though almost unaware of what she was hearing.

"We will scatter his ashes tomorrow," stated Itachi before he left.

It was more than a full year before Hinata returned to Konoha. That was how long it took for Kakashi to get the ancient law for traitors repealed and for the Leaf shinobi to find Hinata and her children. Many letters had been written to and from the Hokage's tower to the Council Chambers before the law had been abolished. After getting a signed scroll announcing that the Uchiha twins were not to be executed, people were deployed once more to search for the missing twins and their mother. Many of Hinata's old comrades were in the first few squads tasked to search for the Lady Uchiha and her children.

Itachi had made the disappearance of Sasuke's family seem like a kidnapping, so he could not just drop her and the twins outside the gates of Konoha as soon as he learned that his relatives were no longer to be executed. It was quite bothersome, but as he had said, he could not allow the Uchiha's to die out just yet. On the day he planned to allow her to be found, he took her and the children down to an old lab under the forest floor near Konoha.

"You were taken for the Byakugan," he told her as he used chakra to bind one of her wrists to a crib.

She nodded to indicate that she understood.

He glanced at the two toddlers, who were inside the crib and standing on the sterile white paper, with an almost regretful look. He had watched them grow for twelve months and contributed more than a bit to their education. While Hinata was eyeing her children wistfully, he took the opportunity to daze her with a jutsu. For a moment, he considered removing her memory as well, since her acting skills were imperfect. The benefits would be considerable, but he decided not to after a few more moments of contemplation. He would rather they all remember Uchiha Itachi.

Barely audible steps signified his leaving. There was no point in staying. He would return later if his relatives were not claimed after a while, but first, he had to go up and make the entrance to this lab more obvious.

A little less than four hours later, Hyuuga Hanabi and Hyuuga Neji found the lost Lady Uchiha and brought her home.

She returned in the autumn, which soon became winter. "Winter" only meant a cold season, for it rarely snowed in Konoha. It was a pity, she thought, for she liked the precipitation that was the same color as her eyes. On these cold days, she spent her time indoors, tending to the twins. She often had assistance from members of the Hyuuga Clan sent by Hanabi.

On one day, when she expected another elderly matron to come visit her, a tall, familiar figure walked down the street. Recognizing who it was, she went to open the door for him immediately. "I came to visit the twins, but I also wanted to see you as well," explained Neji.

Somehow, Hinata sensed that he was no longer speaking as her cousin and of a relative's duties. "What is it you wish?" she asked as he entered the doorway.

"You are too young to be a widow. Your children should have a father again."

Indeed, her maiden family had implied that they would find her a new husband. She had not expected it to happen so soon. "Who would be the groom for a traitor's wife?"

For a moment, he wavered and seemed to think about leaving the topic. Hinata knew from that what his answer would be. However, a Hyuuga did not anticipate; they used facts. "I do not have a wife," he started bluntly, "though I am of marriageable age." He hesitated and took her hand before continuing. "But I can say that I do not keep late hours at drinking establishments or spend much time reveling, and I like children."

That last part she had known without needing to hear him state. He had often smiled over their heads in the darkness on the nights he stayed so long ago. That alone was not enough to consider such a union, though. "Shinobi sometimes spend long times away. What would I do with an absent husband?"

"I will not be going away. My position in ANBU will keep me in Konoha for a while."

Hinata breathed in deeply before replying. He must have made a request and been approved, because ANBU could generally be assigned anywhere. "Did you do this for me?" she asked softly.

He was silent.

"Why would you want a widow as your wife?"

He twitched slightly, startled at the directness of the question. "I know where your children received their courage, and it was not all from their father," he said slowly. "Will you, Hinata?"

She slipped a hand in his, and from the slight smile he gave her, she felt that she no longer had to be courageous alone.