Hinata awoke to a rumbling and shot out from beneath her covers in a panic. She looked toward the empty spot on the ground and felt her heart drop into her stomach. "N-neji-nii-san?" she called, not waiting to hear an answer before throwing her feet over the side of the cot and running into the next room. She paused in the doorway, watching him peer out the dusty window in the corner. Relief flooded through her. "W-what are you doing?" she asked.
Neji held up a single finger, continuing to stare out the window, his posture cautious. "Sshh, Hinata-sama," he said lowly. "I think," he whispered, turning toward her slowly. "I think we've been discovered."
The color drained from her face. "W-what?" she said, nearly inaudibly. She tugged at the sides of her nightgown, a slow breath escaping her. Be calm. That was all she needed to do. Simply remain calm. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. "W-who?"
Neji stepped slowly away from the window and came near her, taking her hands in his. "I'm fairly certain it's Uncle." He watched her eyes widen in panic and held his hand up to still her. "Now just listen to me. I really think that we should talk to him about this. We both left in the dead of night and we've been gone for hours. It would make sense that he would send someone to come find us."
"B-but he didn't send someone to find us, he came to look for us himself! D-doesn't that tell you anything?" She put a hand over her chest, struggling to breath calmly. She looked around. "W-we have to leave! We can't let him find us. H-he'll make us go back!"
"Hinata-sama, would you listen to me?" Neji took her by her shoulders and held her firmly. "This is madness. He's the clan head. Your father is reasonable. He wouldn't-" he licked his lips, sighing. "He wouldn't do something like this!"
Hinata frowned, eyes growing serious and clear. "Grandfather would," she said, lifting her chin. "And if there is anyone more hardheaded and authoritative than my father than it's him. If there's anyone that can bend my father, it is that man." She tugged free of his hold. "If he finds us in here then he'll take us back to the compound and then-"
An abrupt heavy knocking sounded from the locked door, the wood shaking and dust flying everywhere from the impact. "Hinata, Neji, I know you're in there," came Hiashi's voice. "Listen to me, I know what you overheard, Hinata, and I've come to talk to you about it."
Hinata turned and fled toward the back room, ignoring Neji's pleading look. Neji threw his hands up and looked between his cousin and the quivering door, eyes wide and incredulous. Hinata flailed her hands, shaking her head fervently. Neji clenched his teeth and made a quiet sound of frustration. He didn't know what to do! He loved his cousin, but his duty was to her father.
"Hinata-sama," he stressed. "I have to." The Hyuga was a clan of duty. It had been engraved in him.
Hinata held her breath, sweat beading at her temples while she watched Neji move toward the door. She looked around, panicking, spotting an old metal lantern lying the corner of the room. She sent Neji one last glance before scooping it up and hurling it at the already cracked window. At the sound, the door flew open, Neji stepping to the side for the Clan Head.
"Hinata!" Hiashi's voice boomed when he burst into the cabin, steps loud and heavy.
She bounded out the window, bare feet landing in a sheet of fragmented glass. She winced, shaking them off and darting down the hill through the trees.
"Hinata-sama!" Neji called after her, startled when Hiashi suddenly tugged him up by the collar of his shirt. He stared up at his uncle, eyes huge. Fear pulsed through him for a moment.
"Bring her back to me!" the older man roared. "Do not let her speak to anyone!" Hiashi let him go and left moved in a frantic hurry to leave.
Neji stared after him, breathing heavily, confused, his mind stuck in a whirl. This didn't seem like his calm and rigid uncle. This didn't seem like his kind and loyal cousin. He moved and looked through the broken window, watching Hinata stumble down the hill in a frenzy. He turned and left the cabin, moving around the back and running after her. He leaped into a tree and made his way toward her through the canopy, quickly dropping off in front of her. He cringed when she let out a terrified scream, watching her attempt to maneuver around him. "Hinata-sama, please-" he reached for her and paused, looking down at her bare feet, bleeding cuts decorating them past her ankles. He frowned, eyes darkening, reaching for her before she had a chance to get away and scooping her up. "You're coming with me."
"No!" she squirmed, kicking and twisting in his grip. "Neji-nii-san, please! Please don't take me to him," she cried, trying to push herself away out of his grip.
He turned his face away from her flailing hands. "Hinata-sama, calm down, I'm not taking you anywhere!" He gave her a brief shake and looked down at her sternly.
She coiled into herself, looking up at him. "Y-you're not?"
"No," he said dully, setting her on a nearby mound. "Now let me see your feet."
Hinata pulled her nightgown over her toes. "Th-they're not that-" she caught his glare and let go of the hem of her nightdress. "O-okay," she murmured, extending her legs for him.
He lifted a foot and examined it closely, pulling a few shards of glass from the padding of her heel. After a moment he shook his head violently, dropping her foot and straightening suddenly. "You're so reckless!" he erupted.
She flinched, lowering her head and hiding behind her bangs. "I'm s-s-sorry," she whispered.
"Did you think about any of this before just running off and dragging me into it?"
She wrung her hands in her laps. "I'm s-sorry-"
"We could have done this reasonably! You could have pretended you didn't hear anything and came to me later!"
She pulled her knees closer to her. "I'm s-s-sorry-"
"Stop apologizing!" he snapped.
She flinched, slumping over and staring into her lap, eyes burning. "I'm sorry," she whispered under her breath, tears pooling at the rims of her eyes.
Neji watched her recoil further into herself and propped his fists on his hips, letting out a ragged breath. A dull ache had begun to pound in his temples and behind his eyes. "Okay," he started, trying to calm his breathing. "H-here's what we're going to do. Are you ready?"
She looked back up at him, eyes red. She sniffed and nodded.
He crouched down and faced her at her level. "I'm going to take you to Lady Tsunade. We're going to get your injuries worked on. Do not talk about what's going on, alright? You simply had an accident in the kitchen this morning and we had trouble getting you to her. That's the extent of our story. Do not tell anyone you see what's going on. We don't want to cause a panic."
She nodded again, chewing on her lower lip. She knew he was logical. Everything he did had a purpose, and that purpose was always for her well-being. "O-okay," she agreed, heart pounding with trepidation.
Neji watched her face intently for a minute and then closed his eyes, trying to block out the chaos. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Hinata-sama," he said softly. "But after seeing Uncle with my own eyes I am convinced. Please know that I am here for you. I will not doubt you again. After we treat your feet we're going to have to think this through very thoroughly. But right now, let's just think about one thing at a time." He straightened. "Alright. Come here," he lowered himself toward her and held out his arms.
Her face went pink and she put her arms on his shoulders, letting him hoist her up carefully. She looked at her cut up feet and sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't careful," she said quietly.
"You're forgiven," he muttered, leaping into a nearby tree and darting back toward the village. "Just be more careful from now on. This is serious and we can't afford any reckless behavior or mistakes."
She squinted her eyes against the wind and peered toward the village as it drew nearer. Neji stopped in front of the Hokage residence and carried her inside. Shizune caught sight of them before they made their way up the stairs and called after them. "W-wait! Neji, Hinata, Lady Tsunade is in a meeting right now. Is it an emergency- Oh my!" Shizune jumped back when Neji turned toward her, Hinata's feet coming into view. Shizune looked over the two, Hinata's nightgown rumpled and dirt stained. "What on earth happened?"
"Ah...," Hinata looked up at Neji, mind suddenly going blank.
Neji rolled his eyes. "She broke some glass in the kitchen this morning and we had some problems getting over here. When is Lady Tsunade available?"
"She won't be for a while. I can help you though. Bring her over here," Shizune turned and gestured for him to follow.
Hinata pressed her lips together and blinked up at her cousin, waiting to see what they would do. Neji moved after Shizune into a nearby office and set Hinata on the medical table. She lifted her feet for Shizune to examine and winced when the young woman pulled up a chair and tsked at the mess she was overlooking. "Hinata-san, this is horrible. How on earth did you do this in...," she frowned, looking up at them suspiciously. "There's dirt on your feet and on this glass. You didn't do this in a kitchen."
Hinata looked up at Neji again, starting to panic silently. Neji's face was stoic as usual. "So her feet are going to heal nicely?"
Shizune narrowed her eyes and looked back down at her work, working with a piece of cotton soaked in antiseptic and a pair of tweezers. "Yes," she said flatly. "They'll heal fine. She'll probably be able to stand without pain as soon as I'm finished." She slid them another glance. "Look, if you two don't want to tell me what you've gotten yourselves into, that's fine, but you won't last a chance if you go see Tsunade."
"So she's going to be available soon?" Neji dodged.
Shizune frowned and straightened, reaching for a jar of bandages and cleaning off the residual dirt on Hinata's heels. "The meeting will be over in about half an hour. Until then why don't you two stay with me? I feel like you're up to something and it's making me uneasy."
"W-we're not up to anything, Shizune-san," Hinata defended quietly, cheeks going pink. This lie doesn't count. I'm trying to help people! Still, she wasn't good at lying. It made her nervous.
Neji clasped his hands behind his back and sighed. "We assure you that all we want to do is talk to Tsunade-sama. It's a confidential matter of great importance." He wasn't sure what he was going to talk to her about yet, but maybe he'd ask a few really vague questions that might help them figure something out later. Of course, he'd have to be careful. Tsunade wasn't just their Hokage. She was an intelligent woman who could punch through walls. It was best to not cross her at all, but he didn't really think he had much of a choice so he would tread lightly.
Hinata watched the exchange with her lips clamped so tightly together that they started to hurt. She was stressed out. She was anxious. Her family could be planning to overthrow every single village elder at that very same point in time and she was sitting here watching her cousin have a stare off with the Hokage's attendant.
"N-neji-nii-san?" she called meekly. "D-do we really have thirty minutes?"
Neji looked down at her and then cast a cautious glance toward Shizune. "We have as long as it takes. We need to see Lady Tsunade." He leaned into his last words for emphasis, eyes boring into the woman wrapping Hinata's feet.
Shizune finished up and got to her feet, heaving an exasperated sigh. "Alright fine. You can wait in my office across the hall from her meeting. Do not interrupt and stay quiet. I'm not going to put up with you two making trouble." Even though is was strange for the Hyuga kids to be up to anything. It must be serious if they were being so secretive and insistent about it. The Hyuga clan kept to themselves. Having these two in here was a rare sight, and having them act so suspiciously was night on incomprehensible.
She turned and found Hinata a pair of crutches. "Here, Hinata-san. Just in case you aren't up to walking yet." She watched as Neji helped her slide off the table and then waited for Hinata to stable herself. "Alright then, follow me. We'll take the elevator." She opened the door and led them across the lobby. The trip through the elevator and onto the second floor was uneventful. Shizune unlocked her office door and moved aside so they could enter. "Just have a seat. It won't be too long before Tsunade is free. When you see her come out that door," she pointed across the hall. "then go ahead and approach her. Tell her that I let you in. I can't stay up here, I have other things to do." She moved to leave and then stuck her head back into the office for a few last words. "Do not touch anything. You got it?" Normally, when dealing with Hinata and Neji, she wouldn't issue such a warning. But something seemed fishy and she wasn't about to let it all explode in her office when she couldn't be there to pick up the pieces.
Neji nodded respectfully. "Thank you, Shizune-san. We'll mind our own business." He and Hinata watched her disappeared down the stairs at the end of the hall and he quickly shut the door as quietly as he could, ducking down so no one could see him through the window. He crouched in front of the filing cabinet and tugged it open, rifling through the folders.
"W-what are you doing?" Hinata asked, leaning awkwardly on her crutches.
"I'm looking for the Uchiha's file. I know that every clan has a report on it. Things are updated regularly and certain incidents are reported. Remember when the village had that scare? The Uchiha's had an internal conflict and were going to bring it to the elders. They were almost deemed a threat, but they managed to worm their way out of it. I want to see what would've happened. And then I'm going to look at the Hyuga's file, just to see if we're under suspicion."
Hinata turned and looked out the window, keeping watch. "D-do you think we'd be under suspicion?"
"If I know grandfather at all then I know that he'd be very secretive about his plans. He's probably only told Uncle, which is probably why Uncle made such a commotion when he found out we knew about what was going on. So, it would make sense that the Hyuga has a clean record; however, because we're so tight lipped about the inner workings of our clan then it would make sense for the village heads to keep an eye on us, just to make sure." Neji tugged a file loose and skimmed over it, balancing himself on one knee. His eyes widened over the document. "Hinata-sama, do you know Itachi?"
She nodded. "H-he's Sasuke-san's older brother, r-right?"
"Look," Neji held up the folder. "He has a file in the center of the Uchiha incident. It's been placed somewhere else. We should find it. I think it'd tell us a lot." He moved to find the Hyuga file, tucking the Uchiha folder under his shirt.
"W-where would they keep a file like that?" Hinata asked.
"In the safe above the Hokage's office. Gai-sensei said something about all the explicitly confidential information being there. I have no idea what he was rambling on about when he mentioned it, but I was fortunate to remember that bit of information." He tucked the Hyuga folder under his shirt with the Uchiha folder and pushed the drawer shut quietly. "I don't think we need to talk to Lady Tsunade now. We should leave before Shizune comes back."
Hinata moved toward the door and opened it carefully, peeking down the hall. "No one's around," she whispered.
"Alright then, let's go," He stood and scooped her off her crutches, letting them fall. "quickly," he amended, ignoring her protests. He darted down the hall as nimbly as he could, bounding down the stairs three steps at a time. He scanned the lobby for Shizune and made a quick escape when the coast was clear.
He found a spot near their compound gates that was shrouded by small trees. He set her down in the shade. "Hinata-sama, I'm going to go get both of us a change of clothes. Stay here and stay quiet. I'll get you a pair of shoes so you can get back on your own feet and then we'll go somewhere else to plan what we do next. Okay?"
She leaned against the shaded wall behind her and nodded. "Okay. I'll be careful. You do so as well." She watched him turn away swiftly, trying to calm her worrying nerves. She pulled her knees to herself and sat at still as she could manage, watching people's feet through the bushes as they walked past.