Chapter 5
His steps were purposeful, hurried. He strode towards his destination with just one thought in mind, unmindful of all the people around him, bumping into some of them in his haste. So troubled was his mind that he did not even pause to apologize to them, as was the Hyuuga custom.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" the umpteenth hit bystander shouted after him, fuming at the audacity of this lowly Branch-house member who dared to barge into the Main House with such a crass attitude. The Branch-house members were supposed to be on their best behavior whenever they entered the main house, and that occasion did not come often for many. Neji, however, was an exception. He had free entry and exit from the main building, and it must be said that he rather abused his welcome, so fond of his sisters was he.
It was one of those sisters towards whom he was hastening towards right now. He was not usually so brazenly rude, but the information that the pink-haired nin who had just challenged his authority at the main gates had given him had been too outrageous to ignore. He had tried to dispatch her by informing her that her quarry – the main assistant of the Hokage, Shizune-san – had already left the Hyuuga grounds for the Hokage's office, that he himself had given her leave to go, but by then, the furious medic-nin had nearly knocked him down in her attempt to enter the Hyuuga compound. After restraining her – and that wasn't an easy job – he had gone through an immense amount of trouble, and finally, frustrated, had shouted "What's the matter with you?!"
She had burst into loud, noisy, embarrassing tears. Oh, and then the tale that she had recited…
He quickened his pace.
Reaching his destination – Hinata's room – he did not hesitate for a moment, a rapped sharply on the door. Courtesy demanded that he not disturb her while she was entertaining a guest, and especially a guest as important as Jiraiya-sama, one of the three sannin, but he was too perturbed to give much of a thought to those conventions which he had abandoned somewhere in the past few minutes. His need to see her, to confront her, was too urgent, too necessary.
He could hear the stirrings of a quiet commotion inside, almost a scuffle, and then the door swung open, and Hinata's head, her face flushed with embarrassment, poked out. She seemed surprised to see him. "Nii-san?"
He was so caught up in the moment, so possessed by his need to hear the truth from her own voice, that he didn't even notice that she was dressed in an elegant noblewoman's kimono, one usually worn to entertain either the Hokage or extremely important foreign delegates. He simply allowed the words he had been bottling up to slip through his mouth. "Hinata, are you marrying an Uchiha?"
His sister stared at him for a moment – one long, awful moment – and then burst into tears.
Nonplussed, he gaped at her, astounded by her sudden shift in behavior. Then the awkwardness of the situation struck him, and he began to frantically flap his arms around, unsure of what to do. He had never been confronted by a crying female alone before, and whenever someone had started crying around him, he usually left it to his companions to comfort them. Sympathetic he was not.
"Hinata…" he dithered, arms fluttering around her in the weird approximation of a hug. "… Ah… please don't cry… no, really, please… ah… Hiashi-sama will kill me for sure today…"
She started bawling even harder. "I-I – didn't want you t-to find out this w-way!" she cried, her old stutter returning among the sobs. It was almost gone now, and only made a reappearance when she was extremely nervous or emotionally distressed. It made him feel even worse to hear it come out now, and he dithered even more.
"I-I swear i-it wasn't m-m-my idea, nii-san, I sw-swear! It's the e-elders! They're f-f-f-forcing me!" They were making quite a scene now, causing quite a commotion. He could feel many eyes on him, curious Main House members who had heard the commotion and wondered what it was all about. He felt beads of sweat pop out of his brow.
"The elders?" he said distractedly, too flustered with her incessant crying. "But why on earth would the elders make you marry Uchiha Sasuke, Hinata? He's a cold bastard if I ever saw one, and an Uchiha to boot!"
The statement was so unexpected that she actually stopped crying, her tears evaporating on her cheeks, and just stared at him open-mouthed. "Uchiha Sasuke?"
Suddenly, the door to her room was thrown wide open, and through the blinding light that seemed to emanate from within – where did all the light come from, anyway? – a stout figure emerged.
"That's quite enough," Jiraiya's voice boomed. "Both of you have said enough. Now come in, before the entire compound hears your conversation."
And with that, he swept them in.
Sasuke was confused.
It wasn't an emotion often associated with him. He was Uchiha Sasuke, younger son of the famed Uchiha Fugaku, brother to the legendary Uchiha Itachi. He had a reputation to keep.
No, he wasn't usually confused at all. He was used to being sure of himself, to knowing the answers before anyone else did.
Not today, though. In fact, not since he had come back from the mission. His normal life had suddenly turned upside down. He had suddenly come to know that his father was a scheming bastard, the Hokage was a manipulative bitch, and that his beloved mother was spineless.
Oh, and also that his brother was getting married.
To a girl he didn't know.
And a Hyuuga no less. A member of the clan whom they hated and despised with every fiber of their being. Sasuke had been taught on his mother's knee that the Hyuugas were their enemies, that to associate with one of them would be to betray his clan, to spurn his heritage.
And now he would have one of them for his sister-in-law. Cheerio!
Itachi said that she had been in the same class as him, but he obviously didn't remember her. Ino had said (and for quite an exorbitant fee, too) that she had been in the same class as them, but that her name was not Hyuuga Hibata, but Hinata.
'In the sun'. The inherent sweetness of the meaning made him scoff. No doubt, this girl would be another Uchiha-brother-satellite, a fangirl of either Itachi or himself. Either he would have to withstand his brother being married off to a swooning fangirl, or else he'd have to fend off the amorous advances of his own sister-in-law. Che.
But that wasn't what he was puzzling him right now. Sasuke had, without really knowing why, decided to pay a visit to this girl, to see what was she like. To do this, he had decided to go to her home: The Hyuuga compound.
The only problem was that: he didn't know where the Hyuuga compound was.
It was such a stupid, such an irrelevant problem. Sasuke was an excellent shinobi, and he made sure to map his surroundings. Having lived in Konoha for his entire life, he knew it like the back of his hand. But he had no idea where the Hyuuga compound was.
The two clans had been enemies for many generations, and he had seen no reason to interact with them except for exchanging the usual snarling exchanges with their prodigy, that sissy-girl, Neji. He had expressed no interest in befriending any of the Hyuuga clan members, no interest in getting to know any of them. Because relations between the two clans were so icy, he had never even visited their house as a member of a delegation, because there were no negotiations between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga: it was as simple as that.
So. He had no idea how to get to her place.
He kicked a tree, frustrated by his own shortsightedness. How could be possibly track this girl down without knowing where she lived? And it wasn't as though he could just grab a random passerby and tell them to guide him to the Hyuuga compound – mainly because it was likely that the passerby would either faint or giggle and drape themselves all over him.
Speaking of the civilians, he noticed that there was something odd going around. All of the people surrounding him were ogling him, some even pointing and speaking in hushed tones around him. There was something wrong. He was used to being pointed at and stared at by gushing fangirls, but this time, even the older male shopkeepers were staring at him with an intensity that was disturbing.
Scowling, he decided to ignore them, and made his way through the marketplace, only to be confronted by even more people gawking at them. He tried directing his most impressive frown towards them, but even that failed.
What had happened?
Surely… surely they couldn't all know about his brother, could they?
He felt dread well up in his heart. It was bad enough that Itachi had to go through his father's egomaniacal ministrations in the first place… to be constantly hounded by hoi polloi throughout would be unbearable. His brother was an intensely private person, and didn't appreciate his popularity. Even within the Uchiha compound, he went to great lengths to avoid his adoring clan-members, although he could never completely escape them, being the benevolent heir that he had been designed to become. It was only with his family – and that too, only really with Sasuke and Shisui – that he really let go of his indifferent mask and became the person that he really was – cynical, burdened with difficulties and forced responsibilities, always conscious of the Uchiha fan emblazoned onto his back, a cruel reminder of his contorted future.
How could his brother, his hapless, unresponsive brother, be married off to someone he barely knew? Sasuke had always known that his brother would eventually have to marry in order to carry on the family name and position, and also somewhat that it would be arranged. But somehow, he had assumed that Itachi would only marry when he was ready to marry, and to someone whom he knew, and if not loved, at least appreciated. Love didn't come easily to his brother… sometimes, he felt as though Itachi didn't even love his own parents, only Sasuke and Shisui.
But the idea that Itachi would be forced to marry someone outside his clan, and a Hyuuga at that – that Itachi would have to wed a girl who he had never even seen before in his life, who he would have nothing in common with, because he was a star, and this girl was a forgettable wump, was preposterous, inconceivable, impossible.
So caught up was he in his thoughts that he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings, and only noticed at the last moment that the shadow beneath his feet was growing larger and larger, and that a large, orange-clad leg was hurling itself towards his head. He turned around at the last moment, and managed to block the brunt of the kick with his arms, grunting with the impact.
Above him, Naruto's face loomed large. "You bastard!" his teammate shouted, practically frothing at the mouth. "You fucking bastard!"
They sat on the boughs of a tree, their legs swung over the side, Shisui happily munching an apple, Itachi staring silently. They were comfortable enough with each other that the silence between the two of them was normal, instead of horribly awkward.
Shisui finished his apple and threw it to the ground, watching the core bounce around. Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, don't look at me like that, it's biodegradable!" he said defensively. Itachi sighed despondently, and then went back to staring blankly at their surroundings.
They were seated in the middle of the Nara's prized apple orchard, and were surrounded by trees on every side, laden down with the brightest, juiciest fruits. They were technically trespassing, but neither of them was really bothered with that fact, as they knew that none of the Naras ever really patrolled this area. It had been their childhood playground, the place where they had childishly laughed and played, far away from the village and from the expectant, feverish eyes of Itachi's father.
Shisui was worried. A playful, snide fool though he may seem, Itachi was his best friend, and the announcement of his impending nuptials came as quite a shock to him. Like everyone else, he was furious with Itachi's father for instigating this travesty in the first place, but he knew that Itachi was loyal to a fault, and that he would quietly accept his fate and obey the wishes of his parent and the council. Itachi was never the troublemaker, he would never even dream of disobeying the clan in order to do something selfish like marrying for love.
For the millionth time, Shisui thanked his stars that he had been born to a completely normal couple instead of the estimable Uchiha Fugaku. The older man held completely unrealistic expectations about his sons, and despite the fact that his elder son was an unparalleled prodigy, tried to press him to become even better, even stronger, even more legendary. Itachi had graduated from the Academy at the age of seven, had become an ANBU captain by the age of thirteen – and none of it was enough for his father. Fugaku was continually disappointed in his son, pressing him even harder, and thus, after having set completely unrealistic benchmarks, was disappointed with Sasuke when the latter could not achieve the same standards that his insanely talented brother could.
But this was too much. Shisui had been mostly silent – well, no, he had been quite expressively vocal – about the Uchiha patriarch's policies, but the act of marrying off his elder son for a genetic experiment seemed a bit too cold, even for him. For heaven's sake, this wasn't some one-time mission that they were talking about – Itachi would have to live with this woman for the rest of her life, because, although the concept of separation had reached Konoha, it was still mostly forbidden and frowned-upon, not to mention that Itachi leaving the Hyuuga girl could be construed as another insult against the clan. God forbid that the Hyuuga and the Uchiha have another reason to squabble. It would be the ruin of Konoha.
He decided to broach the topic gently. "Well, Itachi, you gonna marry that chick or what?"
On second thought, he never had been much for subtleties.
Itachi himself had been brooding over that very topic, although his thoughts were in a different vein from his brother's and Shisui's. Although he was not at peace with his father's decision – could anyone in his position be at peace, really? – he knew his father too well to think that the decision would be overturned. If Uchiha Fugaku had decided that his eldest son would be led to the altar, then Itachi would damn well have to walk the aisle next year.
He knew, however, that his brother and his best friend, the two people who really knew him and understood him, and the only two who unconditionally cared for him, would not take this lying down, as he had. Already, he sensed that the two were bracing for a fight. Not wishing to further inflame their passions, he said simply "Can you think of an alternative, Shisui?"
His companion harrumphed. "Fugaku's a bitch, that's what," he spat. His voice was bitter, and his words shocking enough to be construed as gross misconduct, but he knew that Itachi wouldn't mind the insults against his father. The two of them didn't have much of a relationship. "That low-down, good for nothing, opportunistic little ass…"
"It isn't Father I'm worried about," Itachi interrupted. "Or mother", he added, almost as an afterthought. "I'm more concerned about what Sasuke will do. He has a tendency to become rather… reckless. And that has never worked out well for him. I don't want him produced in front of father again; but with the mood that he's in, I'm sure that sooner or later he will be."
Belatedly, Shisui remembered some gossip that he had heard earlier that day. "Speaking of Sasuke, did you hear that he came out of the closet today? The old man's really gonna have a fit when he hears of that, won't he?"
Itachi choked. "He what?!"
"Yeah, apparently he sent a bunch of flowers to this dude, with this totally cheesy, romantic, lovesick poem, right in the middle of the marketplace. Cleared out Yamanaka's flower shop, from what I heard. Man, that must've cost a small fortune, wouldn't it?"
"A poem? What was he doing in the Yamanaka's flower shop in the first place?"
"Oh, I dunno," Shisui leaned forward and cupped his face in one hand, staring at their surroundings dreamily. "Although I did hear him mutter something about getting to know that girl of yours better, Himata, or whoever. Seeing as they were in the same class – and so was the Yamanaka girl, the one who manages the shop. And she's reputed to have a mouth as big as the city. I know Sasuke knows her; I've seen them together before. He always seemed annoyed out of his mind. But, I guess he went to her to dig out all the gossip 'bout this girl of yours."
"She's not my girl," Itachi glared at his friend. Then he sighed, and hopped off the tree nimbly, landing with feline grace on the ground below.
Shisui blinked. "Going somewhere?"
He nodded grimly. "To rescue Sasuke."
They made a strange trio, the three of them, staring at the strange apparition in front of them, absolutely aghast. Tsunade was the first to move. "Sakura," she said, her voice heavy with disbelief. "What is this?"
But Haruno Sakura only had eyes for one person. Stepping forward dramatically, she faced Shizune, her tear-filled eyes staring at her former helper reproachfully, full of betrayal and hurt. "How could you be party to this, Shizune!" she cried. "How could you – how could you just steal Sasuke away from me like that, just give him away, and to Hinata Hyuuga, too!"
Shizune blinked. "Wait, wha –"
Sakura interrupted brashly. "Don't try to tell me off! I know what's going on, okay? I know that you're trying to – to marry Sasuke off. My only question is, why? Why would you assign such a horrible fate to Sasuke?! I'm sure Hinata is a lovely girl, but she doesn't know Sasuke, doesn't love him – how can you consign him to such a fate!"
The interns were curious about the commotion now, poking their heads through the hole that used to be a doorway. This was a juicy bit of gossip, and as afraid as they all were of the Hokage, this seemed to be too good to miss.
"You could have chosen me!" Sakura's voice broke. "Why didn't you choose me? Is it because my parents are civilians? Because we're not the members of some elite, noble clan? Well, you know what? I love him! There, I said it! And with my love for him, my knowledge of him, my familiarity with him – I'd be a much better wife for him than she could ever be!"
They had quite an audience now. Nearly every person in the Hokage tower was standing in the corridor outside the Hokage's office, straining to hear each and every word.
"And you, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said suddenly, whirling around to face him. He felt beads of sweat pop out on his brow as he saw her enraged face, tears swimming in her eyes. "I can't believe that you of all people would do this to Sasuke…!"
Kakashi opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say, and then closed it again. An occurrence that seemed to be increasingly common with him.
"Enough of this nonsense," Tsunade snapped suddenly, unmindful of the crows surrounding them. "Where on earth does everybody get their gossip from in this damn village? For the second and last time today, I'm not marrying Uchiha Sasuke to the Hyuuga heiress – I'm marrying off his elder brother, Itachi."
There was absolutely silence for a moment, a moment of horrified awe. Kakashi stared in disbelief at the Hokage as she made the loud proclamation, and then wheeled around to stare at the burgeoning crowd, their mouths wide open, staring with wide-eyed delight at the Hokage as she spouted this big of delicious gossip.
That moment of silence seemed to hang on in the building, seemed to have frozen everything in time.
And then the whispers began.
"Did you hear…"
"… that Uchiha Itachi…"
"… yes, that Uchiha Itachi, the one who's the genius, the one who was made ANBU captain at thirteen…"
"… yes, the heir to his clan…"
"… he's going to be married…"
"… to the Hyuuga heiress!"
She was the Queen of Whispers, the Mistress of Information. She was blonde and beautiful, deadly, and had a network that spanned across the city, thrumming and thriving as it scurried and swayed all the way back to her, burgeoning with the newest information, the most scandalous gossip, as she smiled sweetly and sold flowers at her parent's shop.
And yet, there was some way in which the newest and most delicious gossip in Konoha hasn't made its way to Yamanaka Ino's inquisitive little ears just yet. It may just have been because the estimable Uchiha Itachi was standing in front of her, staring impassively at her, as though he was looking through her very soul.
Ino fidgeted. She was fond of beauty, and even fonder of seeing it on handsome men of date-able age, but somehow, Uchiha Itachi's obvious splendor discomfited her. Perhaps it was because she was aware of just how out of her reach he was. Beautiful, a genius, and the Heir to the Uchiha clan to boot – it seemed to be a bit too much. On top of that, he was unapproachable, impassive, with a statue-like coldness that only served to supplement, and indeed, increase his popularity. Sasuke, who was still beautiful, and still smart beyond logical belief, snarky, sarcastic, moody Sasuke, was far more approachable. She didn't feel this intimidated when she was with him.
She fidgeted, and finally picked up her scissors and began to trim the plant closest to her. It didn't really need trimming, but she figured that destruction of a plant was better than fainting or going insane when confronted with Uchiha Itachi's gaze. She tried to keep her voice light and carefree. "Uchiha-san, always a pleasure! What can I do for you today? I'm afraid that we don't really have much stock for you to choose from today – as you can see, your brother quite bought us out." She laughed nervously, aware of how squeaky her voice seemed.
A pause. Then Itachi cleared his throat. "I understand that my brother was here earlier today. I wonder if you could tell me where he could be right now? I can't seem to find him."
She felt a stab of annoyance, and whirled around to face him, hands on her hips, her discomfiture momentarily forgotten. "Okay, seriously, what is it with the whole Sasuke-worship today? You're the second person I've had coming in and asking about his whereabouts. Just because I sold him flowers doesn't mean that I'm tracking him or anything! And the message wasn't even that bad – he'll get over it. Eventually." She snickered.
Itachi stared at her, astonished by this sudden change in attitude, and more than a little wary. "So he was definitely here today, then?"
She snorted. "Oh yeah, he was here. All inquisitive, too. I mean, it's never like, oh, let's just go visit our old childhood friend Ino because she's awesome and we haven't seen her in a while. Oh noooo, there always has to be a motive. They have to want something. Blah blah blah – just because I like gossip doesn't mean I know everything, mmkay? And I'm not a walking encyclopaedia, either – I mean, how am I supposed to remember everyone we went to school with? Sasuke's lucky that I've kept in touch with Hinata-chan. I can't believe he doesn't remember her – she was the only Hyuuga in our class."
If Itachi had been a husky, his ears would have pricked up. As it was, he merely leaned forward, his eyes fractionally widening. "A Hyuuga in your class. Was… was her name Hyuuga Hibata, by any chance?"
Ino exhaled noisily, annoyed. "No, not Hibata, Hinata! Holy frogs, how hard is that to remember?" She clucked her tongue.
His mind was reeling. He couldn't think of what to say. "And Sasuke was asking about this – this girl, this Hinata?"
Ino huffed in annoyance. "Yeah. I mean, all kinds of stuff. Then I finally got annoyed and told him to either fuck off or to ask me out, and he just asked me where she lived – uh, dude, she's the Hyuuga heiress, obviously she stays at the Hyuuga compound! Stupid guys – and said something about going to see her or something. I wondered about his sudden interest, but, y'know, whatever."
Itachi moved away from the counter, dazed. So Sasuke had gone to visit the Hyuuga Heiress at her own home. He glanced guiltily at the blonde, who was now furiously scrubbing at an ornate glass vase placed on the windowsill. "Ah… thank you very much for this information, Yamanaka-san. I'm sorry I was unable to offer any remuneration," he said as he stared at the blank walls, making his way out of the door.
"Ah, no problem. I got a good haul today, thanks to your… brother…" Ino's mouth slowly dropped as she remembered exactly who she was talking to.
"Ohmygod. Ohmyfuckinggawd. You're Uchiha Itachi. You're Sasuke's brother."
These were lines that Itachi had heard often enough, usually followed by an attack by his (extremely dedicated and focused) fanclub. He began inching out of the door desperately, only offering a noncommittal 'hn' as a response.
"Wait, so you'll know if… well, obviously you'll know, you're his brother, greatGamabunta. So, umm, is it true? What I heard today? That Sasuke's engaged to Hinata-chan?"
He paused for a moment, and then felt a great burst of hilarity overcoming him. It was not something he felt often, and he was glad that he was facing the door, away from her inquisitive gaze. Was that what the townspeople thought? He knew that the secret would get out eventually, but he was unaware of the fact that it would take such a short while, or that they would substitute his name with that of his… well, his brother's.
He was acutely aware of the fact that the gossip and the whispers that Sasuke would have to face over this new development would be almost unbearable. And so, he did the only thing he could: protect his younger brother.
"No, Sasuke's not engaged to the Hyuuga girl."
He thought he heard the Yamanaka girl sigh; whether with disappointment or relief, he did not know. "Well, that's a piece of leather shit –" she grumbled, until he abruptly interrupted her.
"I am."
And with that, he was gone.
"You have got to be kidding me," Neji exclaimed.
The Hyuuga prodigy was not used to speaking in such crass language, which was why this was fairly unusual for him. When shocked, however, sometimes, the slang that his teammates and friends often used crept into his cultured speech. Which was what was happening right now.
The Hyuuga clan believed in order, neatness, and grace. Even in their fighting style, the Gentle Fist, was based on these basic values – utterly graceful, it neatly disabled the opponent while sustaining minimum damage. As Heiress to the clan, Hinata-sama has been brought up on a diet of these words; she was never less than impeccably present, and her surroundings, too, were orderly to the point of being nearly sterile.
The sight that confronted him right now was not typical. Every inch of Hinata's room was covered either with beautiful robes, or ancient-looking scroll. By glancing over the room once, Neji was able to detect several intricate kimonos, a few ordinary yukatas, what looked like a pair of bright red lingerie, and a brightly coloured book with "How to make Pancakes for Dummies!" printed on the cover in nauseatingly bright words.
He shook his head. Now was not the time to get distracted by his cousin's lapse in training. He turned in order to confront Hinata, and his voice died in his throat.
In front of him, the san-nin Jiraiya loomed large, scowling. He was fierce, he was intimidating, and… he was wearing a housewife's kitchen robe.
Neji swallowed twice, trying his very hardest not to burst into high-pitched squeals. Generally, he didn't laugh – he was not the type of person to be amused easily, or to show his amusement, either – and when he did, it was a dignified whinny, a polite, proper laugh. Not the giggles that were threatening to escape him now.
Jiraiya, apparently, saw his eyes stray to his pink apron, and raised an eyebrow. "Something interesting, Hyuuga brat?" The killing intent in his voice was so obvious that the rooms temperature may as well have fallen into the minus degrees.
Hinata flinched. "J-Jiraiya-sama, don't blame him," she said bravely. "I'm sure that Neji-nii-san didn't mean to cause a scene like that – and anyway, it was all my fault in the first place, reacting like that," she added self deprecatingly. "I knew it was bound to come out eventually." And then she began crying again, sobbing hiccups which she desperately tried to keep under quiet control, failing miserably.
Jiraiya's heart melted. He wrapped an arm around Hinata and shot Neji a poisonous look. The genius ninja quailed.
Finally, Jiraiya sighed, and turned to Neji. "Okay, brat. What did you hear?"
He swallowed again, this time not from amusement, but rather out of a premonition that if his answer wasn't to the perverted nin's satisfaction, this might just be the last conversation he would ever have in his life. "Haruno Sakura was here," he began explaining, running his tongue over his chapped lips. "She wanted to see Shizune-san. I informed her that she had already left to go see to the Hokage." He glanced warily at the famed Toad-nin.
Jiraiya harrumphed. "Shizune has more important things to do than sit around and criticize my methods of instruction. She saw that our pupil was quite comfortable under my charge, and that I was sticking to the prescribed syllabus… even if in a somewhat roundabout way… and decided that her talents could be better utilized at the Hokage office as of now."
"Ah, I see… well, I informed Haruno of this fact, and she went completely ballistic. Said something about how she had run all over town in order to find Shizune. Believe it or not, she actually attempted to fight her way through me! What gall!" he realized that he sounded indignant, and toned down the disbelief in his voice.
Jiraiya seemed amused. The older ninja suddenly recalled a combined training session when Tsunade's ward had thrown half a cliff at Naruto, and shuddered slightly at the prospect of another Tsunade making an appearance soon. "I've been told that the members of Team 7 are known to be somewhat… tenacious." He inserted dryly.
"Well, that's when things began to become even stranger than they already her. After I subdued her, I demanded that she explain herself to me. She told me a most extraordinary story… that Hinata-chan, my cousin, and the Heiress to the Hyuuga, was to wed Uchiha Sasuke!"
He turned to his cousin, who was still sniffling a little, but at least not sobbing outright. "Hinata, what on earth is going on? The house is in uproar, there are rumours that you have been replaced with Hanabi, you told me the other day that you got into a scuffle with an elder, and you have been avoiding all of us, including your teammates. Don't even try to pretend that you haven't – when the Inuzuka came to see you yesterday, you had the servant tell him that you were asleep, when I know very well that you were sitting with Jiraiya-sama and Shizune-san. If you had wanted to, you could have met him for a few minutes – but instead, you chose to be downright rude, and fibbed, on top of it all!
"But more than anything, Hinata, how could you have not told us that you were getting married? And to an Uchiha, no less! I didn't even know that you were on speaking terms with Uchiha Sasuke, much less that the two of you had something… more… than that. How could you disregard your responsibilities as the Heiress like that? And with an Uchiha, too! Is Hiashi-sama aware of this?" The disapproval in his voice was clear to all present.
Neji was disappointed and confused beyond belief. The idea that his shy, passive cousin, who stuttered and blushed around even her childhood crush, Naruto, could have conducted a relationship in secret with Uchiha Sasuke, of all people… that Hinata, who was all of seventeen, and who had been raised to detest all members of the Uchiha clan on principle, would disregard their clan's customs and traditions, and, god forbid, actually become engaged to the worthless ruffian! And moreover, the fact that she had hidden this from all of them… he was surprised that Hiashi had not punished her, or at the very least, confined her to the house… or maybe that was why she hadn't left the compound in the past few days. But then what were Shizune and Jiraiya doing here?
Hinata looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, but the last-minute mention of her father seemed to fill her with some resolve. Looking straight at her cousin, she said: "Neji, it isn't like that at all! Why, this is quite ridiculous!"
"It is indeed," Jiraiya's voice boomed out from behind. "Especially the part about her marrying Sasuke, when in fact, she's marrying his brother, Itachi!"
Neji's mouth dropped. He cartoonishly swiveled from his deathly pale cousin to the senior sannin. He stared accusingly at his sister. "Hinata!" His voice was filled with anger and disbelief and betrayal, and just a little bit of envy.
Okay, so he might be a little jealous of the Uchiha heir's prowess.
Change that to a lot.
"I didn't even know that you knew him!" he exclaimed reproachfully.
Hinata's face twisted. "That's the problem – I don't know him! At all!"
She stared at her, incomprehension writ large on his face. What on earth was going on?
"That's enough," Jiraiya's voice cut through the tension like a whip. He had suddenly become aware of the fact that at this rate, the conversation between the two Hyuugas would never end, and he still had to teach Hinata about the various functions and uses of garter belts before the day ended.
"The reason why Hinata's father, your uncle, is unperturbed by Hinata's engagement, is because he orchestrated it."
Neji's mouth gaped upon hearing this new piece of information. He quite resembled a fish, Jiraiya observed, with his mouth opening and closing like that. The exact likeness of a freshwater trout.
"No, don't interrupt me – you two have wasted quite enough time with your dallying and dallying already. You can speak after I'm done. The fact of the matter is, that your uncle, Hyuuga Hiashi, and Uchiha Fugaku, drafted an agreement a few years ago – a contract that basically said that their son and your house's daughter were to be in wed in holy matrimony, for the greater good of the nation."
"Wait… he just, he – signed away Hinata like that?"
"No, not really," Hinata's quiet voice piped in. "You see, the original Hyuuga girl mentioned in the contract is actually Hanabi."
The world seemed to slip out beneath his feet. The very idea… "Are you telling me that Hanabi is to be married to Uchiha Itachi?!"
"Not anymore," said Hinata, staring determinedly at her feet.
"The terms of the contract were altered," Jiraiya interrupted. "By Hyuuga Hiashi. He insisted that the Hyuuga girl in question be exempted, and that she be replaced by someone else…"
It couldn't be. Surely, Hiashi wouldn't do this to his own daughters…
"Me," Hinata softly completed the sentence. "Father thought that I would be better suited for the terms of the contract."
"But… that's impossible! How on earth can he do that? You're the Heiress, for Christ's sake!"
"He thought that perhaps Hanabi would be better suited for the job than I am… I am to give up the seat to her in three weeks' time. She shall be officially declared as the new Heir. For the time being, I have been stripped of my status." She steadily avoided his gaze.
Jiraiya gazed at her sadly. Even though he barely knew the little Hyuuga, the feeling of rejection, of not being considered good enough, was familiar to him. He had experienced it often enough when he was a child, training with the exception Tsunade and the prodigy Orochimaru. The idea that a father would so obviously show his preference for one child over the other, and be willing to basically sell the other away… it was shameful. He felt guilty for even being a part of the experiment, but it had been an assignment from Tsunade, and he couldn't refuse her.
Not if he wanted to live a long life with both testicles firmly attached to his body, anyway.
"I'm to be married to Uchiha-san next year," Hinata continued carefully. "That's why Jiraiya-sama and Shizune-sama have been visiting so often; they've been prepping me for my new duties. It's quite a task, isn't it?" she let out a breathless little laugh. "The elders have already told me that my wedding will the event of the century – any girl's dream, with any girl's dream bridegroom. Lucky me." Unnoticed by her, two teardrops gently splashed out, and rolled down her cheeks.
Neji stared at her, horrified and appalled by what he had just heard. Reeling from the shock, he sat down heavily on an embroidered kimono, unmindful of his surroundings.
Ever since he had been a child, his uncle had appeared excessively cold and punishing to him. Originally assigning the man the title of a man too cowardly to die in battle, and instead send his brother to do the same, his relationship with his uncle had thawed somewhat since the fateful chuunin exams five years ago, when he had proved himself, and risen in Hiashi's estimation. Since then, he and his uncle had shared an amicable, if not outright friendly relationship. He could have said, in fact, that he was the closest thing Hiashi had ever had to a son.
And yet, despite his comfortable relationship with his uncle, he couldn't help but feel awkward every time he saw how Hiashi treated his daughters. Though he prized Hanabi, thinking her a valuable fighter, and treating her as his favourite, his demand on the younger Hyuuga's body were too strenuous, and many a times, he had seen Hanabi fall unconscious because of excessive time spent training with her father.
His attitude towards Hinata was ever worse. Hiashi had long ago deemed his elder daughter worthless, and treated her as such. Ever since he had virtually surrendered all authority of training her to Kurenai, he had seemed mostly disinterested in her, or worse, disappointed. He knew how hard his cousin trained in order to please his father, and Hiashi's casual indifference towards her made Neji's blood boil. As hard as Gai had trained them, as much as he had always expected of them, he had never treated them with such a casual attitude. In fact, the jounin had always been there for his wards, almost excessively so. Even when Neji was going through his darkest moments, even the sheer knowledge and awareness of the burning green curse seal on his forehead made him want to simply break from exhaustion, to let go of Hyuuga propriety and simply avenge the injustice that had been done to him – he knew that Gai was always there, ready to hold him back, to console him, to teach him, to be there for him.
Hiashi had no such compunctions. The clan leader had been raised a true Hyuuga, trained in the style of the clan, taught to always remember that he was above everyone else. Possessing an amazing talent himself, he was always on the lookout for others who possessed the same genius which had left traces in his aging body. Hanabi's slight inclination, and Neji's obvious power, enthralled him… but Hinata's mediocrity shamed him, and he felt almost reluctant to even call her by her rightful name, as his 'daughter'.
Regardless of this, Neji had continued to respect his clan leader out of some medieval sense of loyalty. He was, after all, a vassal of Hyuuga Hiashi… and even when he had blamed the man for murdering his father, his sense of obligation towards his uncle had never quite faded away. There had been times when he had hated his uncle, and certainly times when he wished that he could exchange his uncle's life for his father's… but somehow, he had never doubted the man's leadership skills, or the very truth of his words and deeds. The principles that Hyuuga Hiashi followed in his life – that of duty and honour, and especially that of tradition – echoed in Neji's own beliefs, and thus, he was never truly able to disassociate himself from his uncle.
Even after that memorable fight with Naruto in the chuunin exams when he was thirteen… the hyperactive blond shinobi had beaten him senseless, and he might as well have smashed a hole through Neji's skull and imparted his own wisdom and philosophy of life to him. Neji had been vindictive, then, and quite vicious – he lived his life in resentment of the Hyuuga. Adding to the perceived knowledge of his father's death, the fact that he, a clear genius, was not to be trained by the finest martial masters that the Hyuuga had to offer, simply because he was a Branch House member… well, it was just adding insult to injury. Seething with rage, he had redirected his frustration and anger towards his younger cousin, Hinata, during the preliminary stages of the chuunin exams, and he had let all the anger that he felt towards the Main House burst out of him that fateful day.
And he had nearly killed her.
It was only after Naruto had beaten him senseless, only after he had come to know the true circumstances surrounding his father's sacrifice, had Neji truly begun to thaw a little. And with that, he had simultaneously grown closer to and farther away from Hiashi. While his uncle was now truly behaving like an uncle, and while he had arranged for only the best tutors – including himself – to tutor his nephew, Hiashi's philosophy – that age-old spiel about family and honour and destiny – had begun to conflict with Neji's own new thoughts. The latter no longer believed in the words that the Hyuuga preached. But still, his relationship with his uncle grew to a new level, and his new-found closeness to Hiashi promoted his respect for the elder man.
It was not until now, until this very moment, when he found that he truly disdained Hiashi, and let go of his influence. For what kind of man pledged away his own infant daughter to a son of a rival clan? What kind of man treated his daughter as though she was worth nothing more than a sack of potatoes? What kind of man forced his daughter to marry another man, especially one she did not know, and when she had been bred to hate him?