Psychoticbunny: Wow. I'm back. This is a really fast update for me. I've been typing in my room for probably about three or four hours altogether. It's a long chapter and I worked hard on it so enjoy it please! Also, you may have noticed that the rating has changed to a T. That's because I realized there are some things that are not suitable for the younger bunch. Now, onto the disclaimer!
Gaara: Hn.
Psychoticbunny: Close enough, but let's let Hinata do the warnings.
Hinata: The warnings are cursing, mentions of rape (no details), and some violence.
Psychoticbunny: … That was too normal and boring. Take it away Gaara!
Gaara: Hn.
Psychoticbunny: Yay Gaara! XD By the way, review replies are at the bottom. Now, READ OR DIE! MUAHAHA
Hinata and Gaara: o.0
---
"Neji! Neji!"
I turn around at the sound of the voice. It's Note Boy #1 (the brunet) and Note Boy #2 (the blond).
Note Boy #2 starts animatedly discussing something with us with exaggerated gestures, a goofy grin on his face the whole time. I don't think he detects that I'm not picking any of it up.
At this point, Note Boy #1 responds with an equally, if not more, hyperactive answer. Do they even notice I'm here?
Suddenly, Note Boy #2 faces me and asks me a question, gazing at me expectedly.
I don't know why I do it, but I begin to nod vigorously. Note Boy #2 seems to be displeased at my reaction and starts bellowing at me furiously.
I want to ask for ask for forgiveness, but how? Where is Gaara?
Note Boy #1 is now tapping him on the shoulder with a frightened look on his face, but Note Boy #2 is too caught up in his effort to reprimand me.
I hear another voice from behind me and Note Boy #2 finally spots whatever fearsome being has gotten Note Boy #1 so riled up. They both scamper off after a firm admonishing from my mysterious savior.
"Are you okay, Mistress Neji?"
I know that voice.
"Ge ge (1)! What are you doing here?" I exclaim while twirling to hug my cousin.
He laughs joyfully and returns the motion. "I came to pick you up. And just in time, too. Why on earth was that boy yelling so much about ramen?"
"Oh. I'm not sure… He was shouting about ramen?"
"Yeah. He sounded pretty upset. He was saying something about you not liking it and you being evil or something because of it, but that doesn't make any sense; you like ramen."
So that's what he was asking about.
"Don't worry about it, Ge ge."
We head off towards the Hyuuga manor.
I am thankful I have such a great cousin as Ge ge. He is always there for me when I'm lonely or in trouble. Of course, it is his job to protect me. After all, he's only a member of the branch family. I, being a member of the main family, am of much higher importance, despite the fact I am female. However, he looks out for me like he means it, like an older brother, which is why I call him Ge ge.
"Mistress. Mistress!"
"Huh? Wha?" I really hate the fact I zone out so often.
"We're home." He points out.
We stand in front of an enormous stone gate, blocking the massive house within from view.
"Who is this?" comes the crackly voice of my father over the intercom.
"Master Neji and me, Neji," Ge ge replies.
There is a slight screeching sound as the gate opens to reveal a long, winding path.
"Here we go," Ge ge sighs quietly so I wont hear. He doesn't like coming with me to the main house. It's probably do to the fact everyone treats him as if he is some dirt I've accidentally tracked in the mansion, instead of the respectable person he is. He knows it makes me worry when he is uncomfortable or upset.
I grab onto his hand and beam up at him. He returns it weakly and looks away, avoiding meeting my eyes. My smile falters. He's hiding something from me, I can tell, but I don't ask. He won't answer.
Father is waiting for us when we reach the front door. Now I know something is really wrong; Father never does this unless he must tell me news, and I'm guessing it's bad news from his grave expression.
Ge ge bows. "Nin hao ma (2), Master?" I cringe at the stiffness in his voice.
Father does not respond, purposely ignoring him. This isn't unusual. No one ever pays attention to Ge ge.
"Neji!" he barks. "Come." He glares at Ge ge. "You. Leave."
"Of course, Master."
Wait. Now this is abnormal. Father is not commonly this harsh.
"He'll explain," I hear Ge ge whisper before setting off on the path towards the branch family's houses, separate from the main family's and considerably smaller.
"Neji! Follow me."
Father swiftly rotates and begins walking so I once again find myself jogging to catch up. He leads me to an unoccupied room deep within the Hyuuga manor.
"Sit," he commands and I obey.
"What is wrong Father?" I ask, choosing to stare at my fingers resting on my knees, rather than meeting the stern gaze of Father.
He sits down opposite of me. "Neji, you are well aware of the fact that in order to keep the main family in control of the Hyuuga clan, we need to give birth to a male, correct?"
I nod.
"You also aware that if we instead give birth to a female, that… that boy will become the head of the Hyuuga clan?" He says, apparently unable to bring himself to say Ge ge's name.
I nod.
"Well, I have some bad news to deliver." No, really? I hadn't noticed. (3) "Your mother is pregnant, however, test results say that it will be a girl."
I have to bite my tongue to refrain from gasping. What will happen now? Will another child be forced to go through what I have, only to be thrown away like some expired milk? Will Father just give up the clan to the branch family without a fight?
"As you can see, the main family no longer has an heir for the Hyuuga clan and will have to surrender control over it, but…"
But?
"But there is still one way we will be able to remain in charge of our clan."
I grind my teeth to stop myself from asking, "What?" It would not be wise to speak out of turn.
"That way is having you," I knew it had to do with me, "married."
"Huh?" I blurt incredulously, not able to hold it in now. I crane my neck up to look at him so fast it hurts.
"Do not worry," Father continues, seemingly oblivious of my response. "We have already chosen a suitable partner, one from another clan of our status."
"No! I don't want to get married!"
Father is angry with me. I should've been more controlled.
"N-no, I'm s-s-sorry. I d-didn't mean… I-I j-j-just-"
Father looks livid. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. I bow as low as I can, but to no avail.
"You are not to complain about my decisions! You will meet your fiancé this Saturday for tea! You are to wear your best dress and be on your best behavior! Now, to your room! You are to stay there until further notice!" he yells.
I scurry out and run down random halls, turning every chance I get, until I am sure I am very far away from that room. Safe!
I lean against a nearby wall, breathing heavily. My head is spinning from all of my thoughts. Married? Fiancé? Hello! I'm nine!
I collapse on the ground and begin to cry. I hate the fact that I'm so weak and that I cry so easily. I want to be less sensitive and stronger. Yes, strength would be fabulous. Ge ge was so much better than me as a person. Did I really have what it takes to rule a clan? I bet my younger sister would do a better job!
No. I won't cry.
I gather myself and stand up again. Maybe Father would change his mind.
---
(4) Father- a man who exercises parental care over other persons; paternal protector or provider: a father to the poor.
What a load of lies.
I throw the dictionary across the room. It crashes with the closet door, knocking down my backpack, previously hanging on the doorknob.
"What happened?" Temari asks as she exits our room to see what the commotion is about. Noticing the pile of jumbled school supplies near the closet she adds, "Gaara. There are other ways to let out your anger." She walks over to clean up the mess I've made.
I'm an angry child. I won't deny it. And I take my anger out on anything and everything.
"Gaara, we should sit down and solve this one of these days," she says as she loads my homework back into my backpack and moves it to the front door. "I think we might be able to do it tomorrow."
"You said that yesterday." I know I am hard on her, even though I shouldn't be. "And the day before that. And the day before that. And the day before that-"
"Okay, okay. I get it." She sighs and goes back into our room. She's much too tired to deal with me tonight. She lives a hard life; when she's not juggling her schoolwork and jobs, she's dealing with me. And trust me. That's a pain. I always make sure of it. Why can't people get that maybe I'm perfectly fine just the way I am? Well, not perfectly. But neither is anything else in this family.
I prepare myself for a long night. It's not like this night is any different than others. It's just that every night feels longer when you have insomnia. And unlike during daytime, there's nothing to distract you. At night, I feel alone. Trapped. Unwanted. It's almost as if the feeling is magnified in the cool darkness.
My mind drifts back to the school day.
What a weird girl, that Hyuuga Neji. She's interesting, I'll give her that much. Not like most girls my age, who are usually too busy swooning over that Sasuke guy to notice anything else. She's still pretty dopey like the rest of them, but… but there's something different about her. Dare I say it? Might she be… cute?
…
No. Not cute. To think I would even wonder about such a notion. Ugh. Cute. Ha! Right! And I love sweet, little puppies and kittens! (I don't though! It's sarcasm, people, sarcasm.)
It is odd that she has a boy's name. I guess her parents wanted to be thorough. I don't really like that name though. Maybe I should call her Stupid Girl…
Wait. No way. That would be like her calling me Creepy Boy or something like that. No, Stupid Girl would not due. Maybe I should girl up her name a bit. Nejiana? What's that thing Japanese people do? Oh yeah. Neji-chan then?
Okay. What am I doing? Whatever it is, I've got to stop.
…
What if I gave her a name completely different from Neji? Xiao Hua (5). Yeah, that would fit her. She seems dainty enough, dumb as she is. Well, flowers don't necessarily have genius IQs.
Damn it! I'm doing it again.
Wait. I heard a sound.
I slide off my chair and hide in the closet, concealing my body with coats, incase he tries looking in here again.
The doorknob jiggles and my breath hitches.
I cross my fingers as I hear the click signaling the door had been unlocked.
I feel my heart pound in my chest as the door creaks open. I'm afraid it might pop out and reveal my location.
"It's just me," whispers a voice.
I release the breath I had been holding. I still don't expose my presence. It's better just to wait until he decides to go to sleep.
I relax my shoulders. I hadn't realized they were so tense until I did so.
Then there are footsteps of thunder from the hallway.
Oh no.
---
I pace nervously up and down the stairs to school. I've arrived early, out of anxiety. Hopefully, this day will go better than yesterday.
"Neji!"
Please don't let it be Ramen Boy! (I'd changed his name, thinking this one was a more suitable name and made things a lot less confusing. Having two Note Boys makes it hard to remember which is which.)
Red hair. Love tattoo. Eyeliner. Thank goodness. Only Gaara.
Wait a minute. I take this moment to remember the unpleasant moment (I call it an unpleasant moment because it wasn't really a fight) we had. However, it seems that he isn't still mad at me.
"Good morning." I congratulate myself on not stuttering.
He grunts and I figure it's the best greeting I'll get out of him.
"What happened?" I ask after observing a bandage covering his right check.
"Nothing."
"You sure?"
"Hn."
Is there now some sort of weird trend that's not to speak in full sentences?
"So… um… so you're not mad about yesterday?"
He looks at me with a face that says, "You idiot." I suddenly feel really stupid about worrying about it last night. I lost so much sleep over something that didn't even matter! Now I was kind of mad at him.
"Couldn't you have said that before we left school?" I accuse.
He shrugs. "Yeah."
If I were any other person, I would attack him by this point. If I were any other person, I would be screaming my head off. However, I'm not any other person, so I try a little of both and manage to fail miserably.
With a small, barely hearable, "Why you!" I kind of flail my arms in front of me, only to receive another "You idiot" look. If he had eyebrows (which is considerably odd, when I think about it), one of them would be raised. Still, he has this way of making it look like he's raising his eyebrow; despite the fact it's non-existent.
"Why don't we just go to class?" he suggests and I nod as a heavy blush settles on my face.
"Hey Gaara," I say.
"Mm?"
"Will Ms. Pretty Lady be there?"
I wonder if he hangs out with me long enough, his face with get permanently stuck in that "You idiot" look.
"Ms. Pretty Lady?" he repeats, still staring at me like I'm some sort of alien species.
"Yeah… well, uh… you see…well." I search my head for an excuse, but come up empty-handed. Instead, I say the whole sentence as quickly as possible. "Idon'tknowmostpeople'snamessoIjustkindofmakeupmyownonesforthemliketheteacherisMs.PrettyLadyandyouusedtobeCreepyBoynooffenseornaythingbutIhadtocomeupwithanameandIdidn'treallylikeyoutoomuchbackthen." Then I let out this part-laugh-park-choke-part-bark thing.
"So what you're saying is you didn't know most people's names, so you just kind of made you your own ones for them, like the teacher is Ms. Pretty Lady and I used to be Creepy Boy, no offense or anything, but you had to come up with a name and you didn't really like me too much back then?" Maybe I should start calling him Creepy Boy again.
"Ehehe. Yeah."
He sighs. "You idiot." At least he said it this time. The look is more degrading. "You should have just asked me. The teacher is Ms. Kurenai. Any others?"
"Yeah. There's Ramen Boy, Note Boy, Pretty Boy, and a whole lot more!"
"Okay. Ramen Boy? That's got to be Naruto. In that case, Note Boy's going to be Kiba. Pretty Boy has to be Sasuke. And more? I don't think I have the patience for this." He sighs again, clutching his head and shaking it disapprovingly. "Let's just get to the god damn classroom. And yes, Ms. Pretty Lady is there."
I gasp.
"What?"
"You cursed!"
"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn-"
"Let's just go to class!"
He cackles evilly. What is he? The living reincarnation of the Devil? Wait. I don't want to know the answer.
---
I have a new favorite sport! It's called bothering Neji! I should find a system of keeping points. Then again, with whom would I play? I don't really have many friends (a total of zero), probably due to my aloof behavior and creepy appearance. Yes, I'll admit I have a creepy appearance. I worked hard on it. Wouldn't want to be likeable or anything like that. Being approachable is already a stretch.
Still, I guess I could play with myself. Let's see, one point if you make her blush, seeing as she does that a lot. Five, if you make her actually voice her complaint. Ten, if she reacts physically, which is rare. Hm. If she combines any of them, you just combine the points. For instance, if she blushes and reacts physically, that's eleven points. Then-
"Gaara, what's wrong?" Neji questions, poking me with her chopsticks (the back sides, of course).
"Hm?" Speaking in one-word sentences. That usually ticks her off.
"You're smirking like you're plotting something evil."
Damn it! I've got to stop scheming at the lunch table.
"Hey Gaara. Can I ask you something?" she says shyly. Hm. What's this?
"I don't know. Can you?" I should be a professional wise guy. It takes talent. Seriously.
I receive the sorta-kinda-glare that makes me squirm pleasurably (Well, mentally. Neji thinks I'm strange enough as is. If I start squirming out of pleasure whenever she gets angry, she might just get angrier. Actually…) because Neji doesn't glare. She doesn't have the heart.
She brushes the comment off. "I kind of… well you see…"
"Spit it out."
"I was wondering if you could teach me English!"
"Teach you English? What kind of moron comes to America without knowing how to speak English?"
One point.
"I just… I want… it's just that…"
"Fine."
"What?" She looks up from her lap where she is twiddling her fingers to gape at me disbelievingly.
"I'll teach you English. I guess if you practice enough you'll be able to learn it, dumb as you are."
She looks partly offended and partly grateful.
"Well, the sooner we start, the better," I say.
"Oh. Okay. How about you come over to my house tomorrow afternoon?" she offers.
"'Kay." Not like anyone would miss me. "Got anything else to say?" I add, observing her opening and closing her mouth.
"Oh. Y-yes. Um…" Another point. "Thank you so much!" She smiles at me and I feel my stomach do this weird twisting motion. I blame the cafeteria food, but find myself copying her. She looks at me oddly. I guess I'm out of practice so I quickly wipe the expression off my face. I barely catch the small frown that appears on her face as I decide to turn my attention to the window.
---
One- Ge ge means older brother in Chinese. (Mandarin, by the way) So that's why Hinata calls Neji Ge ge as apposed to nii-san, which is Japanese.
Two- Nin hao ma means how are you. The nin is used as opposed to ni to show respect. If you speak Spanish, it's kind of like su and tu.
Three- I know it's not Hinata's thing to use sarcasm, but I love using sarcasm (which is why I love writing Gaara's p.o.v.) so I had to put it in.
Four-Yeah. I switched p.o.v. Whenever you see ---, that means the p.o.v. changes, unless I say otherwise.
Five- Xiao Hua means little flower in Chinese.
And for those of you out there that speak Chinese, I'm sorry the toning doesn't work.
Psychoticbunny: Okay. Review replies will go like this. Anonymous review replies will be either at the top or here. Regular reviews will just get a reply by me replying to their review. Now that that's said, here we go:
SnowyNight- Sorry about the confusion with the names, but it was necessary. It's gonna stay Gaahina. Also, thank you for your long review! Long reviews make me feel good. :)
SilentAbyss- I think I'm actually going to put in a Gaahinasasu triangle. It will fit. Sorry about the confusion with the names. It will be explained later. I guess Gaahina is a crack pairing. After all, they barely even see each other in the series. Still, it's fairly popular. Thank you for your long review:)
Psychoticbunny: See you next time! XD