3. An Absolution

"And that's what they said? That they wanted a 'sacrifice' to protect the family?"

Neji sighed. "Yes. I felt they wanted me to hear it, either to see how I would react or to openly threaten me."

"I don't like the sound of that."

They had been in out here for almost an hour, and they were still early; the morning air had yet to be charged by sunshine and under the cover of trees their shadows still snaked long in the grass. Gai-sensei had ground this training routine into them. Second day of Lunar New Year or not, training had to be conducted.

Interspersed with their conversation, the monotonous drone of crickets, and the sharp clicking of birds echoed in the hollow of trees; they had grown accustomed to the early morning noise of the woods. These sounds, combined with the thud thud thud of Lee using a tree as a punching bag, helped diminish the uncomfortable silence between them which sometimes flooded them: between themselves, they were not accustomed to talking about anything personal.

And we've been teammates for five years, thought Neji. Self-discipline, strength and teamwork were Gai-sensei's three objectives for his team; he had apparently left out accountability.

"You should have seen her. I've never seen her that happy before. She had such a smile on her face when I went to congratulate her," Tenten said, half-grinning. "Now I truly begin to wonder whether it was her or Naruto's idea to give us these."

He saw she had an otoshidama in her hands,resting cleanly in between her fingers. He unearthed his from his pocket, and dangled it in front of Tenten. Only then did he realise he had kept Hinata's little gift in his side-pocket for two straight days without opening it. So I'm not the only one who received them then. But did it matter?

"I received mine too," he said, a matter-of-factly. At once he regretted his tone, because his teammate, sensitive to his moodiness, caught the barely hidden discomfort in his voice.

"It's no use telling you that you should be glad when you're not," she told him. "What's bothering you?"

He stared past her at Lee, a small little blurry green figure camouflaged against a backdrop of walled trunks and nodding crowns of leaves disturbed by the occasional gust of wind. What's bothering me? And then his eyes lost their sharpness, and all he could see was Tenten, her hands ironing out her massive scroll so that it could be kept in its sheath. The forest appeared constricting in front of his eyes; but he already knew it was a common feature of using Byakugan vision: a piercing field vision, coupled with annoying sharp, short-sightedness meant as a defensive reflex from staring too far. What's bothering me? I can't even tell.

"I'm just worried about Hinata-sama, that's all," he breathed out in one short breath. "She's out… of her… league. She doesn't know what she's doing."

Liar. He knew what he was afraid of though. Elders, cousins and this threatening word called 'sacrifice'. I can almost see what they want. But he was hoping he was just being irrational.

"Neji, you need to stop worrying about her. You need to stop seeing her as a little weakling, she can take care of herself."

He scowled. "No it's not that," he sighed again. Might as well tell the truth. "I'm afraid she won't be able to stand against those stupid Hyuga elders."

"Neji, you're just insecure because you can't stand up to them either, can't you?"

"Yes." But soon I will have to defy them anyway. Very soon.

Tenten listened with a familiar silence; this same quiet acknowledgment always ensued his musings about his family. Both were tacitly understanding of the others' silence.

"I know," he said, breaking the silence. "But she is the heir of Hyuga house, and I her protector."

She listened without argument, as she stuffed her scroll into its sheath; once she had properly laid all her equipment on the grass in front of Neji, she sat down exactly opposite him. He looked to her, his pale eyes concealing the half-truths in his words. And all the while, softly resonating around them, Lee kept his punches and kicks consistent, a steady tattoo in the woods.

"Neji, do you like Hinata?" Tenten asked him directly, smirking.

"Me?"

Neji concealed anything which might have given him away with his trademark look of repulsion, the kind he reserved for Gai's idiosyncrasies or Naruto's over-exuberance (both of which he was seeing much less of now). He edged his sight down to Tenten's feet. He hoped her claim would sound completely incredulous – to her.

And it seemed to work, for she returned the stare and said coldly: "Suit yourself then."

He sighed. Mostly out of relief –

But recoiled in horror as she moved within an inch of his face and gave the most playful grin he had ever seen on her face. "You don't fool me, Neji. Heh… wait till I tell the other girls about this."

"But –"

"Come on, get up!" she seized him by his arm and almost effortlessly pulled him to his feet. "With your mind on something else, I'm sure at last I can beat the invincible Neji Hyuga!"

You really think so? It was Neji's turn to smirk. You underestimate me, Tenten-chan.

By the next time he opened his eyes, the sun had plastered light and sweat all over his face. He took in the warm morning sunshine briefly, but clenched his eyes shut, trying to draw out the next move, or sense any slight compression of air. He could only make out darkness in the overwhelming light of the clearing.

I feel something. His stance lengthened, and his left arm lowered till he could almost touch the grass. It was barely a short breath of wind – a punch from Gai, a move from Lee, or one of Tenten's weapons? The surge of blood bursting through his eyes was alert as ever. Instead he could just make out an awkwardly shaped figure from beyond the hollow of trees to his left. At once, he relaxed, then opened his eyes. The light was blinding. He called out to his sparring partners:

"Gai-sensei, Lee, Tenten. There's someone coming."

Only Tenten responded, peering out from a cover of dense shrubbery. And, sure enough, someone burst through the hollow from behind. Neji could make out his deep, repetitive panting even before he saw his face – and the instantly familiar tattoos on it. In his own mind, he saw the man's face illuminate his memory as he stood as doorkeeper just two nights ago –

"Neji! Where's Neji?" Kiba asked. The uncommon panic from his voice was also telling.

Before he could respond, Kiba turned to him, the look in his eyes strangely hysterical. "I couldn't think of anyone else!" he said, half-yelling, half-panting. "Something's happening – back at Kohona – some members of your family – and Hinata…"

Hinata-sama?

Her name was like a trigger. He stiffened, tensed and realized it all at the same time; within a split second, he immediately advanced onto Kiba as if he was going to knock him to the ground for delivering such bad news. But before Kiba could react, Neji had brushed past him, almost gliding, in the direction of the village.

"What are you waiting for? Bring me there now!" he ordered. He turned back to Tenten, who was also starting to appreciate the urgency of the message. "Find Gai-sensei and Lee and return to Kohona. I might need all your help if things get ugly."

He kicked off from the ground and Kiba, following his lead sped off after him. This won't take long, this won't take long – he knew almost by memory the route back to Kohona, and he knew at his speed and level of fitness it should not take any more than ten minutes. But today it was taking longer than he had patience for. So many trees, so many obstacles, he swore to himself, deeply dreading if he arrived too late.

Once they reached the guarded gate at the entrance of Kohona, he slowed and Kiba automatically took the lead, streaming off down a street, with Neji several paces behind him. A right turn, then another left, and straight again past many curious onlookers and pedestrians – wait, is this not the way back to the Hyuga mansion? But instead Kiba darted beyond the house he knew so well and into a road which in the vicinity. He knew this place: a sandy, vacant lot between the houses and the academy.

"There! There she is! There she is!"Kiba called out. He halted, and Neji took a moment to survey the scene.

They were outnumbered, out-skilled and if a fight broke out (which could very possibly happen, judging by Naruto's big mouth), they would be outclassed. Three of them – Shino, Naruto and Hinata – were confronted by what Neji saw as a mixed pack of Hyuga branch family members, their Main Family representatives and Hidetori-sama himself. His eyes spotted Naruto with a torn sleeve, and one of the Hyuga Main Family members with his leg curled in awkwardly. Some minor scuffle must have had taken place already.

"Neji? Why are you just standing there and watching?" Kiba questioned him. "Hinata is…"

"Go. Defend her," he said, as if he was giving an order. "I will try and settle this as peacefully as possible. Don't let anyone touch Hinata-sama."

A nod of acknowledgement, and Kiba dashed to Naruto's side. Hinata turned to see who her teammate had brought back. Neji caught her wandering gaze; he could see she was determined – since when have I not seen you so resolute? – but the uncertainty which she was so poor at concealing came clear to him. He wanted her to stare at his blank, silently thinking face, to draw relief from same kind of admiration and resolution in her eyes, but fortunately he had better things to do.

Don't worry, Hinata-sama. I will settle this mess for you. And with that single reckless thought, he strolled into the fray.

The sudden appearance of Neji into the space between the two contesting groups startled both sides. He had it all worked out nicely; he was not going to choose sides – yet. He was sure he could settle this without anyone getting hurt. Yet his reasoning led him to another conclusion: I know I don't stand a chance one-on-one with Hidetori-sama. And right now, that same man was brandishing an unusual weapon: a seven-foot long katana, embossed with all kinds of designs, the kind Neji would more commonly see with Tenten than with a Hyuga house member. Carrying a weapon is unconventional for a Hyuga, he thought. He was working things out in his mind now; he might not have either Shikimaru or Shino's capacity for thinking ahead, but he was willing to test himself.

"Neji!" yelled Naruto from behind him. "We got some reinforcements at last!"

He chose not to respond, and this time it was Hidetori who spoke with him: "Ah yes, Neji-kun. I see you have come here to assist us to settle this unfortunate affair."

Let me play dumb for once. "What are you talking about?" he asked him.

"Our good elders have ordered me to protect the integrity of the Hyuga family by bringing your good cousin Hinata-chan back to the Hyuga manor where they will pass their judgment over this awful business of an engagement to an unworthy candidate," the Main House member declared. Neji found the smugness in his voice almost abhorrent. "We have run into some people who do not believe the Hyuga family is wrong in their analysis. We hoped you might lend us a hand to restrain them."

"Son of a dog!" cursed Naruto, again. "We have her father's blessing and you know it!"

"Naruto, shut up," Neji could hear Shino tell him patiently.

The man standing before him continued: "Hiashi-sama has, unfortunately, been temporarily relieved of his duties as Head of the Main House by the elders." At this news, Neji cringed. Damn, let's hope nothing has happened to Hiashi-sama. "You will have your help with this, Neji-kun. Or else I will be compelled to activate a certain curse mark."

Six against twelve. Or five against twelve with me wasting time thinking. Or one-on-one with this idiot. Being an onlooker is not an option – unless Tenten arrives before someone starts attacking. His hand unconsciously went up to the well-hidden curse mark on his forehead. The odds were staggeringly against him; he stood to lose the most in this confrontation: his friends, his standing in the Hyuga house, his life – and Hinata-sama.

"Yes, we understand each other very succinctly now, don't we?" went Hidetori.

Let me think… let me think.

He wanted to turn back to Hinata, and look at her pale eyes, to measure the buried confidence she would radiate from them – that look alone was enough to give him strength to battle a thousand enemies single-handedly – but he could not. And in the end, all that came to him were her words; through his anguish at thinking about his next move, they cemented his own failures like a katana through his forehead:

"Neji-nii-san, you're more to me than this family. You're my cousin. And to me, that's enough."

Why that – now? He had never fought so many of his own family before and, genius or not, he would be fortunate to survive the kaitens or the jukens of a few. Why now? Because now is the time to show that you're good enough for her. He reasoned with himself again, and in the lag time as Hidetori wanted for his response he almost submitted to his weakness, to twist his head back to Hinata for reassurance. Instead he stood facing his own fear and his ugly family; fate was robbing him from all he needed.

He already made his choice. But I wonder will I even live to see her smile at me again, this time.

"Naruto, Shino, Kiba. Stand down," he commanded, without even looking back for their approval.

"What the hell?"

"Neji, listen…"

Just a cousin – a good cousin. This time it's much more than enough.

Before Hidetori could even give the order to attack, Neji had swept past him; in one complete, faultless movement, he directed his right arm in a Juken move to the chest of the man beside Hidetori. Juken. He felt the chakra explode from his fist upon impact, and then the obvious crush of flesh under his hand. Before he could pull his hand out, someone came in from behind. Nice try. He recklessly spun around and, knowing his assailant would be aiming for his torso to disable his chakra, stuck out two fingers where he knew the impact would land. Moves within moves within moves. Lee had taught him that principle. Now we'll see whose chakra is stronger.

A howl of pain. Neji disengaged from the fray and counted his hits: one completely disabled with his Juken, another with a hopelessly immobilized right arm, bleeding where Neji's vastly superior chakra hit him at his palm. So far so good, so much for family.

"My apologies to you, Hidetori-sama," said Neji, in almost mock respect. "But I have to protect the main family's heir."

At once Shino, Naruto, Kiba and Hinata were by his side. Hidetori expression of once untouched confidence had melted away.

"You never listen to me, don't you?" he directed his slight irritation at not being obeyed at Naruto.

"No. You're not officially my brother-in-law yet, remember?" he retorted with a smirk.

Fine. Cheeky idiot. If he could not keep them back, then he would need to help them fight.

"Engage them one at a time. Don't get hit by their chakra. And protect your vital points, especially your torso, neck and chest. Strike them before they can spin or move within striking distance. Understand?" he let them take it in. "If you're in trouble, Hinata-sama and I will help you deal with them, one at a time."

He turned to Hinata now. This is your opportunity to show you're no pushover. He gripped her arm to make her look at him. He expected everything he could read in her face – she was unafraid.

"Hinata-sama. You know what to do, and how to do it," he had a brief memory of him asking her to fight him in all their many training sessions. "But this time it's for real. Don't overreach. Don't hold back. Let them come and we will show them."

She nodded, and smiled. Hinata-sama, you make me believe we can actually win.

Byakugan!

And come they did. The first blow was for Hinata, but she parried it gently. Then Neji took over, his elbow buffeting the unfortunate man's cheek. Someone came for him while he was in mid-execution of his move, and Hinata's arm snaked past Neji to block the dangerous gentle fist coming at his heart.

Fast. But we'll do faster, won't we?

He caught his opponent's arm. Hinata sent a sharp slash of chakra square in between his fingers. A shriek. Neji forced the chakra through his left fist to deflect another blow. Hinata followed up with a Juken to the man's chest. A low strike. He parried. She responded with a kick. He dodged the man's Divine Heavenly Palms jutsu. She twisted away to avoid the strike. And when she fell short of being clear, he threw an arm around her and wrestled her to safety.

Yes.

Once she was free she knew exactly what to do – do it now – by the time their opponents saw her arms churning the air in a thousand equidistant arcs it was too late – one down – two down – three down – beautiful, Hinata-sama – Naruto shouted something – many people were closing in on him but he could not tell if they were friend or foe – no matter – kaiten! – one – two – three – and four. By the time Neji landed, four squirming bodies were sprawled around him. He instantly returned to Hinata's side. Back to the defensive.

"Are you all right?"

"How are my strikes?"

They both knew the answers. But as distracting they were to each other, two more Hyuga attackers put them back into the defensive.

You don't have to ask me – you're perfect.

With the potential paralysis of one hundred and twenty-eight strikes of chakra coming down upon them, they responded in kind. Neither of the four knew the consequences of two hundred and fifty-six strikes of charged chakra coming into impact with each of their creators.

Neji struck square one of their fists. Hinata deflected a blow. He followed. She absorbed a blow to her fist too. Sidestep. Dodge. And strike. We're dancing. Every move he made she followed – and every move she made he responded – they fell back to back in defence – and when they attacked they took turns to follow up.

He felt the tense ridge of Hinata's back up against his, and it felt electric, a thrill to almost feel her powerful intake of air to maintain her pace. I need to end this. But I must be patient. Follow his moves for now. Parry. Deflect. And reach. And yes. You've exposed yourself. Neji did not let the opening go to waste – with relentless ferocity, he hit his opponent with his outstretched fingers under his chin. Their move broken, both Hinata and the other man were now vulnerably distracted. But, as Neji expected, it was Hinata who exploited the chance. Her attacker fell back clutching his injured torso.

Nice move. Neji enjoyed a split second's reprieve, before he found himself face-to-face with Hidetori.

The katana flew out at him but Neji was alert enough to twist himself away. Then, as he resumed his stance, he felt a pounding, sudden headache grip his senses. Is this what I believe it is? His hands went straight to his forehead, which felt feverish and unnaturally swollen; the more he thought about this discomforting sensation, the more painful it became. He had only seen one person succumb to this before: this-must-be-how-Father-felt-damn-this-seal-

Damn-I-can't-see-anything. Everything faded into a blur; his all-seeing vision could now only view one man - Hidetori – with his merciless katana before him. He seemed to be swirling and swelling – why is he so big now? – Neji took another glance and saw that Hidetori was enormous – and his katana was – distorted – whistling like a bird –

And to Neji's horror, he realised in one single moment that Hidetori was standing over him and had sent the katana coming down to the back of his neck.

Crack.

"Hinata!"

Something liquid fell into his cheek, followed by something solid; but it did not belong to him, because the only pain he felt was still coming from his forehead. What is that? Something dropped beside him – the katana or-? With the pain eating away his judgment of his surroundings, he turned and found Hinata sprawled on the ground, curled over her left arm; pieces of unclear, mushy flesh littered the path to her.

I need to get to her. That was the only thing he could think of. In the background he could hear a swear word as Kiba, Naruto and Shino all engaged Hidetori. But Neji knew they would not last longer than a minute. But now he had another objective – I need to get to her. I need to get to Hinata-sama.

"Useless," he heard Hidetori mutter. Then the voice turned to him. "Neji Hyuga, you will receive the due penalty for your disobedience to the family."

Is it me, or is the fever intensifying? By the time he reached Hinata, he could not see anything; his eyes were weeping a viscous, smelly fluid he assumed was blood. And for the first time in his entire life, after years of being called a genius, Neji felt helpless – to defend the one whom he cared for – or to fight his family-forced curse boiling through his skull.

But I'm not going to go down like this, he told himself. Defiantly he sat beside Hinata, and forced himself to be at ease. His hands fell from his head to his chest-level, and he inhaled. I need to be at peace. He folded his hands as if saying a prayer, earning the scorn of Hidetori.

"Appealing to the ancestors won't save you now," he sneered.

When he took his next breath, the strain was still cutting into his forehead, but everything else was extremely still in his eyes' inner darkness. He could see Hidetori, or at least his chakra, in front of him, although he could not estimate the distance. He shut away the distracting agony, and instead concentrated what was left of his chakra into maintaining that mental image.

I need a weapon. But instead of kunai, his digging fingers hit something soft from within his pockets: the precious otoshidama, weighed down with several coins inside. Neji laughed within. This will have to do. He kissed it, almost separating Hinata's scent and touch from the red packet, before lodging it in between two fingers.

"Are you going to fight me with a piece of paper?"

No, I'm going to kill you. He felt his reserves of chakra divert to his fingers, pressing hard around the paper form of the otoshidama. As a consequence, his image of Hidetori blurred, but he knew which direction the Hyuga killer was. Now he willed himself to concentrate, to remember and reenact exactly his move during training, pushing aside the dreadful anguish in his head, and seeing for one last moment Hinata's face decorate his inner darkness –

Hinata-sama, you're more than enough for me.

He flung the packet – and the chakra accumulating in his fingers followed. In mid-air the paper piece erupted into ten thousand fragments of chakra-infused shrapnel which engulfed his target like a fog. And when Hidetori did attempt to defend himself, all it took was for one of the splintered iron coins from the packet to bypass his katana and arms to pass through the bridge of his nose and out from the back of his head, to immobilize him, completely.

The real, absolute silence which accompanied his throw was music to Neji's ears. And as the turmoil and torture he felt disappeared, the suffering Hyuga branch member had one last final vision – of Hinata cupping his hands and tracing yet another new scar on his palms – before he fell atop the person he had sworn himself to protect.

"He'll live."

Night. Neji came to, but he was uncertain whether he was blind or whether nightfall had fallen on Kohona. Movement of his eyes was restricted by bandages and another hardened weight which he felt was medicinal salve. Where am I?

"You're awake," said a voice which made him jump.

The room was very badly lit, but Neji's eyes could make out Tenten waiting patiently by his bedside. Before she could even speak, he silenced her with the most important question: "Where is Hinata-sama?"

"Not very typical of you, Neji. Asking about a girl once you wake up," she scowled and gave a little puff of annoyance that he actually found funny. "She's recovering well. She may have lost several fingers, but that's nothing the Hokage can't fix. Lee and I arrived just in time. We had to fend off a mob just to get you here."

She's alive. He took a sigh of relief, but the sharpness in chest sent him back to his bed. Tenten's disposition changed completely; she steadied his shoulders and propped up his headrest. As he lay panting, he recollected the same sharpness which once flooded his forehead. The thought of it made him recoil.

"Relax, Neji. You need to recover too."

Neji stared, and Tenten gave him a grin. She's here. Lounging in the shadows just outside his bed, Hinata stepped into the light, and to Neji, it seemed like a full moon was now illuminating the dark room. There was a slight blush in her face, a familiar glaze in her eyes. The only indication that she had been in a fight was the unsightly bandage over her left hand; several fingers looked shorter than usual.

She stood over him, casting a sinuous shadow across his bed. For that moment he wished he was Shikimaru: he wanted a shadow imitation to bind him with her completely. I have so many things to say, but where to start?

"Hinata-sama…"

"You don't need to say anything, Nii-san," she held out her uninjured hand. Nestled in it, he was the recognizable red and black calligraphy of an otoshidama. Stunned and not knowing what to do, he stared at her features, made even more sharp and sublime by the light that was almost flowing out from behind her. Like an angel.

Then, as if in a dream she lowered her head, and soothed the open, visible curse mark and scar on Neji's forehead with a kiss. To Neji, all around the shadows were alive and binding themselves to the two of them. As Hinata's hands took his tired head into her arms, he shut his eyes, his thoughts at last in serenity; all around he could hear the rustling leaves, the murmuring wind, the silent voice of Hinata's breathing, her breath warmth on his skin –

Or am I already too late?

And eyes closed, both the wind and her breath were coaxing his hair loose.

Finished on 08.09.2007, by shelter

NOTES: Unfortunately, not under 10000 words, so this piece is not officially a short story. But my first try doing short stories & Naruto fanfiction has been rewarding – I always appreciate a challenge. All writers should. Some observations I made while completing this story:

The title Red Packet may have been a bit out of place. Because I realized not all otoshidama are red; I based the title on my background knowledge. Still, I leave it to the readers to figure out what is its symbolism in this story.

There are no missing scenes. I thought over a previous comment & I decided to leave everything as it is. Even in this chapter, if you feel as if some scenes are missing, I leave it up to your imagination as to how those scenes would've happened. Incomplete knowledge is good – sometimes.

In this story, I would set the age of all characters to be several years older than they appear in the Shippuden manga/ anime.

I probably will not get a lot of comments. But I need some recommendations as to whether I should do a sequel, or a prequel. Because if I decide to do one, I need advice on whether it should be a full-length narrative or just a short story. Also, I'm interested in trying out uncommon pairings for more Naruto fanfiction. Please give me your views. Thanks.