Disclaimer: The only things that belong to me are the plot, the original characters, and this particular representation of the Hyuuga and their politics.

Author's Notes: Many thanks to link no miko, Asuka Kureru, and Koorino Megumi for their constant encouragement. I must also extend gratitude to Kilerkki, my amazing beta, who reminds me when I'm being stupid. And thanks to your readers who have stuck around in the ten month gap between this and the previous chapter.

There is also a recent sidefic for Oracle, which can be found in my fanfic journal. You can find the link to the journal in my author profile.

Oracle

Chapter Seven: Interlude

They head to the Hyuuga compound largely in silence after their talk. Neji knows that no amount of preoccupation with Hiroki's missing granddaughter—Neji's cousin—will have any effect on whether she is alive or dead. All they can do is continue with their plan.

If she is dead, Neji wonders if the Elders will allow him to change his bargain and pick someone else to have his or her lineage restructured. Neji has not given any genetic samples yet—something that will not happen until his final days. After the activation of his seal two days ago, he has no desire to relinquish any incentive the Elders have to keep him alive. Hiroki may say that the other Elders do not believe that Neji can actually win this gamble and thus have no reason to see him prematurely dead, but Neji knows from his own experience that it's often emotion that drives murderous thoughts and actions, rather than logic.

"Your teammates are up ahead," Hiroki says eventually.

The sudden announcement doesn't startle him. "I know," Neji says. He can feel the jumble of chakra—can recognize Kiba's wildness, Shino's hum, Gai's steadiness, Tenten's murmur—several meters away and to his left. Judging from the direction Hiroki led him, the group must be near the trees that line the lane across from the Main gate.

Hiroki stops. Neji is getting better at pulling his chakra back in time to keep from running it into the Elder. "This is where I leave you, Neji-kun." Hiroki's voice sounds amused again. "I'll be in touch." He hums a cheerful, tuneless melody as he wanders away.

It takes just a few seconds to get to the waiting group, and when Neji is close enough he lets his cloud of chakra dissipate. Before Neji can return the chorus of greetings and answer the questions about his health, he picks out a faint voice, one that calls him niisan.

"Hinata-sama?" He turns his head to better catch the sound, though it proves unnecessary, as the rest of the group stops talking. What is she doing here?

"Niisan," Hinata says again, and this time when Neji focuses he can find her chakra signature, tightly controlled, so compacted that it had been submerged beneath the rest. He did not mean for her to discover this meeting, to hear him face his friends and comrades, to have her see the ruthless, desperate way he dealt with both. It should not matter any more, what she thinks of him, but to have her disappointment now . . .

"I'm here to help." Hinata is quiet, but there is no evidence in her voice of the tears Neji heard two nights ago. "If . . . if you would have me."

Neji does not hesitate, for he vowed less than an hour previous to hide no longer. He bows to her deeply. "I would be honored to have your help, Hinata-sama."

"Let's get going then," Tenten says as Neji straightens and Hinata murmurs her thanks. "We're going to need a bigger training area now that we've got Hinata-san and Gai-sensei, and if we wait much longer, they'll be taken."

"Me and Akamaru can go ahead and—"

Neji cuts in. "That won't be necessary." He realizes he is running the pads of his thumbs over his fingertips and forces himself to still. "I already have a place in mind."

"Where?"

"The compound."

Hinata breaks the moment of resulting silence. "Neji-niisan, the only place large enough for all of us is being used."

"I thought it would be." He hoped it would be—the size is not the sole attractive quality of that particular spot. He takes in a breath and lets it out slowly, trying to keep his muscles from tensing. He does not need his fitful seal to begin acting up again. "But before we go, I have something to explain to you."

"What is it, Neji?" Tenten asks, and he hears a mixture of concern and curiosity in her tone.

He will not lie. He will not hide. And though he has this resolve, it does not make these upcoming words any easier. "Elder Hiroki and I have lied to you," Neji says. His hands are loose at his sides. "I am going to die in eighteen days, no matter what is done."

One heart beat, two—

"What the hell!" Kiba nearly chokes on his own words. "What about Hinata? Is that a lie, too?" The Inuzuka's chakra flares dangerously while Akamaru whines. No one else speaks, and the weak part of Neji screams for his lost sight so he could discern Lee's and Tenten's expressions.

"No," Neji answers quietly. "We can still keep Hinata-sama from the Branch."

"How?" Shino's voice is a calm contrast to Kiba's, and that much harder to interpret. Neji has never been one to persuade, and he needs the Aburame's support. All he can offer is honesty, and that will have to be enough for Hinata's teammates.

"I bargained with the Elders." It is easier to give the facts, but Neji strains his sense for any reaction from his teammates. "If I can kill the medic that blinded me, they will promote another member of the Branch to my old position, and Hinata-sama can stay in the Main."

"And—" Tenten's voice shakes the smallest bit on that word, and she starts again. "What happens when you win?"

With that question, the tension that was building within him since he woke is banished. Tenten has the faith in him to ask the question that did not occur to the Elders. It makes his next statement that much easier—and that much more difficult—to say.

"I will commit suicide after the match."

For one fleeting moment, the silence is so daunting that Neji thinks that he hadn't managed to admit those words. He wishes for a moment that Gai could put his hand on his shoulder, a steadying, comforting gesture that Neji had at first scorned and then tolerated and then appreciated. Had he ever—

Kiba swears loudly and viciously. "That's it? You're just going to lie down and die?" Neji tries to say something more, but Kiba runs right over the words. "Don't have your damn Byakugan anymore, it's time to give up? Is that what you—"

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata's sudden interruption nearly causes Neji to jerk in surprise. He heard that tone once before, when blood leaked past her lips and she stood in the full front of his rage. But even then, she did not sound half as much in pain as she does now. "This was Neji-niisan's choice, and none of us have the right to judge him for it."

They wait in near silence—an early summer breeze rustles the leaves overhead—until Kiba speaks again. "Damn it, Neji!" But the anger is draining from Kiba's voice. "I don't—this wasn't just—" He makes a frustrated noise.

"It wasn't just about Hinata-san's place in your clan," Shino finishes in his ever-quiet voice. "We don't want you to die."

There is nothing he can say that would be an adequate reply, and there is no need to acknowledge the weak feeling that twists inside him. So Neji bows his head to his teammates—to his friends—and thanks them.

Hinata walks beside him as they lead their teammates into the compound. Neji avoided the clan's training grounds, partly out of habit, partly because he did not wish to be seen fumbling here. Hinata keeps abreast of him, just on the outskirts of his gathered chakra, and apologizes when her hand brushes the unstable edge. He finds it easier to move this way, following when she is beside him and he can feel her movements and catch her soft words about uneven ground, than when he was with Elder Hiroki.

He can feel the presence of the passing members of his clan. More than one stop to watch him pass, but none challenge them. The closer he gets to his destination, the more people stop—and the more murmur in his wake. Neji is certain the reason they do so is less the fitful cloud of energy and the mangled chakra veins and more the uncovered seal.

It still does not ease the twinges of apprehension that run through him when he senses faint bursts of chakra from the largest training area in the compound. But there are more chakra signatures in the area than just the ones practicing the jyuuken: watching clan members form an uneven ring around two pairs of footsteps.

Hinata and Neji's teammates stop outside the ring; Hinata guides Neji through it and onto the training grounds. When they stop, Neji is careful not to stand in front of her. He dissipates his chakra and doesn't wait to be acknowledged before he speaks. "Hiashi-sama, Hanabi-sama," he calls out, loud enough to startle a bird in a nearby tree. He hears its wings beat against the leaves and the air.

The footsteps slow, then stop. "Neji." Hiashi sounds just shy of winded—a product of hours' long training with his youngest daughter. "It is good to have you back." There is no way that the Head of Hyuuga can be blind to Neji's uncovered seal or misunderstand the insolence inherent in the interruption, but Hiashi ignores the gross breech of conduct as if it never happened. It gives Neji the confidence to continue in his gambling. Hanabi says nothing, but Neji can hear her tiny gasps for air. No matter her innate talent, she is still outclassed by her father.

"I am grateful to be alive, despite attempts to the contrary."

Murmuring passes through the ring. Neji hopes that won't be the end of their discomfort.

"As am I," Hiashi returns. Neji hears the man's louder-than-normal footsteps against the packed earth and reminds himself that it is Hiashi's version of being solicitous. But the next words Hiashi says still catch Neji by surprise. "Is there something that I can do for you? I've already banned the use of the curse seal for the duration of your time."

Neji knows Hiashi's speech is for their audience, not for him. For Hiashi, the Head of Hyuuga, to ask what he could do for a Branch member, not to mention banning the activation of the seal, is to acknowledge forthcoming requests as if they came from an equal. Whispers staccato around the ring of witnesses.

The message is clear: Hiashi does not approve of the attempt to kill Neji.

And the offer also allows Neji to not sound impudent by making demands. "I ask to use this area to train." He gestures back in the direction he can feel his friends in. "We require a large area, and one that we could use at any time, particularly in the morning." The time Hiashi and Hanabi always train.

"Of course." Hiashi raises his voice just slightly, not to ensure it carries—they all know it does—but to emphasize the point, as if he were speaking to rebellious children. "You may make use of this training area whenever you like. Hanabi and I will work elsewhere."

Neji bows deeply, and there is genuine gratitude in his words and voice. "Thank you, Hiashi-sama."

Whatever Hiashi does next causes Hinata to breathe in sharply, though Neji cannot see it. "You're welcome, Neji." He strains to hear any other responses, but he only hears the breeze in the leaves. "Hanabi, our session is over."

Neji feels Hiashi's presence retreat, and with him, most of the ring of watchers, many of whom seem to have recovered their voices. Hanabi, however, heads toward her sister and her cousin.

"Neesan, Neji-niisan," she says in greeting. Hinata murmurs back; Neji bows his head in acknowledgement. He can hear Gai in the background, instructing his old and new charges to get warmed up, skirting them around the little clan group and into the now vacant training grounds. "It's good to see you well."

"I'm sorry we've interrupted your training," Hinata says, and though her words are sincere, she doesn't sound as if she is begging forgiveness.

That doesn't prevent Hanabi from interpreting it that way. "I forgive you," she says, and whether the condescension in Hanabi's voice is real or imagined, Neji doesn't know, but he won't be silent.

"It was my idea, Hanabi-sama," Neji says easily, lightly, as if there is nothing less important in his world than this. "Your supporters—"

"Neji-niisan," Hanabi interrupts, "I'm not stupid." Hinata tries to speak again, no doubt to try to smooth things over, but Hanabi runs right over her as well. "Either the seal has driven you mad, or you're trying to offend as many people as you can to make your point."

"What is my point, Hanabi-sama?" Neji asks quietly. He is tensing again, and pain echoes behind the seal.

"That you will try to shape Hyuuga as you want," Hanabi says. Her voice is . . . he can't place it, but there is some emotion in there that only increases his wariness. "But that is not your place. It is either mine, or Neesan's."

"Hanabi . . ."

But Hinata doesn't finish her sentence, and Hanabi jumps in before Neji can respond. "What they did to you was wrong," she says and takes several loud steps away, undoubtedly mimicking her father's attempt at being facilitating. "They may want to be my supporters, but I will have nothing to do with those that dishonor one my father has honored." Her footsteps halt for a moment, and Hinata's breath catches again. "Have a good training session."

He waits until Hanabi's footsteps are buried beneath the sounds of his and Hinata's teammates warming up before speaking. "What did she do, Hinata-sama?"

It takes a moment for Hinata to answer. When she does, her voice is hushed—not with embarrassment or fear, but with something akin to awe. "She bowed to you, like Father did."

Only a handful of chakra signatures hover near their training session on Neji's seventeenth day. Gai is loud—far too loud for the Hyuuga compound—but Neji doesn't mind. He is here to be seen, and if it is his sensei's voice that attracts attention, then that is what will be.

Neji is still getting used to creating the right chakra density in order to be able to make sense of the world, and he cannot always keep it steady. He is about to duck underneath the kick he feels Lee aim at his shoulder, but his control slips away from him unexpectedly. Without that steady resistance of Neji's chakra to slow Lee down, not only is Neji's "sight" crippled—the world goes soft and malleable—but Lee's foot slices in too fast, much too fast for Neji to complete his dodge in time.

Neji is not sure who in his group is more horrified at the fact that he has been sent head-first into the railing around the training area, but Tenten is obviously shaken—her voice is higher than normal and her fingers flutter against his neck as she checks him over with a silent Hinata at her side—and Lee will not stop apologizing. Shino does not speak, but Neji can pick up on a sudden buzzing of tiny wings; Kiba and Gai keep asking loudly if he's all right.

"I'm fine," he says over their protests and despite the spike of pain from the fitful seal. He will have to be particularly cautious here, as he doesn't want to experience unbearable agony again. There is a moment of dizziness when Gai helps him stand, but nothing comparable to what he's experienced with the kaiten. "Lee, again."

Lee knows him well enough that he doesn't pull any of his strikes, and Neji just grits his teeth whenever a blow lands. For a moment he wonders if Lee ever felt like this against him—outclassed and struggling and seconds away from a rather undignified encounter with the ground—when Neji feels Lee's leg arcing toward his shoulder again.

He instead of ducking or bringing an arm up to block, he shoves outward with his chakra. It's not as powerful as what he does with the kaiten, but it provides enough resistance to slow Lee's foot down so that Neji can twist his body away.

Lee's foot crashes into the ground, and shattered earth pushes up against Neji's cloud of chakra as Neji changes his twist into a kick.

He's not sure where Lee lands—it's outside his two-meter range—but Lee's enthusiastic congratulations are mark enough.

His sixteenth, fifteenth, fourteenth, and thirteenth days pass by. His group attracts a larger and larger crowd of mostly silent Hyuuga—after every session, he asks Hinata who watched. She tells him that it is mostly Branch, with a handful of Main, though the latter are few and far between. Even Hiashi and Hanabi stop by, if their training ends before Neji's does. Elder Hiroki flits by on occasion, humming his tuneless song, laughing equally when Neji is humiliated and when he sends one of his teammates flying. But the Elder never stays long, nor does he ever approach Neji.

He doesn't need Hinata to tell him that there has been no word about Hotaru. Neji has set his path, and he will continue down it until he must make a change. He has spent his last several nights going through possible replacements in his mind and formulating an argument for each of them. No one has given any indication the bargain was void because what he bargained for—Hotaru, and her change of position—could be dead, and he is certain Hiashi would have notified him at least.

So Neji trains, feeling the world take shape while he learns a new way of fighting, a new way of seeing when the world is dark.

Toward the end of their session on Neji's twelfth day, Hiroki interrupts the group for the first time. Neji has trickles of blood creeping down his arms and legs from fresh grazes—he is getting better with dodging thrown objects without having to use the kaiten constantly, relying instead on his shifting field of chakra to subtly change an object's course. The kaiten is too much of a drain to use repeatedly, and running too low on chakra, Neji has learned, causes the seal to flare up painfully.

Hiroki's chakra is fitful again, but the Elder waits until there's a pause in the training before calling out. "Neji-kun, may I have a word?"

Neji and Hiroki wait another two hours outside of Hotaru's hospital room before the chuunin from Intelligence is finished debriefing her. Hiroki has told Neji little—only that Hotaru is alive, injured, and coherent enough to talk to them when she is done reporting the deaths of her sensei and her teammate.

It comes as a surprise when the door slides open—Neji could sense a ninjutsu and hear the utter lack of sound from beyond the door—and the chuunin steps out. "You can see her, now," she says, and the ninjutsu's presence winks out.

Hiroki murmurs thanks, and the scrape of his chair on tile as he pushes himself up to stand covers the chuunin's departing footsteps. Neji stands as well and quietly follows Hiroki into the hospital room, though not far. The background hum of machines is louder in this hospital room than the one Neji woke in last time. He stays by the door, which he shuts.

As soon as the door is closed, Hiroki speaks. "Hotaru-chan—"

"What do you want?" The voice is young and tired, undoubtedly because of the lengthy debriefing, but there is a subtle bite to the question.

"Is that any way to talk to your grandfather?" Hiroki asks.

"What do you want, Elder Hiroki?"

Hiroki's sigh sounds real. "I wanted to make sure you were all right."

"I'm fine. I'll just be assigned a new team when I'm released."

Either the girl is a wonderful actress, or she is surprisingly callous. Neji frowns at her words. A sensei and a teammate dead, the other likely crippled—and the girl says she will just be assigned to a new team? And then he recognizes the attitude, how he first felt when he was assigned a team with Lee, the contempt for those he felt were utterly beneath him in every way . . .

It is an uncomfortably familiar sentiment.

"You'll get a new team, but not right away," Hiroki reassures his granddaughter, though if he happens to think there's something wrong with what she said, it doesn't manifest in his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll need to receive bodyguard training so that you can protect Hinata-sama or Hanabi-sama," Neji says from his place by the door.

He hears the overly starched bed sheets rustle, and when Hotaru's words come, her voice is cautious and uncertain. "That's not my position. That's yours."

"I'm going to die, Hotaru." A part of him is pleased at how easily those words escape. The rest of him focuses on giving the briefest of explanations as to why he will be dead in twelve days and why he needs her to take his place.

There is a long moment of silence when Neji finishes.

"No."

"I think you've mistaken this for a request, Hotaru-chan," Hiroki says in his preternaturally calm voice. "This isn't up to you."

Hiroki's granddaughter doesn't have the same calm. "I refuse to be caught up in another scheme of yours."

"It's not a scheme, it is—"

"You've tried this before, and I already told you—"

"Hotaru!" It may be the first time Neji has ever heard the Elder raise his voice, but he has no time to process that because Hotaru speaks right over her grandfather.

"—I won't profit from Neji-san's death!"

It may also be the first time someone has been able to leave the Elder without words.

Neji doesn't realize he has activated his chakra and strode toward the bed until the chakra laps at motionless Hiroki's back.

"Before?" he asks, stopping his forward momentum and letting the chakra dissipate.

Hotaru answers, anger and vindictiveness clear in every syllable. "When you fought Hinata-sama"—there the contempt is plain—"during the Chuunin exams. He pushed for your execution, even though no one else would have minded if you had killed her. He tried to get me to take your place then, too."

Neji remembers being drunk on nearly killing Hinata, how it felt to finally have the rage inside of him satiated, at least in some measure. He had not been aware of any whispered repercussions for his barely justifiable actions.

"Is it true?" Neji keeps his voice polite, though he is holding his emotions so close the seal flares with his tensing body

The words are slow in coming, but they come. "It's true, Neji-kun," Hiroki says, in his old, faintly trembling voice. "It didn't get far because of Hiashi-sama, but I was the main force behind the group insisting you be punished for nearly killing Hinata-sama."

"Why?" He does not mean to ask, but the word slips out regardless.

There is a sigh behind the words. "It was my chance to do something for Hotaru-chan."

Hotaru actually laughs at that statement. "You did it for yourself. You thought—"

They are about to launch into another argument, and Neji cuts them both off. "Enough." He already knew the Elder was doing this for his own gain, and what was done in the past should not matter. Hiroki is a maddening individual, and Neji's trust for him was supposed to extend no further than their current arrangement.

"Are you being manipulated, Neji?"

"No, Hiashi-sama."

"What I'm doing isn't for either of you," Neji says, in a voice that brooks no argument. "This is for Hyuuga."

Hotaru sounds dubious. "You have that much faith in Hinata-sama?"

"I do." Neji knows she can steer the family off its current track, to persuade them toward a path that will never produce someone like him again. It may not happen within Hinata's lifetime, but it will happen. She will set Hyuuga in motion.

She will make it possible for them to defy their fate.

"Then I'll do it, Neji-san. I'll take your place when you win."

To Be Continued

in

Chapter Eight: Promises