I've nothing to say for myself except that this is getting longer than expected.

To Ten: Thank you for your review! Just know, they will work out huehehueheu ;)

To Justbeplatonic: No Regency written piece is complete without a dreadful first proposal. It is just how it is. :P Thank you for your review!

Note 1: I thought I wanted to write exclusively in prose for these remaining chapter, but I went from a mix of letters and prose. Hope it isn't too confusing. ^_^'

Note 2: I completely messed up Hiashi's title. "Count" is the equivalent of an Earl in British aristocracy (although the feminine equivalent is Countess? The more you know...) Previous chapters have been edited in consequence. My bad. This is what I get for reading the Count of Monte Cristo. Lol

LETTER FROM THE EARL HIASHI HYUUGA TO CAPTAIN NEJI HYUUGA

Nephew,

Many times before, we have discussed the matter of your inheritance. I solicit your sense of duty to recognize your failures to observe the strict decorum one would expect from a future Count. It pains me to call forth your sense of duty as you have neglected it before, and now once more. I have forgiven you when you enrolled in the Royal Navy, as I know a man is as obliged to His King as to his family. However, your recent behaviour, especially when Lady Tenten was concerned, has led me to believe your interests are not aligned with our family crest. Many of my peers still do not meet my eyes and I have seen my presence refused in some gatherings. The shame you've cast upon your cousins and me fills me with rightful rage. For these reasons, I cannot forgo your misgivings this time.

I believe the best course of action for you is to relinquish your inheritance in favour of Hanabi.

Enclosed are the documents for you to sign.

Adieu,

Lord Hiashi Hyuuga

The door closed firmly behind the butler, Mr Iruka Umino.

The wind hissed.

Captain Neji Hyuuga waited in front of his uncle's manor, twisting his hat between his hands. He paced. He kicked at the gravel, his shirt soaked through from his journey and cold sweat. His skin pulsed, uncomfortable, all of him knotted and tightening as he waited. Twisted and gnarled, he waited, in the cold, in dread.

Mr Umino reappeared moments later, and Neji stopped pacing.

He paled.

Mr Umino bowed, his gaze avoiding his. His airs had darkened. His usual cordial demeanour, while respectful, was carefully brisk and cold, as if he was addressing a stranger. Neji stared at Mr Umino hard, swallowing with difficulty.

"I apologize, sir, but His Lordship is not disposed to receive you. He has instructed me that I could take documents from you if you had signed those he sent you."

"I was born here," Neji said dully, and he tasted bile.

The cold gnawed at his bones.

He was a stranger in his own home. He couldn't help but blame himself as he had never thought of the estate as home until now, until its entrance was denied to him.

"I truly apologize, sir," Mr Umino bowed again, his hands firmly clasped behind his back.

"Lady Hinata..." Neji clenched his jaw, his hat stilling in his hands. His voice thinned: "Would she also not receive me?"

"Lady Hinata is already gone to Wales with her husband, sir."

Neji nodded to himself, and involuntarily he looked up with the same manner he did as a child. He sought birds. He sought solace. Yet, the birds were long gone to the South; no creature croaked or chirped back at him. Autumn had turned the bark of the trees grey, uninhabited, and their branches shook aimlessly in the breeze.

"Very well, then..." Neji muttered through blanched lips.

He put his hat back on and spun on his heels. Gravel spilling and screeching under him, Neji wished he could once more feel the sway of the sea until his heels. There was an uncertainly to the sea and shifting winds. Fate. No, fate didn't exist at sea, but it ruled lands with a stiff hierarchy of men.

His uncle was all powerful; He could deny Neji entrance in his own home. Here, there was little uncertainty about his fate. Here, there was little uncertainty about his being cast out once more.

"Sir?" Mr Umino called after him.

Neji turned his head back toward the steward. His hands twisted.

"I hope... I hope you'll be well, sir."

Neji's gaze darted to the highest window of the Northwestern façade of the manor. The curtains of his uncle's study moved.

His anger flared at the base of his neck and imploded in his ears. Deafened, he stepped back. He glared up, his neck corded, the pressure in his skull, building.

Nothing moved now.

There was little uncertainty.

With one last look, Neji inclined his head to the servant boy still holding the bridle of the horse. The young man watched him with widened eyes, biting down his lips. Neji mounted his horse and took the bridle back.

He tugged his bridle to the left to turn his horse back, his legs tightening around the horse flank to ease the maneuver. His mount neighed.

He rode fast, his coat flapping around him. The breeze was harsh and cool against his cheeks.

Out of defiance, out of desperation, Neji turned the bridle toward the Morino estate.

He puffed out white smoke. The moist air clung to his coat, crushing, suffocating, and he rode faster.

There was no disturbance in the Morino estate's curtains, no light, or footman waiting by the entrance. Yet, his heart skipped a beat. It ticked and squeezed back to a previous moment, lost, a previous season, painful. And time slowed, the passage of trees, the branches caught in the grey light, they all paused as Captain Neji Hyuuga rode on to town to visit Lord Shikamaru where he was expected for dinner.

Soon, the darkened, lifeless manor was eclipsed and the road expanded. It was all this distant to him, until the sound of the hooves of his horse beating the hardened mud once more reached him.

On land, here, in his heart, there was no uncertainty.

The town blinked in the horizon, hard red and brown. Fog crept between houses.

Lady Tenten was still gone.

LETTER FROM THE EARL HIASHI HYUUGA TO THE EARL SARUTOBI

My Lord,

We left the states of our affairs unfinished last season. You should feel no more hindrance in our plans to join our children in holy matrimony. Neji has effectively severed his engagement to Lady Tenten upon my request. Your son taking possession of my lands in my daughter's name would thus not bring the disfavour of His Majesty. My nephew's fate was sealed since his birth: He shall not inherit my estate.

I shall await your favourable answer.

I remain yours respectful, etc.

Lord Hiashi Hyuuga

Neji removed his riding gloves as he was introduced in Lord Shikamaru's study. The steward quietly took his hat and gloves and closed the doors behind him.

Unusually dark, the room was stuffy with lined books and piled documents in an obscure order that only made sense to Lord Shikamaru. Neji pinched his lips in dismay.

"Neji, finally, I was most bored while waiting for you," Lord Shikamaru grinned and stood up from behind his desk.

He advanced toward Neji languidly as it was his usual manner, and shook his hand before clasping him on the back. His cravat was loose, his hands covered with dots of ink, his hair wild. Neji's stomach twisted and felt himself grow uncharitable and jealous. Despite his rank, Lord Shikamaru had attended law school and indulged in a life of study, attending society among his peers while practicing his profession in turn.

Neji had never been as free to indulge as his friend did. Like Rock Lee did. Since birth, he had been shackled to his Uncle's estate.

"The sea has then finally released you, my friend?" Shikamaru grinned and nodded slowly toward one of the chairs normally accommodating his clients.

Thanking him with a nod, Neji sat down, and Shikamaru slouched back in his seat.

"Most grudgingly," Neji replied, his smile stiffening and the lie formed easily: "With Lady Hinata's wedding, I was expected back home."

"Ah yes... I think my wife mentioned such a thing. You know how these things... interest me very little," Shikamaru licked his lips, and his voice drawled out, but his gaze was keen and sharp. "I'm much more concerned by your welfare.

"My welfare?"

"Well, yes, it is always astounding to me that any man would willingly disappear from civilization aboard a ship for months a time."

Neji felt his insides give in, rebel. Burn and burn. Again and again, his anger rolled like waves, destructive and flooring. He wondered how any man could be so free as to fully understand the nature of his enrolment in the Royal Navy. There had been no other viable option for him that wouldn't have been met by an instant refusal from his uncle.

'And now, I've no home to come back to,' Neji said to himself silently.

"Did Naruto tell you he was back in the country?" Lord Shikamaru sighed.

Humming distractedly to himself, he rubbed his forehead and reached across his desk for a letter among his pile of paperwork and letters. Once he found the letter, he threw it on the corner of his desk, closest to Neji. Carefully unfolding one limb at a time, he stretched his arms above his head.

"Read it if you must. His hand is still horrid."

The corner of Neji's lips quirked up.

"From your tone, I gather he did something troublesome."

"You were right... He went ahead and married a woman from the New World. He has now officially scandalized most of London. It couldn't be helped, I suppose."

"Could it?" Neji mused aloud and reached for the letter.

He quickly scanned the brief account of Lord Naruto's return, hearing instead Lady Tenten's voice as it recounted the scandal. Neji swallowed with difficulty, his mouth dry. He squinted to focus. Naruto's hand ran across the paper in loopy letters none of the masters at their school had managed to correct.

"This is nonsense," Neji said disdainfully. To himself. To Naruto.

He still held the letter. He had thought maybe... Maybe, if Lady Tenten knew of this affair, she would be known to Lord Naruto... His mouth twitched. He handed the letter back to Lord Shikamaru.

"Never mind Naruto's nonsense... He is always left unscathed. How are you faring?" Shikamaru asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"I'm well," Neji replied evenly. "I must admit that I was most impatient to eat meat that hadn't been salted and sealed in a barrel."

"Lord Hiashi..." Lord Shikamaru started, but stopped to yawn. He waved him on, his body twisted, out of reach.

"He's well," Neji finished and stiffly bowed his head.

Lord Shikamaru laced his fingers together, cocking his head to the side to observe him. Neji knew the sea had steadily marked him: his posture, his discomfort with long leagues travelled by horse or carriage. 'My thirst for freedom,' a voice whispered in his mind. 'My buried violence, my brutality... They all come from watching the sea.' He shifted in his seat. He hoped Lord Shikamaru's sharp senses couldn't pierce through his thoughts.

"That wasn't what I meant to say," Lord Shikamaru relented when Neji wouldn't further the discussion.

"There's truly nothing to say, Shikamaru."

Lord Shikamaru looked at him pointedly, then nodded slowly.

"He'll lose in court, if this is where he wishes to make his claim," he whispered, and behind the gentle drawl of his voice, there was anger. Yet, it was nothing compared to Neji's anger. It didn't billow like the sea. It didn't raise, a tsunami, a barricade of darkness and foam. It was flat, lazy, yet fierce.

"Passing down his estate to his youngest daughter while there's a male heir..." Lord Shikamaru continued. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"The estate has never fallen to the hands of a relative. It has always been passed down directly, to a son," Neji repeated in the dull voice he had practiced late at night in his cabins after he received his Uncle's letter. He no longer received the letters he yearned for. He lived isolated, at sea, and it hadn't been enough. Nothing had ever been enough for his Uncle.

He had taken everything, and he was prepared to take more.

"I believe the best course of action for you is to relinquish your inheritance in favour of Hanabi," His Uncle's phrase was engraved in his memory.

"He doesn't have sons," Lord Shikamaru said.

"Hn."

Neji's face didn't waver.

Lord Shikamaru nodded to himself and grinned, slow, open, as if the matter was settled.

"Let's drink. Ale or scotch. Anything that hasn't come out of a barrel. By god, I don't know why you do this to yourself."

"What would you have done?" Neji said softly.

At first, he didn't think Lord Shikamaru had heard him, but then he replied, tonelessly: "The same way kings and noblemen have always settled their scores. Hunting accident."

Neji smiled humourlessly.

"My love?" A voice shouted from the hallway, interrupting them.

"In the study!" Shikamaru called back, and he stood taller.

He reached for his cravat and tightened it. As Neji watched Lord Shikamaru smooth out his outfit and raise to his feet, he wondered when he would finally be free of those assaults of jealousy? If his Uncle did take everything from him, would it finally cease? Would it finally cease if there was no hope, no fortune ever awaiting him?

The doors of the study opened and Lady Ino appeared. She still wore her bonnet and cloak, and her nose and cheeks pink from the cool autumn breeze.

Neji stood up and bowed.

Lady Ino flushed, instinctively looking at her husband before her pale gaze shifted back to Neji. She quickly regained her countenance and dropped in a curtsy. Slowly, she peeled her gloves from her hands. Dutifully, her maid stood behind her waiting for her cloak and gloves.

"Captain Hyuuga, how do you do?" Lady Ino said coolly and handed her gloves and cloak to the servant. "I heard you were to be gone for the rest of the year."

"I had important family business to take care of."

"I see."

Lady Ino inclined her head and stepped further in the room to present her hand to Lord Shikamaru. He brought her hand to his lips, smiling softly at her.

"I hope you don't mind, my dear, but I've asked the captain to join us for dinner. You called on your relations before I could inform you."

"Of course," Lady Ino smiled and turned back toward Neji, her face guarded. "Are you alone, Captain?"

He didn't miss the implications of her tone and manner.

"Yes," he replied stiffly.

Neji almost added his cousins' compliments and regrets in not calling on her. He normally excused his younger cousins by saying that Miss Hanabi was at school and that Lady Hinata was otherwise engaged.

He didn't have to pretend anymore, he knew. Somehow, he wished he could still be their cousin or their brother. He wished they would have picked his side, as he had always picked theirs. As he had been continually forced to pick theirs.

"I see…" Lady Ino smiled tightly clasping her hands in front of her in a nervous gesture. "If you would excuse me, sirs, I should leave you to your affairs."

Lady Ino exited the room with one last curtsy.

Ino closed the door of the study after her.

She heard the soft sound of their voice rising and falling once more inside the room. They didn't mention Lady Tenten, like she thought they might.

Her hands trembled around the doorknob.

Nibbling her lip, Ino leaned her forehead against the door of the study to regain her composure. Lady Tenten and Captain Hyuuga had been so tangled in each other's life, she had always assumed they would come together to her house one day.

Ino pressed a palm to her heaving chest. Then, she straightened herself, breathing in deeply, before walking to her apartment.

Distractedly, Ino watched, her head cocked to the side, as her maid adjusted her dress. They chatted amicably about the fabric and the adjustment for an evening dress. It was from the last season, but the soft purple perfectly complimented her complexion. Once the maid was done, she retired promptly, dismissed by her mistress.

Ino sat in front of her vanity table. She pinned back a few strands of her hair. She paused, her fingers brushing her cheeks for more loose strands, her eyes on the reflection of her desk where she kept her ink and paper.

Letting go of her hair, Ino stood up again and approached her desk. She wrote until the bell rang announcing dinner was served.

LETTER FROM LADY INO TO LADY TENTEN

My dear friend,

I gave this letter to Captain Neji, as I cannot help but think only he knows of your current location and disposition.

It has been months since our last meeting, but I cannot find within my heart the strength to forget you. At first, your name was whispered with such conspiratorial tone and air that I thought surely, you would come back. Surely, it is only but, a jest gone too far. No one mentions your name anymore, if only to compliment the way you used to entertain us.

This is why I found most peculiar and shocking when Lord Konohamaru asked about your welfare at the last ball his father hosted. He appeared perplexed, and his father, grossly satisfied, upon hearing that your engagement to Captain Neji Hyuuga had been severed. It was the manner with which he tried to confirm this intelligence that frightened me. This dread within my breast occupied my mind. I couldn't help but allude that the marriage was to take place upon the Captain's return, despite Lord Shikamaru giving the strongest objections.

I know you do not believe in fate or instinct as I do, but I cannot shake this terrible feeling from my bones. You ought to come back, Tenten. Something terrible is about to happen. I know it.

Ino

Dinner was amicable with all the civility and propriety that friendship allowed. The conversation flew easily between Lord Shikamaru and Captain Hyuuga, but Ino barely maintained the composure and amiable discussion of a hostess. Shikamaru made no comment of his wife's peculiar behaviour. Instead, he reoriented the discussion to memories of school.

Once the servant retrieved her plate, Ino startled. She had barely eaten anything.

"Ino," Lord Shikamaru said gently, "would you entertain us?"

"Of course," she smiled and stood up as Lord Shikamaru pulled back her chair.

Smiling gratefully, Ino took her husband's arm, and Captain Hyuuga followed them silently. They walked to the drawing-room.

Still led by her husband, Ino sat at the piano. She felt numb. She fumbled with her partitions until choosing a familiar air. Her hands trembled still during the first notes. She cleared her throat, adjusted her seat. She started playing again.

Lord Shikamaru and Captain Hyuuga discussed quietly by her side.

"One of us should perhaps travel to London to visit Naruto..." Lord Shikamaru said tentatively and his gaze shifted to her.

The melody she played haltered, flat. With pinched lips, Ino kept playing.

"Naruto is many things, but he is resourceful," Captain Hyuuga countered. "His letter makes no mention of an invitation. It would be improper to impose, and surely in his quality of newlywed, it would be most inconvenient for his bride."

"You may be right... May I interest you in a scotch?" Lord Shikamaru said and Captain Hyuuga nodded. The lord then turned to his wife. "My dear, should I bring you a sherry?"

Ino's fingers slowed further as she smiled up at her husband.

"I'm fine, thank you."

Lord Shikamaru squeezed her shoulder and left the room.

Ino tilted her head with the melody, but she still played absent-mindedly, her fingers in turn too light and too heavy.

"Captain?"

Captain Hyuuga approached her.

Ino stopped playing.

"Do you know where she is?" she asked softly.

She stared at her hands resting on top of the keys.

"Who, My Lady?" Captain Hyuuga frowned.

"Lady Tenten."

From the corner of her eyes, Ino observed Captain Hyuuga's paling complexion. He faltered. His mouth worked as if he was breathless, struggling to find for the right word.

"No," he said dully, and from his emotion, she believed it to be the truth.

Ino gritted her teeth. The back of her eyes burnt. Her whole body burnt. She could barely muster the strength to unclench her jaw.

"Did she send you word?" she tried again, desperately, her hand over her pocket containing the letter she had addressed to her friend.

"I assure you, Lady Ino, if she were to send word to anyone, it would certainly not be to me."

Her heart thumped, crushed, her hand sliding from her pocket. Ino carefully replaced her skirts around her, straightening her back. She now appeared composed and dignified.

"She left because of you," Ino whispered, hurt, and briefly closed her eyes.

"Lady Ino…"

Ino swiftly turned on her seat to face him.

"I look at the newspapers and go through the news hoping one of her outrageous outings or one of her sharp comments would have made it there," her voice wobbled, accusatory. "So far, nothing," she paused, panting. "I can't help but blame you, sir."

They stared at each other, blanched, breathing hard. Captain Hyuuga averted his gaze first.

"I assure you, you are attributing more to the alleged attachment that existed between the lady and myself than what it was worth."

"Say her name, sir," Ino ordered coldly.

His gaze shifted back at hers. His lips thinned. Lord Shikamaru's footsteps resonated in the hallway, and Captain Hyuuga turned his head toward the door.

"We both know the truth, do we not, sir?" Ino whispered and turned back toward the piano, her fingers finding the last keys she had pressed.

Captain Hyuuga stepped back from her, and Lord Shikamaru slipped back into the room. The building tension fizzled.

"Cheers, my friend."

He handed Captain Hyuuga a cigar and a glass. His forehead still gleamed, pale, waxy, but his expression was once more unreadable. He brought his glass to his lips, the liquid inside it swaying and swirling from his trembling hand.

Lord Shikamaru still made no comment.

Ino returned to her piece, her notes late, her fingers clumsy, and the ghost of Lady Tenten who played most exquisitely hung over both of their heads.

LETTER FROM LADY HINATA TO CAPTAIN NEJI HYUUGA

My dear brother,

It pains me that it is only now that I've taken another surname and joined another family that I find the courage to address this letter to you.

I do not have my sister's nor your strength of character. I had always envied you both for your disposition that was so opposed to mine. I only hope that this letter isn't too late. I believe Father has accused your relationship with Lady Tenten to demand you forfeit your birthright. This is not the truth. Ever since you enrolled in the Navy, Father had consulted with many lawmakers to ensure that Hanabi inherit the estate. He has promised Hanabi's hand to the son of the Earl Sarutobi if he bought the estate to avoid them becoming yours. Lord Sarutobi, upon hearing of your association with Lady Tenten, retracted his word as he would rather not disgrace himself in the eyes of the King by offending her. It is for these reasons that rumours of your engagement to Lady Tenten has greatly agitated Father. I fear that now that your engagement appears severed, talks of this sordid affairs may resume.

As my heart is weak and my health fragile, I was easily disregarded. Yet, you have always suffered much more than I for you've been disregarded the same way your father has been disregarded, for Father's interests. While he had grieved his brother's death dearly, he had also thrived and mistreated you.

If I felt it was within my right to demand things from you, I would also ask for your forgiveness; I've remained silent and frightened many times, and now I fear you may pay the ultimate price

I shall await for an answer in the hopes that I wasn't too late. If you would do me the pleasure of accepting an invitation from me, Mr Uchiha and I have settled quite nicely in Wales. I think you would love the scenery; it is near the sea.

Lady Hinata

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you can. :) Stay safe, y'all!