Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable thing from Naruto. Such are the dreams of man...well woman...
Thank You's: I would just like to give out a few major thank you's to Midnight blue08, HeartBrokenHinata, and Anotamous (whoever you are...).
Note: I'm not sure who Anotamous was hinting at, so I'm just going to assume you meant Sasuke, but there is a reason why he was so emotionless after he hit Hinata. You just have to wait for the ending. Like I said this story will only be about 5 chapters tops. Reviews make me smile...
Part Two: Contact
Hiashi let his brow crease in strained thought, his mind replaying the encounter with his daughter in the early hours of yesterday forenoon.
--FlashBack--
He stepped out into the morning air. Inhaling deeply, he allowed a small moment of reprieve for his experience-honed senses. The evening sky was slowly dissolving into the pre-dawn palette of purple, pinks, and creamy orange. Hokage Mountain was just starting to be splashed in the first rays of the sun, stars fading back into the blanket of the blue heavens. Another deep breath allowed the aroma of mint and roses to tickle his nose and memory.
His wife smelled of mint and roses. It seemed to proceed her coming and linger when she left. When he first met her, he thought it came from the hours she spent meticulously ministering to her gardens. But that conclusion was quickly discarded the first time they bathed together. Even after the warm water and heated kisses had been rinsed down the drain, the natural perfume of mint and roses clung to her pale skin. It still made his mouth water.
He quickly breathed again to savor the hovering scent but stopped at the soft patter of passing footsteps. Opal eyes snapped open, his mind pulled from reverie, just in time to see the passing flare of indigo and lavender. Hiashi blinked his eyes rapidly fearing his memories had manifested into the petite creature walking away from him, in the direction of the Hyuuga compound gates.
A curtain of raven wing hair water-falled down her back, the clean cut edges brushing the base of her spine. Skin, the color of virgin snow, shone flawlessly in the morning light. He blinked again, his lungs ready to call the name he had not dared even whisper for 13 years.
"Hin-" The figure draped a purple and white jacket over her shoulders, lacing her arms into the baggy clothing item before zipping it up. "-ata."
Said Hyuuga Heiress turned to face him, her veneer one of shock and wariness. Her body automatically stepped back, cringing away from his voice and presence, as if trying to fold into and close herself off; shield her entire being from his gaze. Hiashi narrowed his frost-pale eyes at his daughter.
It was just her, not his wife, Hinako. No, he wasn't going crazy. His wife's specter had not melted into being to haunt him. It was close though.
Hinata had grown to be the mirror image of her mother. She was the exact facsimile, from the wide, vulnerable eyes down to the small but elegant nose and sweet bow mouth. She carried the same mannerisms; quiet, shy, compassionate, humble, selfless. And now, as Hiashi just discovered, even smelled like her.
Who gave her the right to mock his wife's memory? Who gave her the right to only have to simply show her face at dinner time and force Hiashi to remember those times Hinako would smile just for him?
Hinata didn't even smile. She seemed to refuse to while in his company, as if trying to avoid any form of detection. This was the first time he had really gazed upon his daughter in years. After she had failed the Chuunin exams a second time at the age of 13, he had forgone any elective contact with her; be it training or tea. Their steadfast avoidance of each other transitioned easily from habit to nature over the last four years. They didn't even have to think about moving their bodies to the opposite side when passing in the corridors. Eyes automatically slid to the floor or stared straight ahead without deterrence. He had even gone so far as to move her rooms out of the Main Branch wing and into a more remote hall located near the back of the Main House. Not that she complained. Based on Neji's short and infrequent reports on his eldest daughter, she wasn't necessarily unwelcome the move. It put her closer to her precious gardens and herb shed. Hiashi scowled in abhorrence.
Hyuuga's did not become the strongest clan in all of Konoha because of their tender ways. They became the strongest clan due to their perseverance and duress in battle. The Hyuuga were warriors, not coddlers. Soldier's as opposed to gardeners. A small cough brought him yet again out of his ever musings. He frowned at Hinata, upset with her blatant act of impatience.
"Where are you going at this earlier hour." He demanded. Hinata seemed to tense, her shoulders shaking slightly in the light that crawled across the open grounds.
"A mission."
"Tch. Make sure you don't get in everyone's way."
Her face fell, long bangs falling over the lavender eye's that cast to the ground. Hiashi shook his head at the submissive, weak gesture on his daughter's part and turned his back to her. He stepped up onto the stairs leading to the thin porch that lined the house. Reaching out for the do-
"Why do you even care?"
He froze.
Glancing back over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed at the now empty space his eldest daughter once occupied. Her cold, sardonic words left to dissipate in the sun.
--End of FlashBack--
"Why do you even care?"
Why did he care?
"Father?"
He looked up and met the questioning eyes of Hanabi. She stood in the traditional Jyuuken stance her left arm peppered with various chakra burns, the entire right arm hanging useless at her side from a perfect strike by his own hands. Hiashi blinked, his face pulling into a contemplative frown.
Hanabi looked nothing like her sister, therefore looking nothing like Hinako. She was truly a product of his loins, a child of Hyuuga. Chestnut hair pulled back into a low pony-tail. Large eyes, expressionless, offering little to no sentiment or mercy in the icy depths. Her skin lightly tanned, palms callused from hours of practice with her father.
This was his daughter. Not Hinako's. But his.
"My apologies daughter. I feel we must end this training session early. I have things that I must attend to."
"Yes father." She bowed respectfully before turning to leave the dojo. He could feel the familiar chakra flare as she activated her Byakugan.
"If it is your sister you search for, she departed early yesterday for a mission." Hanabi spun to face him, her face trying to remain impassive, but he could still see. His ever watchful eyes caught the way her jaw clenched, lips thinning into a small line. All visible signs of disappointment with perhaps a dragging aftertaste of betrayal.
"Do you know when she will return?"
"No." He turned his back to her and walked out of the room, mildly disgusted that Hanabi had allowed herself to seem so needy, dependent. Hiashi was aware that Hinata would heal her younger sister after their more demanding training sessions, but never did he expect Hanabi to become so reliant.
Perhaps it would be best for Hanabi's emotional development that he schedule her to see a uniformed nurse after sparring, one that would treat her like a patient and not try to overindulge her with unnecessary pampering. Yes, he would meditate then go to the hospital himself to pick out the best nurse qualified to heal the future Clan Head.
--PageBreak--
"You need to stay awake, Hinata. We're almost at the gates." Naruto spoke over his shoulder to the failing figure on his back. He adjusted his grasp on her legs as he flew from branch to branch. After coming up with a last second effort of 'Run-like-Hell-and-Pray,' the Kyuubi vessel and Shino removed the kunai and closed up the wound as best they could. The bug user then let Naruto absorb as much chakra, from his own being, as he could without passing out from depletion.
"J-Just...a few moments...sleep..., Na-Naruto." The blue- haired nin whispered breathlessly. Her voice was edged with the gut wrenching pain that emanated from her back at each jolting leap forward. The metallic twang that coated the inside of her mouth with every exhale left her tongue heavy with a bitter film. She could feel the poison coursing through her veins making her limbs tingle a few moments before going completely numb. She lost feeling in her legs roughly three minutes ago. Her arms were thrown lifelessly over Naruto's shoulders, fingers unable to grip his clothing for support. The venom that tipped Sasuke's kunai was nearing her lungs, and soon after that, her heart. Part of her knew this was the end, the other recognizing it as a beginning. Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she pressed her face deeper in-between Naruto's shoulder blades.
The funny thing was, she didn't regret what she did. Even with the knowledge that she would be sacrificing so much, it didn't matter. What mattered was that she would finally proved herself. She wasn't worthless. She wasn't weak. She wasn't useless.
"Make sure you don't get in everyone's way."
She almost laughed at how ridiculously ironic those words sounded in her mind at this moment. Her first act of disobedience towards her father, would be her last.
Naruto could feel the splotches of liquid seeping into the back of his orange and black jacket. He couldn't tell if it was blood or tears, but either way he forced his legs to move faster. Konoha was so close that he could smell Ichiraku's Tuesday ramen special, Pork.
"I-It...will all...be better...wh-when I...wake up..."
Was the lingering rasp that stained the air before Hinata's body fell completely limp in his hold.
End of Part Two:
A/N: Don't.Kill.Me. Sorry to end it there, but it was a necessary evil. I'll give you a clue in this story, pay attention to what you read. It is more a mystery than I originally planned, but I couldn't resist. Hopefully it will all come together in the end! Feed back is the food of the Gods!