Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I know that, you know that, everyone knows that, but apparently it's still not obvious.
Notes: I don't know if my views on the positions of clan head and clan elder are canon, but I like to think they're at least realistic, as far as the Hyuuga Clan being followers of the "old ways" is concerned. In short, since Hanabi is both young (for a clan head) and female, I don't think they're going to just instantly dump all that power in her lap.
Hyuuga Secret Arts
Companion to "White Dog Night"
Part 7: The Art of Remembrance
A Naruto Ficlet by
Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Hyuuga Neji had definitely had his fill of women for the day.
Tenten still wasn't talking to him, nor had he made any real attempt to speak with her in the past week. Honestly, he thought she was being a bit more stubborn than usual. His loyalty to his clan (or at least, to Hanabi) came before all things. The sooner Tenten understood and accepted that, the sooner they could get on with their lives.
Although, it wasn't as if Hanabi was pleased with him at the moment, either. Far from it, in fact. Neji was still reeling from their last conversation, and if the looks he was getting from random villagers were any indicator, her bright red handprint was still decorating the side of his face.
He couldn't believe that Hanabi had struck him.
She'd done so before, of course, but only in the name of sparring. This was the only time she'd hit him out of pure frustration, and nothing more. The idea that Hanabi was mad at him had hurt more than the actual slap, and Neji knew that if she had intended to seriously hurt him, he would be seriously hurt.
Even worse, he was starting to think that both of the women had valid points, and beyond that, both points were directly related.
Hanabi would remain upset until he worked things out with Tenten.
Tenten would remain upset... well, until he worked things out with her.
That, however, was not so easily accomplished, even under normal circumstances. And with the added pressure of Hanabi breathing down his neck, Neji felt trapped. It wasn't as if he didn't want to be with Tenten. It was just that, mad as she already was, he didn't want to make up with her, only to immediately anger her all over again.
And he was pretty sure she would be furious, one way or another. Either it would seem like he was just being stubborn, or it would seem like he was only using her to get something he wanted. Neither was accurate; Neji was only trying to be cautious.
Unfortunately, there just didn't seem to be a right way to tell Tenten that he needed her pregnant as soon as was humanly possible.
Hanabi was in a very bad mood. This was not exactly new to her, as she was fairly accustomed to most people displeasing her for a wide variety of reasons. She had extremely high standards, after all.
She was not accustomed to Neji being one of those people, however. It seemed as if he had chosen the worst possible time to prove himself unreliable, and she'd lost her patience with him. She regretted striking him, but she hadn't apologized for it, and had no intention of doing so.
Some things were just more important.
The "situation" with he and Tenten was now, in Hanabi's eyes, more of a crisis. And since Neji hadn't seemed to be making any progress, she'd questioned him about it.
His answers, or lack thereof, had been most unsettling. And to show him just how much they'd bothered her, she'd hit him.
He had clearly been shocked, to the point where it hadn't even occurred to him to be angry, not even long after they'd finished speaking. He could only think to ask why.
"You promised, onii-san," she'd whispered, disappointment dripping from every word. "You promised to support me in this."
"I've kept all my promises to you!" he'd insisted.
"And what good are any of those oaths, if you do not provide me with a proper heir?"
The magnitude of her words actually sent him to his knees. He'd stayed that way for several seconds, staring up at her in complete disbelief.
Hanabi hadn't wanted to deliver the news in that way. She had always intended to tell Neji and Tenten together, but things had just seemed so hopeless, and she'd had to give him some major incentive to patch things up quickly.
This was to be her gift to Neji, her way of thanking him for years of service, to both her and the Hyuuga Clan. In all honesty, there was no greater honor she could bestow upon him than naming his firstborn child the heir of the Hyuuga Clan.
Well, except taking Neji for her husband and bearing the heir herself, but Hanabi had ruled out that idea as soon as the elders proposed it to her. Admittedly, the thought had crossed her mind in the past, but it wasn't worth the multiple heartbreaks it would undoubtedly cause now. It was bad enough that she'd have to remain unmarried and childless for the rest of her life, and to trap Neji in a loveless union when they both loved other people was no way to repay his loyalty to her.
But that all depended on Neji having a child in the first place, and that meant his getting back in Tenten's good graces very, very quickly. If Hanabi didn't name an heir soon after she came to power, the elders would begin pressuring her relentlessly, either to marry Konohamaru, Neji, or a "suitable" male within the clan (never mind that Neji was only Hyuuga she would ever consider marrying at all). And while Hanabi could have a child herself, she just couldn't risk it, ever. If her plans were to succeed, she couldn't have the elders strip the title of heir from Neji's child and force it onto her own.
Even Hinata had done her best to help out, promising not to aggravate the elders by having a child before Neji and Tenten did. Hanabi only loved her more for it, but she had no intention of making Hinata and Naruto pay for her problems, not when they technically had no connection to the Hyuuga Clan.
No matter how Neji was feeling right now, Hanabi knew he would come to his senses soon enough. He had never let his personal troubles stand in the way of his duty to her, and Tenten was too important to him to lose over a petty argument. They would work things out, and Hanabi would have her heir.
There simply was no other possible outcome in her mind.
Someone was in the bedroom with her.
Any other kunoichi might have been alarmed at the very least. Tenten was not. Having lived alone for years now, and far too used to depending on her own ability to defend herself, an intruder in her home just did not inspire fear in her anymore. Alertness, and perhaps anger at the audacity, but nothing else.
There were really only three things the man could be seeking: her life, her property, or her body.
He would be sorely disappointed on all three counts, and if he was lucky, he might crawl away with only an instant castration for his troubles. Frankly, she kept several weapons with sharp blades within arm's reach of the bed for that very purpose, although to date, simply the threat of carrying out the act had scared off even the most battle-hardened of intruders.
But this did not mean that Tenten was incapable of such cruelty. Men in particular had never been her favorite group of people, and the only ones she ever really excused of thoughtless words and actions were Neji and Naruto. Neji had come from an environment where feelings got stepped on all the time, and Naruto was practically self-raised, so she couldn't really blame either of them for the way they had turned out. The fact remained that both of them knew better than to cross her, and that included walking into her home uninvited.
So she was more than a little startled when she flipped on the lights, only to find Neji staring at her with a blank look on his face.
"Neji! Do you know what I almost did to you?" Tenten growled at him, dropping the axe she'd been gripping behind her back.
"It wouldn't matter. My life is over," Neji whispered, not even really seeing her as he sat down on the edge of her bed and buried his face in his hands.
Sighing, Tenten slid the axe back under the bed with her foot before giving him her full attention. "You know, we're still fighting. You're not really allowed to come in here and be miserable, and especially not when I was trying to sleep." When that got no reaction, she scowled and poked his shoulder. "Are you even listening to me?"
"I thought I had done everything Hanabi expected of me. How could I have known?" he muttered.
Tenten sat down beside him. "Is there any woman in your life that you didn't piss off? Next you'll be telling me that Hinata, of all people, is mad at you, too. And Temari... well, she's always hated you, but you see where I'm going with this."
Neji slowly raised his head and looked at her for the first time. "If I had known this day would come... if I'd had any idea... you would have been my queen from the start, Tenten..."
Tenten would never admit it, but Neji was starting to scare her. She'd never seen him so broken up about anything, and he had never really been what anyone would call romantic. He'd certainly never admitted to regretting any of his choices in how he treated her. She had no idea what Hanabi had said to him, but whatever it was, Tenten had a feeling that neither of them would sleep tonight until they talked about it.
"Yeah, you can worship me later. What did Hanabi say to you?"
Neji closed his eyes and lowered his head. "She told me... my firstborn child is to be the heir... but-"
"And this is a bad thing how?" Tenten blurted out. "You've always wanted something like that, haven't you? So what's so horrible about-"
"I would never... I could never dare to... Tenten, it isn't right to ask that of any woman. So how could I even begin to ask you-"
"You'd damn well better be asking me, and no one else!" she snapped, glaring at him.
Neji blinked, certain he'd heard wrong. "But... today you wouldn't even speak to me, so why-"
She rolled her eyes. "Neji, we were FIGHTING. If I'd said anything to you, you wouldn't have wanted to hear it. But this is different." Tenten's voice softened. "This is... more important. To both of us."
"How can I ask you to give me a child?" Neji whispered. "When I haven't..."
"Easy," Tenten replied with a smirk. "You tell me you're stupid, and then you ask me to marry you, so in the future when you're being stupid, I'll be right there to knock some sense into you."
"You... you would still become my wife?" he asked in disbelief. "Even though I've pushed you aside for all this time?"
"You pushed me aside, not threw me away. And I knew why you had to. I would've done the same thing. Maybe. But it doesn't change the fact that I've loved you since we were genin, and I told you I could wait. Well, now the waiting pays off, and everybody wins."
"They do?"
"Yes." Tenten moved past him, making sure he hadn't left the window open when he came in. "Hanabi gets her heir. You get a child to loosen you up. And I get to have a child with the man I love. It doesn't get much better than that."
"And you're willing to forgive everything I've done to you? Just like that?"
She closed her eyes briefly before turning away from the window to face him. "We're shinobi, Neji. Life is already way too short for us to waste time holding grudges. So if I say I forgive you for being... well, you... then just accept it and keep your mouth shut before you screw it up again."
Naturally, the fool actually opened his mouth to say something else.
"One more word and I'll throw you out. Through the window. While it's still shut."
Neji closed his mouth.
"Good boy." Tenten patted him on the head as she walked to the light switch. "I assume Hanabi put something of a rush order on this baby thing, and that's why you're all nervous?"
He was watching her closely now. "Something like that."
"Then I guess, as a favor to the future Auntie Hanabi, we can move a little faster than we normally would. But I should warn you."
"About what?"
"I have been waiting for this for a long, long, long time. And you look like you've depressed yourself to the point where you can't handle anything too strenuous."
"What are you saying, Tenten?"
"I'm saying, for once in your life, just sit back and let me be the boss. You should probably get used to that now, anyway, since we're going to be married."
Neji's eyes narrowed. "I haven't exactly asked you yet, you know."
"I know," Tenten replied, smiling wickedly as she reached for the light switch. "But I think before the night is done, you'll be begging me to marry you. Or at least, not to stop."
There were a number of things Neji could have said to that, but he didn't. Because in the next moment, the lights were off again, and all the thinking on his part pretty much ended right then and there.
"I was raised to serve the old ways, and for a time, there was nothing else that I wanted or needed."
Hanabi spoke softly, but her voice easily reached every ear in the room.
"And then I observed that those who did not serve the old ways seemed happier, more satisfied, even content in their lives. And I wondered why there was such a huge difference in how we each lived."
Her gaze landed on Konohamaru, who smiled and nodded slightly.
"I thought the old ways were best. So I served them faithfully, and in return, they tore my family apart. They cost me my sister, and then my father. And in the process, I learned that the old ways are just that: old ways. To live by them, in a new and constantly changing world, is neither wise nor practical. And we, who think ourselves of the sun, have hidden in the shadows of our own greatness for too long."
She could hear the murmurs, and none of them were of approval. It didn't matter. She had to continue, for her own sake, and for the survival of her clan.
"I ask you, my cherished kinsmen, why are only some of us called upon to protect the secrets of our success? Are we not all blessed with the Byakugan? Is it therefore not the responsibility of each and every one of us to guard its power with our lives? You know what can happen, should it ever fall into enemy hands. That is a fate we should all strive to prevent, is it not?"
The voices were no longer all against her. On some level, they all agreed, but all were not willing to say so just yet.
"Our power has been halved, and by our very own hands. Why? Are we not all Hyuuga? Is any number of us really not expected to bring fame and glory to our clan? How can we do this if we are too busy fighting amongst ourselves? We are our own greatest enemies, and no one seems to realize it. You have all seen the heights I have reached, and you have praised me for them. Would you take back your praise, if you learned that at an early age, I was personally trained by a member of the branch house? There is power and genius there, if you would only open your eyes."
The disapproval was even louder now, but Hanabi refused to stop.
"The choice is no longer ours to make. Our clan is dying from within. These are dangerous times, and nothing is assured. I have recently been made aware that I can never bear children. But I will not let our clan die. The Hyuuga will live on, and so once again, I turn to the one who taught me the most important lessons, and ask him step forward, not for myself, but for our entire clan, branch house and main house alike. Take your rightful place beside me, onii-san."
She did not have to look to know that Neji was beside her now. She could feel his strength as he supported her in silence.
"Hyuuga Neji will deliver the next heir of the Hyuuga Clan. He will ensure that we never die... just as I will ensure that we do not fall on our own swords. There will be no more branch and main houses. There will only be Hyuuga from this day forward, and we will be stronger because of it. If you insist on denying that, then remember that it was the branch house that propelled me to greatness, and that the branch house will step forward to aid our entire clan once again. We should all be so lucky, to be called upon to serve the Hyuuga Clan. That is an honor that we should all be familiar with, and instead we delegate it to those who are supposedly unworthy. Yet there is not a single member of the main house that has ever bested Neji in combat. Imagine, that if he could be so formidable, what other treasures might we have overlooked because we were too blind and proud? I beg you, my kinsmen, to step back and look around this village. The Uchiha have fallen into ruin and shame. Do not assume we might never reach a similar fate. We were once one and the same, and they fell to one of their own. It is time we stopped planting the seeds of our own destruction, and started raising the promising buds waiting to blossom."
The rest of meeting passed quickly, and as Shino stepped forward to outline the alliance proposal, Hanabi suppressed her pain as best she could.
She had almost faltered when announcing that she was barren. Not because it was a lie, but because she'd seen the expression on Konohamaru's face. She had not discussed her speech with him beforehand, but they both knew that was something she would've told him, if it were true. He clearly didn't like the idea of people thinking Hanabi couldn't bear children, but it was necessary. It was perhaps the only thing that would earn Hanabi any sympathy with the elders, and she would need that to make changes on such a grand scale.
When the meeting was over, Hanabi carefully observed people as they left. Some, at least, were considering all that had been said, and that was what she'd been hoping for. She hadn't expected to get her way within a single day, so this was progress.
"You did not tell me that your gift would come at so high a cost, Hanabi."
She turned to see Neji glaring down at her. "It is a price I am willing to pay, onii-san. I will not allow you to reject my gift."
"I realize that. But-"
Hanabi turned away from him. "I made an oath to remember you, onii-san. And so I am. There is nothing more to say on the matter."
"There is." His hand touched her shoulder hesitantly, and then squeezed firmly. "Thank you, Hanabi."
"I have given you nothing that you didn't already deserve."
"And yet there is a great difference between deserving something, and actually having it." He squeezed her shoulder again. "Tenten has invited you to her home for dinner, and Konohamaru as well. Will you come?"
She paused before answering. "Yes. I do not feel like being alone this day."
Tenten had never spent much time around Hanabi. Neji seemed to always keep them apart, probably because it was his duties to Hanabi that had kept him away from Tenten so often. But she didn't hold that against him or Hanabi. Family was important, and doubly so in a noble clan like the Hyuuga. In the sense that you did what family told you to, anyway.
But overall, Hanabi had never struck Tenten as a bad person. In fact, she admired Hanabi for her strength and courage. ANBU didn't accept weaklings, and they had chosen Hanabi. Neji didn't respect just anyone, but he respected Hanabi. Anko sure as hell didn't put up with people unless she thought they were worth the time, and Tenten had seen with her own eyes that Anko would cut any business short if Hanabi walked into the office.
There was something in the way nearly everyone reacted to Hanabi, whether they knew her personally or not. Tenten thought of it as an aura of power, that both kept people at a distance and demanded their respect. People were the same way around Neji, but since even he deferred to Hanabi, her aura was greater.
For all that, they were still human, and Tenten could see those sides of them better than most. Neji had his moments of extreme insecurity and doubt, during which he would only confide in Tenten. And as she watched Hanabi throughout dinner that night, Tenten could see that the future Hyuuga clan head was not without her own weaknesses. Hanabi barely said two words the whole time, and Konohamaru kept throwing uneasy glances at her. Neji was less noticeable, but he too was clearly concerned about Hanabi. And there was a certain emptiness in Hanabi's eyes that Tenten had never seen before, although she could guess why that was.
No one at the table was actually going to ask Hanabi if anything was bothering her, though; they all knew better. So Neji led the bulk of the conversation that night, explaining the Hyuuga-Aburame alliance proposal in more detail. Konohamaru had been too distracted to hear the major points at the meeting, and Tenten hadn't been there at all, so she had plenty of questions. While she was mostly doing this to keep attention off of Hanabi, Tenten had to admit that the proposal was composed of some groundbreaking and ingenious ideas, including an exchange of exclusive techniques (Hinata could already communicate with Shino's insects, and Shino, unbeknownst to nearly everyone, had been able to coordinate his insects to move in a way that almost perfectly mimicked the Hands of Hakke for some time now) and security personnel. There was even talk of lining the Hyuuga compound with hedges that would house hundreds of insects, which could easily do the work that the branch house had formerly been forced to perform. Even better, the Aburame as a whole saw no real distinction between the main and branch Hyuuga, though if anything, the branch house was made up of those Hyuuga more accustomed to working harder.
Hanabi took no interest in any of the conversation, however, and mostly sat there, not even pretending to listen. Neji had assured Tenten that Hanabi had wanted to be here tonight, so that wasn't the problem. Truthfully, Tenten had been hoping they could talk about this heir business, in case there were things she needed to know. But it no longer seemed like a good idea.
Once dinner was done, Tenten jokingly suggested that the men clean up while the women sat around and talked. Neji didn't think it was funny at all, and Konohamaru only managed a weak laugh. Then they noticed that Tenten wasn't smiling anymore, and began to suspect that she might actually be serious. She finally had to drag Hanabi out of the room before the message became clear, and even then Tenten wouldn't have been surprised if she returned an hour later to find them still sitting there, gaping stupidly at each other.
"I hope you realize I'm going to need your help," Tenten said quietly as she led Hanabi to the couch. "Pregnancy tends to complicate things."
"The resources of the Hyuuga Clan will be at your dispos-"
"No, I said YOUR help," Tenten corrected. "Suppose I get sick of Neji at two in the morning, and I need a place to escape to." She looked pointedly at Hanabi so that her meaning would be clear.
Hanabi blinked twice. "You would of course be welcome-"
"Great, that's what I wanted to hear. You can come with me when I have my appointments with Tsunade-sama."
"I don't think-" Hanabi began.
Tenten beamed at her. "Let me rephrase that: you should and will come with me."
There was a long moment of silence, in which the two women stared intently at each other.
Finally, Hanabi cleared her throat. "I am not what you would call... experienced at this sort of thing."
"And you think I am?" Tenten snorted with a laugh. "It doesn't matter. I'd want you around even if you had no clue what you were doing."
Hanabi was staring at her again. "Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Tenten asked. When no response came, she sighed loudly, and reached over to place her hand on Hanabi's. "It'll be your baby, too."
The change in Hanabi was instant, and Tenten practically had to crush Hanabi's hand to keep it from being forcefully withdrawn. As it was, she was very nearly straddling Hanabi to keep her on the couch.
"Hanabi, do you have any idea how silly you're being?" Tenten demanded.
The look Hanabi replied with was what Tenten had come to think of as her 'ANBU look.' It was the one that said, quite plainly, "Because of that, you're about to die, and even if you're too stupid to know that, you should probably stop doing the stupid thing that's going to get you killed, anyway."
"Let's get one thing straight right now, Hanabi. My child is going to be loved, whether it becomes your heir or not. And if you want anything to do with that child, you will treat it as a child first, and your heir second. When my child speaks of you, it is not going to say, 'Who's that mean lady that never wants to play with me?' Instead, it's going to say, 'Mama, can we go see Auntie Hanabi today?' Because you will love my child, Hanabi, as if it were your own. As far as you should be concerned, it is your child. You demanded it, after all."
To this, Hanabi said nothing.
"You can't sit there and honestly tell me that you won't love Neji's child with everything that you are."
"I already told you," Hanabi reminded her with a frown, "I don't know how I would act."
"I do, since you just announced that you'll never have a child," Tenten replied sharply. "You'll never need a reason to spend time with my child, Hanabi, other than simply wanting to. But that's only if I know for sure that it's love first and duty second."
Konohamaru wanted to say something, but he didn't dare.
Hanabi was seated on her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest as she stared out of the window. She hadn't said anything since they'd left Tenten's house. She had, however, allowed him to hold her hand on the walk back, which was a rare occurrence in public, even as late as it had been. Even when she'd invited him into her bedroom, he had correctly assumed that she was in no mood for lovemaking. It was his mere presence that she desired, and he'd never minded that.
"Can I truly love a child that is not my own?" she asked softly.
"It's easier than you think," Konohamaru replied. "I don't think you need to worry about that."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Hanabi-chan, you love Hinata and Neji. You'll learn to love the people they chose, and you'll love the children they have together. It's not complicated at all. I've been around babies before, and they're mostly all the same."
"What are they like?"
"Wrinkly, smelly, and loud half the time; soft, cute, and precious the other half. And get that look off of your face, because at some point you're going to end up holding one."
Hanabi stared at him.
"You will, even if you don't want to. Tenten will probably insist, and I know Hinata will. But I think you'll want to, eventually. You've got these... instincts, I guess. You know Kurenai oba-san and I didn't really like each other when she first married Asuma oji-san. But one day I got hurt, and she sat with me in the hospital until they let me go home. She never said anything, barely even looked at me, but that's when I knew she cared about me. You'll find a way to let Tenten's child know you care, too."
"Tenten's daughter," Hanabi whispered, as if correcting him.
"What? But... you mean... you guys can SEE that already?"
She shot him an irritated look. "I know, Konohamaru."
He blinked. "Oh. Did you tell her?"
"No. She'd want to know how I knew, and then I'd have to tell her that."
"Uh... how DO you know?" he couldn't help asking.
"It only matters that I know, and I trust the source."
Konohamaru sat down next to her on the bed. "And you can't convince yourself that you'll love a little girl, Hanabi-chan?"
"It's a valid concern," she argued.
He shook his head. "You know it would break Hinata's heart if she thought you felt that way when she has kids."
"That's different. Tenten isn't my sister."
"And isn't Neji your brother? You can't... be this way, Hanabi-chan. Do you know what it would do to a child, to find out that someone they love doesn't love them back?"
"I know exactly what it would do," Hanabi whispered.
"Even more reason not to do it yourself. You wouldn't hurt Neji's daughter that way, would you?"
"I wouldn't want to."
"Then don't! It's not a hard decision. She can... she could be ours, too. Tenten said so, right? So it wouldn't be weird or anything. She'd understand."
"But what if-"
Konohamaru leaned forward and silenced her with a kiss. "Love always finds a way, Hanabi-chan. I wouldn't be with you if I didn't believe that."
Hanabi took a deep breath. "And... you really think I can do this?"
He chuckled and drew her into his arms. "Tell me what you know about this girl you're so worried about."
"She'll be very strong. And fast... faster than I was. She'll love people easily, without hesitation. And... she'll have a blinding smile."
Konohamaru considered that for a moment. "You know... don't we know someone like that already? Especially that 'blinding smile' part... it's really familiar. I feel like I should know this!"
Tenten was nearly sound asleep when her bedroom door was kicked in. She didn't get out of bed, though, remembering to protect her modesty. Neji, on the other hand, was more concerned about the intruder than his nakedness, so he leaped up, only to be greeted with the last sight that he expected.
"YES, MY TEAMMATES! LET THE POWER AND PASSION OF YOUR YOUTH EXPLODE!!!"
"Lee, GET OUT!"
Tenten covered her face with a pillow. "Who told him?!"
"No one, Tenten!" Lee laughed heartily. "I sensed that you two had finally come together, uniting your respective, raging energies into one burning fireball of-"
Neji hit Lee with the nearest available weapon... which, in Tenten's bedroom, could very well have been anything from a sword to a flamethrower. In this case, it was a pillow.
"HA HA! Neji, I see that you still BURN with youthful-"
"I'll show you burning-"
Tenten cleared her throat. "Um, Neji?" she squeaked. "I think he means you're still... excited."
Neji glanced back at her in confusion.
She tossed her pillow to him, just as Sakura appeared in the doorway.
"Guys, I am SO sorry! We were just sitting there when Lee bolted out of the house, screaming about fireballs and-" Sakura trailed off as her eyes widened. "And... balls... oh, my..."
Lee nodded appreciatively. "Impressive, is he not, Sakura?"
"Okay, everybody STOP ADMIRING MY NEJI'S PACKAGE!" Tenten yelled.
Sakura looked a little faint, but she still managed a weak smile. "Um, sorry. This'll stay between us, of course, so no need to-"
The window shattered, and Tenten drew the sheets over her head as Temari and Naruto dove into the room, rolling along the floor and coming to a stop at the foot of the bed.
And Neji, thinking they were under attack, turned to face the new threat. He had to drop the pillow to properly prepare himself, though.
"See, I told you they weren't in trouble," Temari sighed, raising her fan to whack Naruto with. That is, until she took another look at Neji.
"It's not my fault! I heard yelling!" Naruto protested. He then followed Temari's gaze. "Damn, Neji," he muttered. "No wonder you're so fast; you've got three legs!"
Neji's face turned bright red, and he might have done something, if he hadn't felt like Temari was raping him with her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to hate me?" he snapped.
Temari waved a hand absently. "I still hate you. Only now I think I hate Tenten more..."
"I know the feeling," Sakura sighed wistfully.
Tenten's head and arms emerged from under the sheets, and she was clutching a bomb as big as her head. In a completely calm tone, she said, "Everybody. Out. NOW."
The room cleared within three seconds.
Neji made his way back to the bed, grumbling quietly as he slipped in beside her.
"Well," Tenten said slowly, "I think we can safely assume that I'm pregnant."
"How can you tell?" Neji asked, still a little angry.
"Well, Lee's weird radar aside, what are the chances that all this would've happened on a miss? And besides, I never miss."
"I have," Neji admitted reluctantly.
"But I took the lead." She grinned at him. "Although, since you're clearly still up for it..."
He stared at her in mild disbelief. "After all that, you still want to?"
"Naturally. Now come here before someone else pays us a visit."
End of Part 7.
Endnotes:
I know, I know: ew, incest! To be frank, I suspect many clans, and the Hyuuga Clan in particular, practice strict inbreeding. After all, you never see a Byakugan user outside of the clan, so it makes sense to assume that Hyuuga generally don't marry outside of their clan. If that's true, it makes even more sense to have two branches, because I suspect they only consider themselves related in the loosest sense of the word (comes from being branded and enslaved, I guess) by the time a person from each is of marrying age. Hinata is a notable exception, and so is Neji to an extent (he did warn Hinata before he beat her up). Without Naruto being involved, it's very likely that Hinata not only would've ended up in the branch family, but may very well have become Neji's unwilling wife. They can say what they want about Neji's genes, but his talent speaks for itself, and they would definitely want that passed on to the next generation of Hyuuga.
Shino's mimicry of the Hands of Hakke is "almost perfect" because he doesn't have the Byakugan to guide the hits. Although he could make educated guesses, it would probably be more effective as a way of blocking hits from an attacker using the Hands of Hakke.
That last scene, I included largely because HSA won't have any Omake bits. At the same time, it's hard not to throw in humor when Lee hits the room, and the setup was so terribly easy.
I know I've only hinted at it in passing, but Lee and Sakura are together here. Why? Simply because I think Sakura would be better off with someone who can be completely honest about their feelings for her, and Lee always has been. As for Sakura, there is definitely something there when she thinks of Lee, even if it's only friendship (and even that would be more solid than anything she had with you-know-who). I wouldn't bother flaming if you don't care for the couple; it wouldn't change anything about the story (I've got it all planned out), and it would probably just make you look a bit silly to the real reviewers. I can respect if you prefer to see them with other people, but not if you're going to be rude about it.