Chapter 25
"Just so you know, since I would not want you to feel left out, Kiba, I would have helped you too, in your romantic endeavors, if you had any viable prospects."
"Wow, Hinata. Did ya get that? Lady Natsuki here is dissing my love life. Right to my face. Sorry I couldn't be more entertaining for ya."
They were still seated in the library, before the still blazing fire, as Lady Natsuki's eyebrows raised at Kiba's reaction.
"You misunderstand. You are actually quite handsome. I would say the fault more lies with the women in the village than with yourself."
"That's so kind of ya to say. Ya really shouldn't have."
"Does it disturb you, that I would say such a thing?"
"A lot of the things ya say disturb me, lady."
"I can appreciate an honest answer."
"I have something I want to say." Hinata declared.
"Oh, how bold of you, Hinata. By all means, speak freely."
"You were surprised, earlier, when you said it was I who truly despises you for what you've done."
"I was. Are you going to enlighten me as to why that is?"
"This… what you've done to Shino… you can call it whatever you want, but to me, this is rape."
Lady Natsuki paused for a noticeable length of time, before her lips curled upward in a benign smile. "… And what if it is?"
"You… you ain't even gonna deny it?" Kiba questioned.
"I am in his thoughts, I can and have controlled what he says and what he does. I literally drink his blood. And even in the sexual context, where and what do you think Shino and Torune are doing right now? 'Talking?'"
"Is… is this just you messing around? Like last time? When you said Shino was in your room?" Kiba asked, through gritted teeth.
"What do you think?"
When that was met with stunned silence, Lady Natsuki continued.
"I apologize, Kiba. Does that disturb you as well? But you do realize he is following my commands to save your lives? To save the lives of my staff, as well. This is what teammates do for each other, especially the team leader. He is responsible for you. You should be grateful. He cares enough about you both to sacrifice himself. Especially considering what a dangerous lover Torune is.
"In that vein, and now that Torune is not here, I do not mind sharing with you that their feelings for each other are indeed mutual. Does that not shift your opinion, Hinata?"
"No." Hinata answered stonily.
"Would you and Neji not make the most out of a bad situation? Is that not what Neji himself learnt, thanks to his father? Surely he would understand. You could also think of it as my doing Shino a favor. Rape is such an ugly word, after all. For while your team leader is amazingly bright, in many other ways he is amazingly inept. I have given him the opportunity and the motivation that he would never have had without me. Even my assistance, if he should require it."
"Did it ever occur to you that if he didn't have you fucking with his head, he might have been, yeah, admittedly a little awkward, but he would have been fine to figure this out on his own? I'm feeling plenty neurotic just sitting here with ya." Kiba asked.
"We both know that is not true, not in his case. And we can all use help, sometimes. Take yourself, Hinata, would you have confessed to Neji when you did if through Shino, I had not given you encouragement?"
"I think Neji might have just jumped her or something, honestly. Especially after Naruto and Sakura got together. I think it would have come up on its own… Sorry, Hinata, I shouldn't have said that, I… I just don't know what the hell to say to this."
"That's alright, Kiba. I agree. I also think it would have come up on its own for Neji and me, and for Shino and Torune as well. In fact, it did. Torune confessed. Your help was not required."
"Your opinion is noted, Hinata. In a way I envy you, for your clear sense of justice. Mine over the centuries has become… what I am sure you will call polluted, but I prefer less absolute, more open to possibilities.
"For example, going back to an earlier question of mine, which I very much suggest one of you answer at this juncture, did Torune talk to you about this beforehand?"
Hinata and Kiba glanced at each other.
"Yeah." Kiba answered reluctantly.
"Would you like to add anything to that, Hinata?"
"… Your theory was correct." she answered briefly.
"And what did the two of you think?"
"… Ah, fuck it. We ain't getting out of it, Hinata. We told him to go for it."
"Why then, do you find the idea of Torune's coercion any less repulsive than mine?"
"That ain't what I said at all!"
"You were absolutely convinced Shino felt the same?"
"… No, but I thought… maybe."
"And you, Hinata? Surely you approve of keeping things in the family, but did you perhaps share Torune's concern? You can understand more than Kiba, the blurred lines. Neji, who has clearly had feelings for you longer than the time the two of you have been together. What if he had approached you a year ago? You already cared for him, deeply respected him, not only his skill but the difficult path of his life, the obstacles he has overcome, the wisdom he now holds. He is handsome, would you not have been overwhelmed by him? Perhaps felt you owed it to him?
"In fact, it was likely the two of you would have been asked to marry anyway. Arranged marriages are common within the clans. Is that also not coercion? By families, for abilities to be handed down to the next generation, to maintain strength and security? Did it ever occur to you, Hinata, that you and Neji are simply lucky? It is only by chance that you happened to have fallen in love independently, at a time when you were both unattached. Or… you could say I helped you."
"Even Torune and Shino, their relationship will never flourish. Shino could most likely stay unwed, but Torune, from what I gather will absolutely be expected to have children. His bloodline is too rare for him to refrain. He will take a wife. Extra-marital affairs are common enough, if rather hypocritically looked down upon, and that is all Shino can really hope for. Does Torune's confession still seem kind to you, examined under that light?"
Akamaru gave a quick bark, and Kiba put his hand on his head.
"Hinata, Akamaru wants you to know if we thought Neji had coerced you, we'd have beat the living shit out of him. Guy's tough, so we might have had to settle for fucking up his house. What can you do? As my sis says, that's life, and everybody knows we can't beat the living shit out of Torune, or any shit out of him for that matter. The guy's a fucking beast, but I gotta tell ya, it sucks, never thought we'd get out taijutsu'd by an Aburame, never saw it coming, but hey, there's a lot of things in life you just never see coming."
At this, Kiba elongated his canines, and smiled.
"But you'd know all about that, wouldn't ya, Lady Natsuki?"
Lady Natsuki narrowed her focus on him, but it was too late. Torune was already behind her, and in a flash, had unsheathed his tanto blade and cut her head clean from her shoulders.
As it was falling, it began to change, disintegrating into not blood, but dust, as did her body remaining in the chair, leaving only her dress and jewels behind.
"The fuck was that?" Kiba began, jumping out of his seat, followed by Hinata.
"I don't think it was a shadow clone. It was true, earlier, when she told me she had no chakra." Hinata added, then quickly activated her Byakugan. "I don't see her anywhere. And the staff are all alive, but… it looks like they are passed out. They aren't injured, but they aren't moving, and they're all over the place, not in beds, some in chairs, some are on the floor. It looks like they passed out suddenly. Did Shino? I'm assuming you are still with him, or else she would have noticed your absence?"
"Yeah. I put a seal on him before I attacked her, so I can't say for sure, but if everyone else she bit collapsed, I'd assume Shino did too. Are you two alright?"
"Yeah. Good to see you, by the way. Nice choice, off with her head. Seems to have worked." Kiba replied, then continued, "So… that's it? All we get is a pile of dust? Oh, goddammit, look at it, even that's disappearing."
"So it is." Torune replied, a considerable remove evident in his tone, as the indeed the dust disappeared before their eyes.
"Oh! The staff are starting to move! Maybe they are free? I'd like to talk to them. Maybe they can tell us something." Hinata added.
"We'll come with you." Torune returned.
"Yeah. I don't want to split up again." Kiba concluded. They left the roaring fire, Lady Natsuki's pile of clothes
"… Are you and Shino alright, Torune?" Hinata asked hesitantly.
"… Probably not, Miss Hinata, but thanks for asking."
"We regret to inform you that Lady Natsuki has passed. It was quite sudden. There was no time to send word to you before you set out. We apologize you could not have visited the estate during happier times, as we are all quite grieved at her death. Many of us were in rough straits when she hired us to work her. She will truly be missed. Of course you may stay the night here; you have come such a long way, but we must ask you leave tomorrow. As you can imagine, there are many things we need to attend to. In the meantime, may we get you some food?"
As they waited for their meal, they talked amongst themselves.
"Can you believe this? God, this is fucked up." Kiba began.
"Was she lying? Was the staff actually under her control, or did she truly hire them?" Hinata inquired.
"But we just killed her. Why does everyone already think she's dead?" Kiba asked.
"… She planned it." Torune said.
"Ya think? She planned everything else. Guess it makes sense." Kiba replied.
"But do you think she's really dead?" Hinata asked.
"You know… I think she is. It was too easy. She wanted us to come here, arranged it, even. Outed herself as a vampire the moment we got here. Told us everything she had done. She knew we would want to kill her; she gave us a reason and an opportunity." Torune replied.
"She wanted to die, and what, have a little fun on her way out?" Kiba asked.
"Maybe she got bored of living." Hinata mused.
"But… what if Shino doesn't remember either? What the hell are we going to tell him? Tell anyone? Lady Natsuki, she set us up. We've got no proof."
"I saw the bite marks on Shino's neck. As long as they're still there, we've got proof. Torune… are they there?"
"… No, they're not."
"… You know, as a tracker, I can appreciate this. What a way to cover your tracks, no wounds, and no memories of what happened, but when the hell does this nightmare end – not only did we play this out exactly the way she wanted us too, she left us with this gift that keeps on giving."
"… Someone's knocking on the door of where Shino and I are. I'm going to take the seal off of him, hide, and see what he does." Torune informed them.
"Who is it?" Hinata asked.
"Hold on, it's taking him a second to get to the door… One of the staff. A maid named Noshiko; Shino greeted her by name, they know each other. She's inviting him to join us down here… and now he's following her."
"Like… he's got no idea you are in the room with him?" Kiba questioned, uneasily.
"Didn't seem too. I'll make another clone, get the real me back in here with you guys, then shadow them till they get here, but I think you're right, Kiba. I don't think Shino remembers anything either. Assuming she really did have the staff under her control, and they've forgotten, I imagine all he'll remember is coming here every now and then to clear out insects."
