Authors' Note, 16 April 2007 - The glitch has been fixed, finally! Just had to sit back and be patient, which is not one of our strong suits. Anyways, two new chapters for your perusal...


46 In the Eye of the Beholder

The Second Meeting of Cloud and Hyuuga, with Decidedly Different Results.

This can't be good, Taiki thought as he walked on with Hinata, making small talk as they neared his apartment. There's bad blood between my village and her family, so the only reason she's treating me so nicely would be that she didn't see my headband. I remember her though, Hinata… He'd felt something go 'thump' inside his chest when they'd locked eyes for that one moment, and the young man couldn't help but enjoy the company of the shy girl. Once at his apartment, he hefted the bag of his purchases onto one hip so that he could unlock the door. "I'll be out in a few minutes, alright?" She nodded once, a light blush staining her cheeks. Taiki dashed inside, stowing his bag to one side and taking a few minutes to tidy up.

Hinata stood outside, fidgeting with her fingers. She had been very surprised to run into such a kind young man, especially on a day when nothing seemed to go right for her. Just a few hours ago she'd had to listen to another lecture on her duties as the heiress to the clan, and there had even been noises made by her father about finding her a suitable husband to help carry on the family line. She'd left the Hyuuga family complex a little bit dazed and had wandered towards the Ichiraku Ramen in hopes of finding Naruto, but her hopes had been dashed to pieces when she saw him eating and laughing with another girl. They'd been giving each other shy, secretive looks that cut straight for Hinata's heart. The realization that she'd lost him hit her, and she had started running with her grief and dismay spilling out in ragged sobs.

Her headlong rush had come to an abrupt end, though, when Taiki had unintentionally blocked her way. Etiquette training reminded her to stop and offer aid, which the handsome young man had gratefully accepted. Once they started talking, she realized with a start that he knew exactly how she felt. How had he put it? "I know what it's like when someone you thought you were meant for kicks you to the curb." Yes, that's what he said, and Hinata felt a soft explosion of warmth in her chest when she realized that she wasn't alone.

Taiki smiled at her as he dashed out of his apartment, a hair tie looping his long mane back in a ponytail. A giggle from Hinata brought him around sharply. "Hinata, what's so funny?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"You look like my cousin Neji, almost," she replied softly, a smile crinkling the edges of her mouth.

Taiki offered an arm and a cocky grin, subtly shifting his headband around so that it wouldn't be visible. "Come on, I still have to walk you home, don't I?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hinata blushed heavily and shook her head. "No no, you don't have to do that. You've already done enough, and I was the one who bumped into you," she stammered, biting her lip and looking down. When he simply stood there, she timidly crept forward to take his arm with hers. "My home is this way," said Hinata, pointing him down the correct street.

Taiki reached out and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Such a beautiful girl should never go unescorted," he said gallantly as they walked.

Hinata gave a little squeak of dismay and looked up at him, her moon-bright eyes glittering. "I'm beautiful?" she asked him, gulping.

Taiki laughed and looped his arm around her, drawing her closer to his side. "You're easily as gorgeous as any girl here," he exclaimed, waving a hand around to indicate the village. His easy grin and encircling arm belied his nervousness. I'm going to die if any of her family recognizes me. I need to take her home and go, he thought. There's no way I can stay for dinner. I'd… he trailed off as she looked up at him again with the pale eyes that he found so captivating. What is it that I was thinking about?

As they neared the palatial, multiple-building housing complex of the Hyuuga clan, Hinata piped up again. "Taiki-san?"

Taiki cut her off with a shake of his head. "Please, call me Tai-kun. All the other girls do…"

Hinata laughed lightly, sending a thrill down his spine. "I guess I can do that. Anyways, will you stay for dinner? I would like your company."

He wavered for a moment, then steeled his resolve and nodded. "Of course," Taiki replied, smiling and tightening his arm for a moment. "Would you like to go to a restaurant tomorrow or something? I have to repay you for this opportunity." She replied in the affirmative as they walked through the front door, and Taiki inwardly wondered when his streak of good luck would end.

Hinata smiled and burrowed closer into the crook of his arm, giving him a hug. They'd struck it off immensely well, she thought, even though he was from the Cloud Village. She'd only realized it when he'd come dashing out of his apartment, headband flashing in the late afternoon sunlight. Though initially shocked by his village of origin, she couldn't deny that she had been feeling a wonderful fizzy sensation throughout her body since they'd started talking. It would be difficult to get her father and Neji to accept him, and part of her pondered just what it would take to prevent complete chaos from breaking out once they met her guest.

"Would you like to sit and talk with me in my room until they call us?" she asked him, suddenly guiding him down a different corridor. He could only let himself be led on as the veins around her eyes bulged, searching out anyone that might be coming up on them or looking their way. "Our private rooms are warded against the Byakugan unless an intruder has tripped an alert," she said, pulling him through a door.

Hinata's room was well-furnished as befitted the heiress of such a prestigious clan and Taiki took a moment to look around, impressed with the understated elegance. "Nice place you've got," he offered lamely, uncertain of what to say in this situation and trying to hide his unease.

As he walked over to feel the sheets on the enormous bed, he heard a sniffle from Hinata as she looked at a picture of Naruto sitting at the Ichiraku with a coupon clutched in his hand. After a moment's consideration she folded the picture and set it face down on her desk. He never once looked at me. I was too shy, too quiet and lonely to attract his attention, and now I've lost him to a girl as bright and cheerful as he is. But I know I could have been cheerful for him. I just… I didn't change fast enough, with him always moving forward. I never told Naruto… I never had the chance to tell him… I wanted to show him how grateful I was for all the strength and cheer he always showed. But I never told him how much I loved him, she thought, feeling the tears well up in her eyes once more.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Taiki, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Something broke within Hinata, and the heartbreak she'd been holding back burst out in a rush of emotion. Turning with frightening speed, she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder with a strangled sob. Having subconsciously been expecting something like this, Taiki wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders and waist, holding her much as he would a child. Each fresh wave of tears wracked her slender frame, making her cries burst forth anew. Taiki could do nothing but sit down on the bed, pulling her into his lap and comforting her. She seemed as if the tears would never stop, and as her sobbing fits grew longer and longer Taiki wondered if he'd have to get help for the hysterical girl. When a call came over the intercom for dinner, he knew he'd have to do something. He shook her and whispered in her ear, "Hinata-chan, it's time for dinner," to no avail. She only clutched him tighter, nearly squeezing the breath from his lungs.

As the second call for dinner came, he pulled her away from him, tilting her face up to his. "Hinata, remember what I said? There are always more fish in the sea. Both of us might be able to find someone else, but for now you've caught me," he said, and he kissed her. It wasn't like the ragingly passionate kisses that he had shared with Kotori while she was under the control of her demon, nor was it like the fumbling that he'd gone through with a girl from his home village just before he'd been sent away to live in Konoha. This kiss was one that came from somewhere in his heart, channeling all the built-up love and affection that he had been storing since he'd tried having a relationship with Kotori. When she'd rejected him, an overwhelming need to connect with a girl that could understand what it was to be cast aside had started burbling through his brain without him even realizing it.

The kiss ended as a personal call came over the intercom, calling Hinata to the dining room to eat with the rest of the clan, and would she please hurry before the food got cold? Leaning back from each other, a little flushed and exhilarated by the rush of emotion and the sudden kiss, Hinata and Taiki could only stare one at the other as they tried to figure out what had just happened. "Sh-shall we get g-g-going?" Hinata asked stiltedly, the rational part of her brain telling her to let go of this one before things could get worse.

Their moment was again interrupted by the intercom, as Hiashi's voice crackled over the speaker. "Hinata, it has come to my attention that you were seen walking with a boy earlier this afternoon, and that you have brought him home. Please tell him to make himself presentable for dinner, as I would like to meet him… personally."

Taiki's eyes widened at the message. "Hinata-chan, maybe it would be best if I left now. Your father is sounding a little bit too anxious to meet me," he whispered to her.

Shaking her head, Hinata replied, "You did so much to help us during the invasion, so I'm sure my father will be nothing. Just relax and you'll be fine."

With a deep sigh, Taiki nodded once. He glanced once more around the room and found a mirror in which to check his appearance once. Removing his headband and handing it to Hinata, he smiled softly. "Don't worry, I'll be as polite as I can be. Not even Neji will be able to…" He then stopped, mouth dropping open in horror.

His eyes shot to the headband that Hinata was idly polishing with one sleeve. Meeting his gaze with an uncharacteristically mischievous smile, she held it up so that he could see himself reflected in the metal. "You've got to put your best face forward," she said, placing a silencing finger on the lips of an astonished Taiki. "Part of this is my fault, so I'll stand up for you… as much as I can."

As he untied his hair from its ponytail and began to smooth it with a comb extracted from his pocket, Taiki's thoughts were a jumble of confused emotions. How did this happen? he asked himself, running his fingers through the shiny black tresses in which he took such pride. She's accepting me as I am, but I don't know why. Hinata knows I'm from the Cloud Village, that I'm part of the village that caused her uncle to die, all for the secret of her blood. By all rights she should have raised unholy hell when she saw the symbol on my headband. Why didn't she? Taiki wondered, pocketing the comb and opting to let his hair flow loose once more. Accepting his headband from Hinata, he re-fastened it in its usual place around his neck and glanced over the rest of him to make sure that everything was in order.

"Sh-shall we go now?" Hinata asked, quietly, trying not to blush quite as much as she normally did. He's so handsome, she thought as he nodded and offered an arm to her. Together they stood and walked into the hallway on their way to a dinner neither would forget.

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They walked into the dining room amidst a round of stony silence from the assembled Hyuuga family members. Hiashi and Neji turned from their conversation to look at the young man on Hinata's arm. "Ah, there you are. I'm glad to see…" started Hiashi, the face of strained pleasantry even before his gaze fell to the headband around Taiki's neck. Rising from his seat in tandem with Neji, the leader of the Hyuuga clan moved to take care of this unwelcome visitor with his nephew close on his heels. Rather than stay put to receive whatever punishment they had in mind, Taiki turned to dash through the still open door with an apologetic wave to Hinata.

I'm in trouble, Taiki thought as he whirled through the maze-like corridors of the Hyuuga complex, trying to remember the way to the exit and cursing his muddled state of mind. Hiashi and Neji were on his tail as he slid around a corner, barely dodging a blow from the younger man. "I haven't even done anything yet that I know of, but I'm really sorry!" he yelled, barreling through a door and into a courtyard.

"You're from the Cloud Village!" Hiashi barked after him. "You're an assassin, a spy, and a murderer - prepare to die!"

Breathing a quick prayer to whatever gods were listening, Taiki turned a sharp corner around a rose hedge, but any hope he felt died as he came upon the courtyard wall and little room for him to maneuver. "I'm in it deep now," he grumbled, turning and gathering his energies to leap over the wall. He came within a hair of grasping the top of the barrier and would have done so to propel himself into safety had a sudden sharp pain in his leg not stopped him. Instead of flying gracefully through the air, Taiki came back down to earth with a muffled hiss of pain and anger that only intensified when he saw a well-thrown kunai buried in the back of his thigh. Cursing violently, he pulled it out and flung it at an approaching Neji, noting that Hiashi was not far behind.

Smirking, Neji batted the knife aside easily and closed in on his panicked target, and Taiki's mind raced even faster as he tried to come up with another plan. The tenor of the situation was then changed abruptly as a distinctly feminine yell cut in, and Taiki could only watch as Neji flew into the thorny rose hedge, propelled by an unexpected hit from an equally unexpected source.

Then came a pale blur as Hinata skidded to a stop between Taiki and his pursuers, her chest heaving from the manic pace she'd had to set in order to catch up to the trio. Her face flushed red with anger instead of embarrassment, she faced off against her father and her cousin. "No killing the boyfriend!" Hinata hissed, her stance and voice daring the others to try and step past her. "Neji, I know that some people from his village were responsible for your father's death, but this one has nothing to do with that! Did he try and kidnap me when we were all alone in my room? Did he take advantage of my emotions and insecurities in order to disable me? No! He's only being nice to me and supporting me when I need it, which is something you can hardly say for yourself."

She took a deep breath and continued in a much calmer voice. "Father, you of all people should know how dangerous it would be to kill the adopted son of the Raikage. He also did so much to assist during the invasion when he could have stepped back and let things happen, so you should be calling him a hero instead of hunting him down like an animal." This made Taiki start up from his crouched position. Has she been stalking me? he wondered before realizing that she must have done her homework on his village. He then blinked as the word boyfriend percolated through his brain, and so distracted was he by the ramifications of this that he missed most of what she said next.

Whatever it was, when he returned to reality he noticed that Hiashi was stroking his chin thoughtfully. "You are proving to be a wiser potential leader than I suspected, Hinata. Your proposal is interesting, and it has merit - I shall have to send a letter to the Raikage to apprise him of the situation and ask his approval."

Taiki blinked slowly, not understanding. "Wait, what proposal?" he asked, glancing from a stunned Neji to a thoughtful Hiashi and back to Hinata, who seemed as surprised as Neji.

"Your proposal," Hiashi replied. "Now, let us go back into the dining room and make the announcement to the rest of the family." Taiki lurched to his feet and started walking, but Hiashi brought him up short. "I believe that you should escort your fiancée to the dining room. It is only proper manners, Son…"

Taiki's mouth dropped open. "Wait - Son? What happened to assassin, spy, and murderer?"

Congratulations, murmured a woman's quiet voice which Taiki had not heard in some time, and after a second's pause to recall he placed it as that of the first of two spirits that cohabited his body. I only wish I were still alive to be there for this.

That was some fancy footwork, I'd say, commented the second spirit with a chuckle. Just hope she doesn't mind sharing you with us.