C's Scouting Report: Hinata's Collar Collection
"Ah, dammit, I blew my cover myself, didn't I? The evil boss lady lured me into doing so by ordering me to share the informations about me, I'm sure of that. Well, can't be helped now that it already happened. Alright, moving on. What is today's topic?
Hinata's Collar Collection? Is she serious? Does she really want everyone to know about her twisted mind? Whatever, I'll comply with these orders. And we are again back at "Chapter 4: Adventure!" where Hinata found and picked up her very first collar. The basic idea behind her finding a collar was to show that slavery isn't the rarest thing in this version of the universe. The secondary idea behind it was to slightly push her in the direction of accepting her new role, by confronting her with things related to slaves in one or another way over and over. Sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious, sometimes, well, you get the point, right?
After that chapter was done was an idea creeping into her mind, that there was a lot of possibilities based on this one collar she found. It ranged from 'just drop the idea and leave that single collar alone' over 'make it a running gag that she somehow stumbles upon a collar from time to time' up to 'let her start collecting them and get funny looks from her friends'. She even pointed it out as 'having a silly idea she would like to speak about' but nobody ever took her up on that offer and she was about to drop the whole idea completely.
Some weeks passed and she mentioned it on a sidenote to someone she talked about her story who suddenly got totally intrested by that idea and they were discussing it, tossing around ideas and ways to perform them and, well, as you might have noticed if you made it this far, she decided to go with the collection thing. I'm just not sure what she is planning to do with that from now on. I mean, seriously?
Sure, it isn't uncommon for people to collect strange things. But collars? With names written on them? Not to mention their own? And then openly showcasing them? I'll stick with my opinion, that woman is totally crazy..."
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A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 14: A Collar for a useful Chapter Title
It was cold. That was the first thing Hinata noticed, followed by the goose bumps she had all over her body because of that. That's why she tried to move her body, to warm herself up, but was unable to do so, which she couldn't explain right now. So she carefully watched around her. She was in the middle of a small room without any kind of windows and without furniture. Only in front of her was a door in the wall, except for that was there nothing.
But even that seemed someway odd to her. It was cold, she was in a room she never saw before and the door in front of her seemed to be... huge. Or, more precisely, the angle she was looking at the door was somehow wrong. Like she would look from a position way too low at it. Realizing that this must be the case was she trying to look down her own body, to figure out if she was the reason for at least this angle of view she had.
She was right with her guess. She was the source for this low angle because she was down on her hands and knees. Having figured out the first mystery was she still unsure why she was unable to move. She couldn't feel anything that might be restraining her or hold her in any other way. In fact was she feeling nothing beside the coldness and the collar her mistress put around her neck before going to sleep. The collar she got from her mistress for her 10th birthday. The collar she would cheerish for as long as she could.
The collar... the only thing she could feel beside of the coldness. That was the moment when she figured why she must be cold. It was because she was completely naked, down on her hands and knees, only wearing her collar. Her brain was working overtime to come up with any reason for her situation. The things she figured out only added new questions and she started to panic. Where was she? And when? And how did she got there? And why was she unable to move?
Helpless. That was the word appearing the most in her mind. She was helpless right now and she didn't even knew why! At that moment was the door opening and a shadowy figure could be seen, illuminated by a light source somewhere on the other side of the door.
"Well, look at this cute puppy we have here. It's quite the sight, don't you agree?" a male voice said, bringing a deep crimson blush on Hinata's face. The voice got answered by a confirming bark from a dog she wasn't able to see anywhere.
"Huh, what did you say? Yeah, you are right. That puppy isn't trained yet and still needs to wear it's collar. It's nowhere near your manners and talent, partner." the voice spoke again, confusing Hinata totally. Why was the voice talking about her like she was some kind of a dog? Why did the voice sound so familiar? Why was she unable to reply? Wait... unable to reply? She tried to speak, but that didn't work at all, just like her tries to move.
"But I got a great idea, partner. Why aren't we going to train that puppy?" the confirming bark came within a split second and the figure made a step into the room.
Hinata's eyes went wide in panic and fear, her breath and heart were racing, she was sweating all over her body. Raising her hand was she grabbing her chest right where her heart is, trying to breath deeply and calm down. Wait, she was moving her arm? Looking down her body did she realize that she indeed did just that. And that she was wearing her night wear, sitting upright in her bed.
Taking a look at her surroundings did she confirm that she indeed was in her room. And judging by the darkness was it still late at night. She figured she must have been awaken from a nightmare right now.
Once she calmed down a little was her hand moving upwards, feeling the collar around her neck. Right, that collar was supposed to be there. These were the orders of her mistress, to wear it for the night and to tell her how she feels in the morning. At least that was how it should be. But she couldn't make anything out of the nightmare she just had.
10 minutes passed in which she simply sat upright in her bed. All she did was breathing and nothing more, fearing to go back to sleep and that this nightmare might continue. Trying to distract herself did she move her thoughts towards the things she and her sister used to do back in the days when they had nightmares and decided to do just that.
Picking up her pillow was she getting out of bed and leaving her room, sneaking across the floor to her sisters room. She carefully opened it to not make any noises and slipped inside, walking over to her sisters bed where she was sleeping peacefully.
Once she sat down on the edge of the bed was Hanabi moving around slightly, registering the additional movement in her bed. Not really awake at all and still sleeping was her body merely reacting on instinct. "Hhmmm?" her body hummed out between breathes, basicly asking the reason for the disturbance.
Hinata laid her pillow down and snuggled up close to her sister, closing her eyes before whispering into Hanabi's ear. "Bad dreams."
Hanabi's subconsciousness was able to make a connection to a distant memory from the past and accepted that explanation. Now fully relaxed again was she wrapping her arms around her sister out of instinct and was back to deep sleep in an instant.
Feeling her sister close brought a smile on Hinata's face and she as well fell back to sleep quickly. The rest of her night remained dreamless.
The next morning
Hanabi woke up to an unusual feeling. It felt warmer than usual and her head was laying on something comfy that wasn't her pillow, that much was for sure. However, she just barely woke up, still more sleepy than anything else, so her mind wasn't really registering what she was laying on. "So comfy..." she mumbled, snuggling closer to whatever it was inside her bed.
As a reaction to her movings and voice was the thing below her moving slightly as well, a voice quietly answering her. "So warm..." It sounded familiar to her and she enjoyed it when the thing wrapped it's arms around her body.
Still half sleeping and eyes not yet opened was her brain at least working a little, making some connections. "That you, Nata-chan?" she asked, still quietly and mumbling. "Bad dreams?"
Hinata was in a similiar state, not really awake yet and enjoyed the closeness to her sister. "Yeah, bad dreams, Nabi-chan." she answered in a mumbling way.
Both were using the names they gave each other when they were younger but which they hadn't used for years. It was the situation and the fact that both were still sleepy that brought them to use these names.
"You haven't come over for years, Nata-chan." Hanabi said, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings, slowly completely waking up. "Was it that bad?"
"Uhu." Hinata hummed out. "It somehow felt so real and it scared me to the core. Even worse compared to the kidnapping..."
Slowly opening her eyes was Hanabi planning to slightly lift her body up to look at her sister. However, as soon as her eyes were open was she realizing where her head was laying on and when she tried to get up was Hinata holding her closer. "Uhm, sis? You know that you are pressing my head into your breasts?" she asked quietly, unsure on how to react.
"Haven't we just agreed that they are warm and comfy?" Hinata asked in return, not really caring how they were touching each other because it simply felt good for her having her sister that close.
"To think that you were having self-doubts about your body til just a few months ago..." Hanabi sighed, surrendering to her sisters hold on her for the moment. "What was the dream about and how do you feel now? Got over it?" she asked a bit worried, remembering the shivering mess her sister always was years ago whenever she snug into her bed because of a bad dream.
"I... guess so." she replied hesitant. "At least haven't I dreamt once I got here. But..." she could feel her throat tightening, not really wanting to talk about. "It was totally embarassing... I don't want to tell."
That surprised Hanabi completely. She was used to her sister always telling her about the bad dreams that they could get rid of them together. It was childs play back these years, but still. "You know that I could simply order you to tell me, right?" she asked sweetly, feeling how her sister tensed up under her. "And if you still wouldn't do could I punish you. Isn't that convenient? And after that would you most likely tell me anyway, so why not save all these trouble and just tell me right away?"
"But..." Hinata started but stopped right away, thinking about it. "I... he... it..." she started to stutter out, no real line of thought behind her words.
"Oh, I see. So it's about a boy, huh? Did you have a bad dream with your Naruto-kun? Was he rejecting you because he learned about our relationship?" Hanabi was clearly teasing her sister and only guessing out into the blue, not really expecting to land a hit at all. All she was hoping for was that her sister would snap with the mention of Naruto and correct her statement, in the end telling about her dream.
And it seemed to work. "What? No! Nothing like that!" she said a bit louder than she planned to. "There was a figure I couldn't really see because there was light behind it. And he had a dog somewhere hidden and I couldn't help but thinking that he sounded familiar. But he surely was not Naruto-kun!"
Hanabi thought about that for a short moment before grinning, deciding on a way to get the complete story. "And since when is a shadowy figure a bad dream even worse than being kidnapped? Really sis, you sound like a coward just now." she stated in a matter of fact tone and snuggled a bit closer into Hinata's breast hoping to distract her enough that she couldn't catch a clear thought.
Hinata was purring quietly for a short moment before shaking her head. She would show her sister that she was no coward. "Easy. Since the moment a shadowy figure is planning to treat you like a dog because you are on your hands and knees naked, only wearing a collar! You would be scared by that too." she felt good having proven her sister wrong. Having stated why being scared by that doesn't mean to be a coward. Having told her... she gulped when she realized that she walked right into her sisters trap, having told her about the dream just now.
Finally pushing herself away from her sister was Hanabi hovering over her, supported by her arms left and right of Hinata's head, watching her deep into the eyes. "You are wearing your own collar for just one night and are having dreams about being a pet right away?" she asked with surprise, concern and doubt in her voice. "I think you kept the book about pets for way too long, sis..."
Holding her breath and blushing crimson was Hinata thinking about how to reply, before she sighed in resignation and turned her head away, not daring to look her sister into the eyes. She couldn't deny that there might be a connection.
"Okay, fine, let me get that clear for you, sis. Nobody is going to make you a pet. You are mine and mine alone and I will not allow that to happen." she shook her head, still watching down on her sister, her emotions starting to run wild. "And you said the boy sounded familiar and had a dog somewhere?" getting a small nod as answer did she continue. "I will never allow dogboy to get even close to you. He's the only boy with dog we know and he is not going to get his hands on you! Do you understand that, slave?" Hanabi was breathing hard, her emotions getting the better of her right now, mostly anger.
"Yes Mistress!" Hinata quickly replied while shifting uneasy below her sister. She could tell that she shouldn't upset her even more now or she would regret it.
"See, all good now, right?" smiling down on Hinata was her voice totally sweet again. "Now if you are a good girl and will fulfill your orders for this morning can we get up as well." after finishing was Hanabi lowering herself back on her sister, snuggling against her chest once more. She might as well make herself comfortable while she is getting a report.
Being confused for a short second was Hinata not sure what her sister was talking about, but she quickly remembered. However, she got slightly distracted by her sisters movements and needed some time before she finally started to speak. "I'm feeling good. The collar isn't too tight or something, it could be considered comfortable. And... when I woke up from my nightmare and felt it around my neck... I felt secure. It felt right to wear it and that it was at the place it should be."
Hearing her sister's report was Hanabi smiling to herself, trailing her fingers up her side and tracing over the collar, before gently stroking Hinata's cheek. Raising her head from Hinata's chest to look into her eyes couldn't Hanabi help but giggle at the shocked expression her sister had just now.
Deciding that they should get up and start the day was Hanabi raising from her sister again. However, before finally seperating brought she her face close to her sisters and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, smiling happily. "Alright, time to get up. We have a room to clean after all."
Hinata needed a full minute to get herself back together, having a hard time to fully understand what just happened. Shaking her head to get her thoughts straight was she deciding to place it in the category for sisterly affection and got up from the bed as well. After stretching herself was she picking up her pillow and wanted to head back to her room to get dressed, but got stopped by her sister calling out to her.
"You know, I do appreciate it. I'm glad that you feel alright with your collar, but are you really confident enough by now to leave my room having it still on?" she grinned when her sister paled. "Thought as much. You can take it off and place it back in your collection. Or shall I make it official already?" the grin got even wider.
"If it's alright would I ask you to postpone that for as long as possible..." Hinata answered quietly before taking the collar off her neck, holding it between her body and pillow that nobody would see it before leaving the room and heading to her own.
"Well, no more teasing for today. After what happened at her party does she deserve at least a day without it." Hanabi said to herself before getting ready for the day.
Yamanaka storeroom
Ino was already there checking the flowers for any kind of flaws or damage. After all, just because they were used as decoration didn't meant that they couldn't sell them anymore as long as they are in a good condition. She was so into her work that she didn't hear the door to the room opening and nearly screamed in surprise when the sisters called out to her.
Turning around was she lightly glaring at them, before speaking. "You know, you shouldn't sneak up onto people like thaty. What if I would get a heart attack by you suddenly calling out to me? Geez..." she rolled her eyes. "I'm wondering if I should start spreading the newest gossip about you two just to get you back."
Both sisters tensed up hearing that with Hanabi glaring angrily at Ino while Hinata simply let her head hang. Realizing right away that it was a mistake joking about that topic was Ino trying to reduce the damage done. "Aw, common, that was a joke. I would never do that..." she said defending herself. "It's just, you know... when that man appeared here yesterday and Naruto went all berserk... I understand that you went through a lot, but still, I'm kinda curious." she sighed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that topic up in the first place."
Ino turned away to focus back on the flowers when Hanabi quietly spoke up. "He was one of the kidnappers, yes. But he was nice to us the whole time. Made us help realize some things we were unsure about... He isn't a bad person I guess. Had just the wrong people giving him orders..."
"Hey, I didn't meant to bring you two down..." turning back towards the sisters did Ino realize that both sat down at the table in the middle, both looking sad and disturbed. That was the moment when she figured one thing out. "You never spoke about what happened to anyone, did you? You never got a chance to work things out in your minds..."
Hanabi just shrugged at that, her left hand grabbing the burn scar on her right arm unconscious. It was Hinata who started to explain. "We didn't, no. We... don't wanted anyone to find out. I think our father still doesn't know about it or we would have less freedoms. We... well, she..." she pointed towards Hanabi. "She is the heiress of our clan. He would totally go crazy with restrictions and bodyguards if he knew."
Pondering about these words was Ino slowly nodding. "I understand the point about your father. Guess mine would go crazy in a similiar way. But shouldn't you have talked about it with someone you trust? I mean... judging on Naruto's reaction yesterday to that man... could it be that you three are traumatized by these events?" the worry for her friends was clearly hearable in her voice.
A small smile crossed Hinata's lips when she answered. "Well, it might have been a good idea, but... if you might know is our most trustworthy friend also known as the queen of gossip, so..." she shrugged a bit helpless while making that comment. "No offense to you, but there are more then enough rumours about us around, don't you think?"
Ino pouted at the distrust her best friends just confirmed towards her, before sighing. "I guess you got a point there. Am still totally sorry about the whole 'Hinata-chan likes Naruto' thing back then. I can keep secrets, sure, but I guess I have to admit that the gossiping takes the upper hand more often than not."
"Now you know why we never said something..." Hanabi said quietly. "You do remember how I broke down few days ago when you manage to get me to speak about it, right?" she asked, looking up at Ino. "And I'm still not over it. Think I got hit the hardest with your trauma thing." her fingernails dug into her scar, a hiss leaving her lips through gritted teeth.
"Want to talk about it now?" Ino offered, watching her friends. "I'll tell my mom that we will clean the room on another day."
Hanabi and Hinata looked at each other and both shrugged. After C appeared at the birthday party did half of the information already reach their friends who were present anyway with Shikamaru being around and figuring things out. It couldn't get that much worse if they would tell Ino the whole story now. And maybe it might help them to get over it.
A good four hours later were they still sitting at the table. Ino was silent for most of the time, but her expression said a lot about her current emotions. Mainly shock and anger with a touch of sadness, fear and affection toward her friends. She got to hear most of the details, from how they were trapped and attacked at the ruins over their time being held captive in the hideout and how they talked about their future right in front of them til the point they were on the way to be sold as slaves when Kakashi appeared and rescued them.
It took her some minutes in which nobody spoke before Ino finally found her voice and words to say. "Wow, that's... an horrible experience you had to make. Feel better now that you could speak about it?" she asked concerned, watching the sisters carefully.
"I guess so." Hanabi answered, smiling slightly. "Thanks for listening. Sis?" she looked towards Hinata who nodded.
"Yeah, think I'm fine too. That's one point less on my mind for now. Thanks for listening, Ino." she smiled as well.
Returning the smile was Ino glad that she could help her friends, when another information hit her mind. "Wait, one less point? Is there more haunting you, Hinata-chan?" the worry entered her voice again. After thinking for a short moment did her eyes open wide by the thought that just appeared. "That has something to do with the collar and the man, right?" her eyes switched from one to the other and back. "I mean, after what happened to you... then you get that present with the guy appearing right after that? That's fishy..."
Hinata blushed slightly, opening her mouth but not having any words to say. It was Hanabi who spoke up. "Uhm, you do realize that I got her that collar, right? I even had it custom made just for her and I ordered it months ago to have it available on time."
Ino wasn't sure what to say either, before thinking aloud. "Yes, right. Hinata-chan told us about a collection. Do you have an idea why the guy was here?"
"No..." Hanabi shook her head. "I haven't heard anything. Haven't seen him either. Maybe Spooky will know something, but catching him is nearly impossible."
"Still haven't gotten him for help with your training, huh?" Ino asked, suddenly starting to giggle. "That's really spooky that Spooky isn't there when you are searching for him. Maybe Spooky is all spooky because he is a spooky ghost spooking around?"
The sisters looked at Ino like she were crazy, before catching up to the thing she just said and both started laughing at that wordplay joke.
That brought a grin on Ino's face. "That's right, laugh and have fun. The best way to get over things. What do you say, wanna spent the rest of the day at my place? If we are lucky might my father even know a substitute for Spooky that could help you out. And if not..." she shrugged "...can we at least have a fine girls day. Forgetting the worrysome things and just have fun!" she exclaimed happily.
"I would like that." Hinata said excited, looking at her sister.
Hanabi thought about it for a moment. "Sure, sounds good to me. Beside, I never was in your room yet, Ino. We always went outside or hang out at your parents flower shop. We get to see all your embarassing stuff." she grinned at Ino who blinked her eyes in confusion.
"Wait, I never showed you my room?" she asked, before the last part of the sentence hit her. "No way am I going to show you my embarassing stuff!" she shouted angrily, only increasing the grin on Hanabi's face. Realizing what just happened did she breath deeply before speaking a bit quieter. "I mean that there is no embarassing stuff at all."
"Right..." the grin still on Hanabi's face. "There is absolutely no embarassing stuff in your room. The queen of gossip is a saint..." she giggled.
Ino crossed her arms over her chest, grumbling. "You know, in return do I want to see Hinata's collection these days. Fair is fair. Beside... I don't think I can believe someone would collect such things unless I see it for myself."
Hinata was fumbling with her fingers, slightly blushing and stuttering. "Uhm, you see... I mean... uhm..."
Rolling her eyes did Hanabi speak up. "Sis, you cleared space on your shelf for them once we came home yesterday, proudly displaying them in your room. There is no point in not showing Ino."
"Yes, you are right. Sorry." Hinata said, breathing deeply, while Ino and Hanabi just smiled at her.
Yamanaka house, Ino's room
"Did you hear that?" Ino ranted while leading the sisters into her room. "I can't believe that my father doesn't know any earth users. I mean, he's working for T&I, he should know someone, right?" she aimed straight for her bed and sat down on the edge, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Though I thought his explanation was pretty intresting. Never thought that living in the fire country would mean that the people here would primary have fire chakra as well." Hanabi pondered aloud, not yet paying attention to the room they entered.
"Well, maybe. But you two have earth and water, right?" raising an eyebrow was Ino watching the sisters carefully.
"True enough." shrugging her shoulders did Hanabi finally get to look around the room, checking it out. There was one colour dominating the room, a deep purple that could be seen everywhere. Her bed, the carpet, most of the decorations, nearly everything had a shade of deep purple on it. "That's... wow. I don't think we could colour our rooms that way."
While Hanabi was watching the room in awe with a smiling Ino on her bed fell Hinata's eye on something totally different inside the room. "Uhm, Ino, is it always like that in your room?" she asked a bit embarassed and with a slight blush on her face.
Ino looked confused at Hinata. "What do you mean?"
Blushing a bit more was Hinata picking up a piece of clothing which turned out to be black shorts, clearly worn by someone. And it wasn't the only thing laying around. All over the room were clothes scattered around, from tops to socks, all kind of different trousers and even bras and panties were simply discarded on the floor, most of them clearly used. Hinata's blush increased a bit when she even spotted some thongs in between. She couldn't understand why some girls liked to wear them.
Watching her carefully was Ino simply shrugging at Hinata after a while, once she figured out what she was referring to. "Oh, yeah, that's normal. My mom will come and pick the stuff up when she is going to wash clothes. No big deal."
"But... what if someone enters your room and sees that? I mean..." Hinata took a deep breath. "There is even underwear between these clothes..."
"So? It's just clothes. Besides, the only ones entering my room are my parents and friends I invite. I don't see a problem with that." Ino simply shrugged again, not really being bothered.
"Well, I guess it's different from our house were you must fear of so many different people entering your room, especially if you are away. We couldn't make such a mess inside of our clan compound." Hanabi said, shrugging as well. "Different home, different situation, sis."
Nodding slowly was Hinata thinking for a moment before asking. "You haven't invited a boy into your room yet, have you? I mean, that would be too embarassing if he would see all this..."
Raising an eyebrow was Ino thinking for a short moment, but her answer came pretty quick all things considered. "I haven't yet, no. But I wouldn't mind. It's just clothes. Everyone wears them." she smiled at Hinata. "But if you want to talk about them the rest of the day am I all up for it. We could discuss which feels the best, which colour would best suit each of you and even make out a day on which we could go shopping together." her smile got even wider while Hinata slightly paled. She wasn't too fond of deepening that topic.
Hanabi on the other side was touching her lower lip in thought before picking up one of the thongs laying around, totally ignoring her sisters look and adressing Ino. "Well, since you suggested it. Mind telling me why you have choosen to wear these?"
"Hanabi!" her sister shouted out, her face crimson red by now. "This isn't funny! This is... it's..." she shook her head and turned around, leaving the room. Once the door was closed could they hear that Hinata wasn't moving away but instead simply sat down next to the door.
"What was that about?" Ino asked curious and a bit worried about her friend.
"Well, guess she isn't completely over her shyness yet. Or the topic is too private in her eyes, I don't know." Hanabi shrugged as answer. "So, mind telling me?" a small grin entered her face.
"Never tried them out I guess? It's simple, I just like the feeling of them." she was pondering how to explain it. "It's basicly just the right mix between amount of fabric and feeling on your skin. Slightly pressing in and if worn with something loose can you feel a fresh breeze. Something like that." she shrugged her shoulders. While she was good with gossip was she kinda bad in explaining things.
Examing the one she was still holding for some moments did Hanabi nod in understanding and careless dropped it back on the ground. "I see. Well, let's change the topic, shall we? I'll get my sister and then, I don't know, let's talk about boys?" she giggled while Ino perked up, nodding frantically. That was a good topic for their girls day.
Hyuga Compound
It was early evening when the sisters came back home and Hinata was still upset about some topics that came up. While they haven't spoken a word about clothing once she was back inside was Ino totally trying to force the conversation on the relation between her and Naruto, which was a topic Hinata didn't really want to talk about either. After all haven't she even seen Naruto since they split up after the party got interrupted. Nor was she able to talk to him, thanking him properly for the present and maybe discussing how they might go on from now.
When they passed the front door were they informed by the guard that their father was waiting for them in his office, needing to discuss something with them. Not knowing what to expect or which topic might be discussed did they walk over to his office, knocking on the door and entering after they got the reply for it.
The moment they closed the door did Hiashi glare at them angrily, his voice near to exploding. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked his daughters who looked back at him in confusion, not knowing what this was all about.
It was Hanabi who answered her father. "The meaning of what? We just came back home from visiting Ino and if you won't tell us what this is about won't we be able to answer." she said calmly which surprised Hiashi. Hanabi was in worse situations by now that her angry father wasn't much to worry about as long as he wasn't going all out. Though she had to admit to herself that she acted braver than she actually was, knowing quite well that she was traumatized by the things that happened to her.
Sighing in frustration did Hiashi pick up a small box from below his desk, putting it on top of it. Seeing the content of the box were Hinata's eyes getting wide and she spoke without really thinking about her words. "These are mine!"
"I figured as much considering the cleaning staff found them in your room." he was slowly loosing his patience. "What I want to know is why the hell you own slave collars. Or to be more precise why you are displaying them openly on your shelf?"
Hinata got kinda angry with her father. Not for someone entering her room, she knew quite well that their were members of the clan on cleaning duty, but for him taking away what is hers. "Because I'm collecting them? Why else would I display something on my shelf that isn't decoration?"
"You... what?" He slammed his hands on his desk. "There is absolutely no logic behind your words. Nobody sane would collect... something like that."
Raising an eyebrow at her father was Hinata thinking for a moment. "And from my point of view does the same apply to your collection of stamps, father. The shells mother used to collect were at least pretty, but yours..."
His anger increased further and further with every passing second heading towards a critical point. "I prefered it when you were the shy girl and not talking back..." he spat out coldly. "But okay, then please explain to me why there is one with your name on it?"
This time did Hanabi answer, increasing his anger even more. "Because I got it for her collection as a birthday present. You know, your daughters birthday that were yesterday which you have forgotten about? At least haven't I seen any kind of present from you and no congratulations either. And I was with her the whole day."
"I haven't asked you, Hanabi!" he was shouting by now. "But since you already interrupted me, care to explain why there is one with your name on it as well?"
Hiashi was glaring at his daughters who suddenly realized that none of them had ever thought about that point. The collection story Hinata came up with the day before was kinda reasonable and the origin of Hinata's collar was basicly the truth. But neither of them had thought about the collar Hinata kept after the kidnapping that had her sisters name on it. And that they weren't answering right now brought their father over the edge.
"Yeah, thought as much, you can't! Fine!" now was the time the girls should flee, if they could. "I even got reports of you two acting strangely lately. Talking about things not suited for your ages and adressing the other in ways not appropriate either. I want answers and I want them now or it will have consequences for you two that you don't like!" and was to late to get away and the girls knew that. It's rare that their father exploded, but when it happened was it always ugly.
Hinata kept silent and looked at the ground, simply hoping that it would be over soon. Hanabi's mind was racing, trying to come up with something when she suddenly remembered something she had heard some months ago. "You want to know? Okay, fine." her voice was trembling, she too was close to shouting, not caring much for the consequences it would have. "We are children and children like to play. That's it. Some play Family, some play Pet and we play Slave. So what? We aren't hurting anyone, we aren't bothering anyone, we just play between the two of us. Just let us!"
Both Hiashi and Hinata looked at Hanabi in surprise, not having expected an answer like that. Hanabi looked back into her fathers eyes with defiance in her own, her left hand painfully digging into her burn scar. That actually was something she realized lately she was doing quite often when her emotions got the better of her.
Their father was silent for a while and the girls weren't saying anything either. The air was tense enough to be cut with a sword and one wrong move might end painfully for at least one of them.
Hiashi sighed and turned away from his daughters. "Just take the box and leave. I'll let it slide for now. However, should I realize that something is totally not right will we have another talk and you won't be getting away easily next time."
Hinata quickly picked up the box and both girls left the office in silence, not looking at their father anymore. Both sides knew that they should get out of the others way for some days for things to calm down. Emotions sometimes are such a troublesome thing.
They kept silent til they reached Hinata's room and locked the door behind them. Hanabi walked over to her sisters bed and sat down on it. "I guess that ended better than we might have hoped for..." she said quietly, frustration inside her voice.
Walking over to her shelf was Hinata starting to place the collars back in it. "You acted fast enough to surprise him. But how did you come up with that statement?" she looked over to her sister before focusing again on her shelf.
A small smile entered Hanabi's lips. "Remember when these stupid rumours were around? The ones about our relationship? It was Teuchi-san who told us to just say that we are simply playing and that this is what children do. I just happen to remember it in time and I guess it worked for now. Though I guess we might need to think about ways to be either more careful from now on or to make it official already, sis..."
"Please not official... not yet..." Hinata voiced quietly, having finished with her shelf and sat down at her desk, looking at her sister.
Hanabi nodded slowly at that. "That's okay. I would say I try to hold myself back and we both should focus on our training for now. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good. You still want to try what Chouji told you, right? And..." she picked up the book she got from Shikamaru which was laying on her desk. "...maybe we can find some help in here as well."
"Yeah, let's try if we can get better that way. Something has to work." getting up from the bed and walking over to her sister did they start to read the book together. They could still "play Slave" at a later date.
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Author Note: I know I said I would drop them, but... dunno. Here's another note from me. A shorter chapter all together but I guess it's alright, considering my current circumstances. Plus I think I got enough "building relationships" and "planting ideas" covered inside.
And yes, the opening was a trying out from me. Wanted to know how it feels to write in that direction. After all, with that setting... *shrugs* plus it gave me an excuse to get the girls a bit more together ;-)
Final thing: Not sure if I'm getting another chapter done before the following will happen, so better to write it down here. Am going to have a two week vacation from 24th of October til 4th of November (funeral is set for the 4th as well, btw). That means that I'm also taking a vacation from writing, at least for one week in which I'm visiting C - well, the real one that is ;-) - maybe even for both weeks if my master can open up some time for me.
So if I get a chapter done before I leave - I still wrote this week, so maybe. But thinking about what I want to write next, not sure if I get that done in time - will there be a longer break after it. If not will the break be even longer starting now. Just saying in advance - am not going to abadon you. *waves*