Due to a small number of reviews, I am sorry to say but I am going to stop making other chapters of this story from here. No sense in continuing something no one reads, right? However, this chapter should suffice as a checkpoint if I further the series. Please enjoy reading.
It was a brisk afternoon. Megami undid her long braid as she walked home to the Hyuuga Estate, placing the piece of paper she had snatched from her cousin, Uzumaki Taiyou, in the right cup of her bra. She decided to take as much time that was necessary to meet her father, Hyuuga Neji, once he entered the house. She knew her mother, TenTen, was out on a mission today, so she planned on learning a new recipe for dinner then asking her father for a brief interview.
Yes, Megami was a daddy's girl but she loved her father ever since birth. He may seem cold-hearted and a bit stubborn on the outside, but on the inside Megami saw differently. Neji was strong, considerate, determined, protective. The basic characteristics of a father, maybe not perfect but well in stature. Disappointing someone like that is heartbreaking enough, but watching him leave and never knowing whether he'll come back or not was terrifying. In fact, she can remember quite clearly how she felt when she saw her father about to leave the house to report to Lord Uzumaki.
[Flashback]
"Me-chan are you playing hide-and-seek again?" an old woman asked.
"Hiihaa, Nanny Kiyoko," little Megami answered politely. "I was looking for my teddy bear."
"Hm... Did you look underneath your bed?" Kiyoko asked.
"Hiihaa, but I will. Arigatou, Nanny Kiyoko," Megami thanked, running to her bedroom.
Megami ran to her bedroom as quickly as her little legs could take her. She passed three doors until she saw her mother walking to the other end of her father's room. She slowed her running to a walk until she could see her mother embrace her father while he was placing a dark spandex shirt over his shoulders. (A/N: Yes, you have permission to imagine a shirtless Neji.) TenTen ceased his movements when she unexpectedly yet sweetly held him.
"I heard Naruto called for you," TenTen whispered, kissing Neji's left bicep. "How long will you be out?"
"I only know the mission is somewhere near the village hidden in the mountains. I do not know how long the mission will take," Neji answered, turning to his wife.
"Your voice has gotten deeper all of sudden. Extra testosterone much?" TenTen teases.
"Careful with your bantering. That's how you got pregnant in the first place, remember?" Neji indirectly teases. "Where is Megami?"
"Right here, otou-sama," Megami answers.
"Did you find Snuggles, baby?" Neji asks.
"Hiihaa," Megami sighs. "But Nanny Kiyoko told me to look under my bed, so I will look there. What's a mission, otou-sama?"
"... A mission is a big job that Uncle Fox likes to give to people able to do them," Neji tries to explain.
"Are you going to see Unca Fox?" Little Megami asks, perking up.
"Mmhm," Neji grumbles, nodding.
"Can I go play with Unca Fox and Sunshine-kun?" Little Megami asks, tugging on Neji's sleeve.
"You can play with Sunshine-kun, but I don't think Uncle Fox has time, baby," Neji says, kneeling down to his daughter. "Maybe tomorrow--"
TenTen forcefully coughs, reminding Neji of something else he had to do for tomorrow.
"Perhaps some other time," Neji says, slightly blushing.
Little Megami stumbles in her father's arms, earning a chuckle from him. Kiyoko enters the room, holding a brown grizzly bear in her arms. TenTen takes the bear, walks to Megami, and pretends the bear is talking to entertain her daughter.
"Oi, little one. Can I have a hug, too?"
"Snuggles has a cold. Help him, otou-sama! Snuggles is sick!" Megami shouts, worried for her bear.
"Hm?" TenTen questions.
"Oh," Neji whispers, taking Snuggles by its red ribbon. "Should we give Snuggles some medicine?"
"Me-medi-sink? What's medisink?" Megami asks, watching Neji hold the bear.
"Medisink?" TenTen repeats, laughing.
"Medicine helps me feel all better!" Snuggles says, with Neji's voice.
"Hyuuga-san? Some men were at the door for you. I almost forgot why I came in here in the first place. Silly me," Kiyoko says.
"I see," Neji says, giving Megami to TenTen and Snuggles to Megami. "You be good with okaa-sama, okay?"
"Okay, otou-sama!" Megami gleefully exclaims.
Moments later, Megami and TenTen play a game of tag, in which case TenTen was winning, until Megami sees two men surrounding her father. They both wore masks and a tan coat that was exceptionally baggy and unfashionable. They were also holding swords, and, at the proximity to Neji, looked as if they were about to stab him. Engulfed by a wave of fear, Megami ran to Neji in tears and away from TenTen altogether.
"Otou-sama! Otou-sama!"
"That your baby, Neji?" one of the men in a dog mask asks.
"The only one I know with that voice is Megami," Neji answers.
"Otou-sama! Run away!"
"Megami-chan, where are you going?" TenTen asks, worried.
"Otou-sama run!"
"Run? From us?" the dog-masked man asks, pointing to himself.
"Otou-sama!"
"Megami!" TenTen calls.
Megami shrieks, using her byakugan for the first time. She strikes the butterfly-masked man in his leg, disabling him for a moment, and quickly grasps Neji's pant leg. Neji, worried for his daughter, picks her up and watches her trembling and crying in fear.
"Megami, what's wrong?" he asks.
"I-I-I don't want you to die, otou-sama! I want you to come back home with me and mommy and Nanny Kiyoko. I love you, otou-sama! I don't want the mammal-men to hurt you..."
Neji's eyes widened at his daughter's words. He was speechless beyond anyone's wildest imagination, though he quickly understood what Megami thought was happening. She thought his partners were about to attack him because of the position of their tantos. He and TenTen had taught her about the postions of a weapon that signal either ally or threat. Neither, however, thought she would remember at 4 years of age.
"Aw...we're not gonna hurt your dad, Megami-chan," the dog-masked man reassures, removing his mask. "See, it's only me, Kiba."
"K-K-Kiba-kun?" Megami asks through tears.
"Yeah, sweetie. And look," Kiba says, pointing at the butterfly-masked man. "That's Shino you just punched in the knee."
"Shino-kun...? Gomen nesai, gomen nesai..." Megami trails off, struggling to be released from Neji. "Down. I want down."
"Megami," TenTen calls.
Neji places Megami down, waiting for her to reach TenTen. However, Megami runs to her room, grabbing Mr. Snuggles from the floor, and gets her stool next to her bed. She pulls it to the door, stands on it then tiptoes to lock the door. Once she locks it, she climbs in her bed and hides under the covers. Moments later, a knock on the door is heard and Neji's voice comes through.
"Baby...? Megami, I know you're in there. Now unlock this door... Baby, I'm not leaving until you come out of there."
Neji waits, not moving from the door for an instant. Finally, Megami opens the door and looks up to her father's eyes.
"You can go now, otou-sama. Gomen nesai..."
Neji embraces her, shedding tears of his own to match that of his daughter's.
"Hiihaa... Gomen nesai... my daughter..."
[Time skip to the present]
"Otou-sama, I will never embarass you like that ever again... I promise. I will make you smile at me instead of pity me. I will one day make you and mother happy rather than look so dull at me. Nothing will stop me from reaching my goal... Nothing..."
"Megami-chan!" Nanny Kiyoko calls, smiling.
"Oi, Ba-san!" Megami gleefully greets, running to her caretaker.
