Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Reviews are welcomed, and I will reply to all constructive feedback. Please note that there is a non-graphic sex scene toward the end of this chapter.
Just a heads up - Given the ongoing issues with FFN, I will no longer be updating this story here. That DOESN'T mean it's being abandoned! You can still find the full story and additional chapters on Archive of Our Own, under the same title (Bird in a Gilded Cage) by GerardWayisSexah. I'd love to have you follow me there. :)
Every available clan member attended the wedding, and the evening banquet that followed. Weddings involving members of the branch family rarely garnered more than a few dozen Hyuga guests, and almost never attracted more than perfunctory attention from Hiashi Hyuga himself. Yet a cursory survey of the Hyuga compound's banquet hall yielded a count of at least 200 white-eyed guests enjoying the free-flowing sake and the elaborate spread of delicacies. When Neji's eyes met hers, Hinata smiled and waved from her place next to her father. He raised a hand in acknowledgment before accepting well-wishes from Ko with a curt "thank you." Sensing Neji didn't share his celebratory mood, Ko nodded and returned to the fish on his plate.
Neji suspected that Hiashi insisted on a show of clan unity to paper over the desperation behind the hasty union of his nephew and a second cousin he barely knew. None of the Hyugas present appeared to care about their complicity, only that the wedding provided them an excuse to reunite with their extended family while eating and drinking too much. He hated them for their oblivious acceptance of his fate. To any observer from outside the insular clan ecosystem, the marriage of an 18-year-old to a virtual stranger almost a decade older would scream of coercion driven by damage control.
In the seat next to him, his bride's pale face graded into deeper shades of red as the night progressed. He counted at least five refills of sake within the past hour, though she only picked at a rice ball and shuffled food around her plate. Neji almost pitied poor Risa Hyuga, but he surmised that she probably jumped at the opportunity to please Hiashi by marrying his wayward nephew.
Beyond the obligatory vows of loyalty to her new husband, she had spoken fewer than 10 sentences to Neji during the entire day. At a several points in the banquet, Risa had put her hand on his shoulder or grabbed his hand for photographs. Played the happy newlywed by staring up at his eyes with a smile. Neji sensed no love from the woman next to him, and he was sure she sensed none from him. Once the color of Risa's face approached the hue of her lip paint, the photographers turned their focus elsewhere in the banquet hall. A teetering bride and stony groom would look terrible in the clan's photo albums.
Bracing herself against the table with one hand, Risa raised the other to call for another cup of sake. Neji scowled in her direction, disgusted by her unraveling composure. Can't even keep it together for her own wedding. And my wise uncle really considers Ten-ten beneath the likes of her.
He recalled his promise to marry Ten-ten once she reached legal adulthood, a declaration she followed by an eager squeal that made him cringe. But her smile made him happier than his promotion to jounin at age 16. I'm so sorry. I know you must hate me, but I still love you as much as ever.
"I think Lady Risa would like to retire early," an elderly servant suggested, firm yet polite. The man kept his sake bottle upright, earning a glare from Risa.
"Yes, thank you, Hotaru. All the ceremonies must have tired her greatly," Hiashi concurred. "Neji, please escort your wife to bed."
Covering her mouth with a cloth napkin, Hanabi giggled and whispered something about sex to her younger cousin, who giggled back less discreetly.
From his position at the table's head, Hiashi narrowed his eyes at the couple. Neji recoiled at the word wife, not that Risa would have noticed anything except her empty sake cup. However, he inwardly thanked her for buying him an excuse to leave the banquet.
"Come on. Put your arm over me," Neji hissed at her. "Let's go."
Risa draped a limp arm over Neji's shoulder and stood for a moment, before the weight of drunkenness bowed her forward into the table.
Cursing, Neji caught her by both armpits and carried her from the banquet hall bridal-style. Dozens of voices erupted into hoots and cheers. Applause pursued Neji into the dark corridor leading to their new bedroom. Each clap burned stings of anger into Neji's heart. Risa probably wasn't the heaviest drinker at the banquet – from how quickly she descended into drunkenness, she didn't consume alcohol regularly.
"If – if you could be half of your father, this would be the happiest day of my life," Risa slurred, raising her head before collapsing into Neji's arms again.
"Hm."
The mention of his late father stirred the embers of hate he'd learned to suppress. But he calmed himself with a long sigh and said nothing. Lashing out against a snide remark by his drunken wife with words or blows was beneath a jounin of the hidden leaf.
Fifth door on the left...Neji soundlessly opened the door to their lightless bedroom, briefly activating his Byakugan to locate the bed. He laid Risa on her side before turning to leave. That's what Gai sensei did with Lee after he accidentally downed an entire bottle of sake at that sushi restaurant. I'll let one of the servants know to keep an eye on her.
A hand grabbed the back of his sash, keeping him pinned by the bed.
"What?" Neji snapped with more venom than he intended.
"I'm sorry...know you don't want this," Risa murmured into the freshly ironed sheet.
"As long as we're clear on that," he replied, cold and dismissive. The hand relaxed and soon, Risa's breathing deepened.
In Risa's sleeping form, Neji saw a reflection of himself – and the resemblance repulsed him. Like him, she reflected generations of insular clan marriages, of abject servitude to the main clan. Her black hair grew in bangs to hide the same seal that marred his forehead. She tied her waist-length hair a few inches from the end with a ribbon, leaving the remaining length to fan out across her back. Her fine eyebrows and narrow nose resembled his, and she puckered her lips sleeping in the same way he did. No wonder Lee says the Hyuga all look like copies of me.
Neji knew he'd sleep on the sofa every night afterward that Hiashi forced him to continue the marriage charade. But he didn't plan to spend his wedding night sleeping alone.
"I'm not supposed to be here, Ten-ten," Neji's voice quivered, lilting with longing.
He caught one of Ten-ten's golden brown eyes through the inch-wide gap between the shutters of her bedroom window. He considered it a small victory that she'd finally made eye contact after he spent the past 10 minutes pleading for a chance to see her.
"Yeah? Tell your new wife I said hello."
Ten-ten held both window shutters in clenched hands, undecided on whether she would slam the shutters shut or open them for Neji to enter the dark room.
"Please, Ten-ten. She hates me. I don't even feel right calling her my wife."
His whispers grew sharper with urgency.
Serves you right, Ten-ten thought. When Neji asked for her hand in marriage, she'd told him yes without thinking. Once the euphoria wore off, she questioned him on the possibility that Hiashi Hyuga would force him to marry a second or third cousin as was typical once clan members reached their early 20s. He reassured her that his uncle respected him enough that he would relent if he insisted on marrying a non-Hyuga. Even a konoichi of no clan heritage. What was it you said? 'Being the boy genius of the clan comes with perks.' In response, Ten-ten had laughed and kissed him on the nose. He believed his words, and she found herself emboldened by the cool confidence she knew so well.
"As in, she downed so much sake she almost passed out at her own wedding banquet. I had to catch her before she smashed her face into the table."
Ten-ten sighed, the scowl fading into the tiny smile only he could detect on her lips. The image of Neji peeling his arranged bride off a banquet table covered in expensive delicacies made her suppress a laugh. Tonight wasn't a time for jokes.
"Come in." Keeping her hands on the shutters, she pulled them slowly on their rusty hinges to not wake her parents downstairs.
Neji slipped from the brick apartment facade into Ten-ten's bedroom. Seeing him face to face for the first time in two months, she felt her breath catch in her throat. Neji didn't hesitate to sweep Ten-ten to his chest, where she felt herself instinctively relax.
"Kiss me, please."
"Did you kiss her with those lips?" Ten-ten asked, a hostile edge in her voice.
"No, of course not," Neji frowned. "I don't have much time here. I only got away because the whole clan's still at the wedding banquet. My uncle's probably drunk. They'll expect me back tomorrow morning."
"Hm, clever as always. Though I can't imagine a drunk Hiashi Hyuga is much fun."
Neji allowed himself to fall into Ten-ten's bed as she pushed him backward. She straddled him from either side, crashing her lips onto his and capturing his pleasantly surprised moan in her mouth.
"Fuck, Ten-ten. I missed you so much."
He rolled her over onto her back, eliciting a little yelp and giggle.
"And if you're curious, when my uncle gets drunk, he's much more mellow than normal."
"Maybe you should have asked him about me after a few cups of sake, then."
Neji's face sank. He realized that even a heavily intoxicated Hiashi Hyuga wouldn't forget the clan. His uncle would still stand resolute on a question so fundamental to Hyuga tradition.
"Hey, Neji – I'm sorry if I…" Ten-ten held her lover's face in her hands, gazing at him with wide eyes.
"I'm so sorry. Don't give up on me, Ten-ten. Please, just don't."
Pressed against Neji in the comfort of the bed where they'd first slept together, she felt reassured that Neji would somehow escape his cage to find the safety of her arms.
"I'm not giving up. But I'm not going to be your secret forever."
Ten-ten planted a kiss on his pale cheek and he fell back on her, catching her in a whirl of tongues, teeth and lips.
"I need everyone to know you're taken. Of course I'm not keeping you hidden. I'm sorry that we need to keep it that way for now. I'll keep seeing you when I can."
The words came tumbling out into the shared air between them. Ten-ten sensed that Neji sat on the verge of tears. She'd been barely conscious in a hospital bed the last time she saw him cry. It was also the last time she'd seen him before that night. When she regained consciousness, she saw an older Hyuga man force him to release her hand and leave the room. Once she felt his pressure lift from her hands, she too sobbed and buried her face in the white sheets that smelled of bleach.
"I never give up. If I do not find a way to be together, I will do one thousand push ups. And if I do not complete one thousand push ups, I will do two thousand hand stands...," Ten-ten recited, feeling slightly guilty for mocking Lee's earnest determination.
Neji's body vibrated with laughter that he muffled into her shoulder.
"Oh, that's perfect. We'll be together with the power of youth, Ten-ten," he whispered into the space above her ear.
She reached for his sash, pulling the ends of the knot that held his robe in place. He shrugged the garment off and tossed it onto the floor. Ten-ten trailed warm hands down his back and tugged questioningly at his waistband. Yes, please, he whispered back.
Neji stripped Ten-ten's nightgown over her head so he could feel her bare skin against his. The lovers retread the familiar, comforting motions they'd rehearsed dozens of times before. Though he had but a few hours until daylight, Neji took her slowly, lingering on the sensations they shared as their bodies fused and came apart.
The transgression wasn't lost on him – he was spending his wedding night in the bed of another.
Would Risa care that he wasn't a virgin? He wasn't sure what Hiashi told her when he announced the betrothal. But he guessed she already suspected that she wouldn't be his first. Would she consider his infidelity an insult to her pride? An insult to the clan, perhaps. He doubted she would take it personally that a man she hated didn't commit his heart to her.
Their legs still tangled, Neji felt Ten-ten relax as she fell asleep on his shoulder. He wished he could rest with her – that he didn't have so many thoughts running through his mind.
Hard work doesn't always win. Hard work doesn't always win. His own words echoed in his mind. Reflected back to him in his present state, they cut hard.
For years, Neji had watched Lee pine after Sakura Haruno, gripe that she loved Sasuke Uchiha despite his indifference. I do not understand it, Neji. She is so precious to me. I would defend her against any foe no matter how strong. But it means nothing to her. Every time Lee brought romantic woes to his closest equivalent to a brother, Neji had responded with hard work doesn't always win. Not in love, certainly. Perhaps Sakura just will never love you, through no fault of your own. Lee would grow indignant and recoup his confidence – Neji, you just do not understand. If I never give up and show her my love, she cannot refuse me.
After two or three rounds of arguing in circles with Lee, Neji would urge his teammate to drop the subject of Sakura and distract him by feigning interest in Gai's latest training regimen. As he watched Ten-ten's chest rise and fall, he felt a rush of sympathy for Lee. Forgetting a seemingly hopeless love was easier said than done. We're alike, Lee. Both idiots trying to accept that hard work and sincerity don't always win.