A/N: This stand-alone is a follow-up to 'Common Ground' so you may want to read that story first to get a little background. But then again, it may not be necessary. All of these stories are my attempt at setting up the pieces for a much longer, multi-faceted story I have brewing in the back of my mind so there's no particular order. Four more chapters to go! Reviews welcome! Enjoy!
SEVENTEEN: Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
"This is for you."
Hyuga Hinata looked up wearily from the book she had sprawled across her lap to the fine piece of jewelry her sister had laid reverently before her. She recognized the piece immediately and gave her sister a scrutinizing glare, trying to figure out the trick.
The necklace (for the fine piece of jewelry was indeed a simple pendent that Hanabi bought at the market one day when their father decided to be magnanimous) was her sister's most prized possession. So prized that Hinata still has the scars from that unfortunate time she decided to 'borrow' said possession for a covert mission and neglected to inform her sister of its whereabouts.
So she knew better than to reach for the trinket unless she wanted to visit the hospital again.
But now her beloved (and slightly unbalanced, Hinata is more than convinced of that after the now infamous screaming fit) sister was willingly giving her the necklace and Hinata was more than concerned.
"Hanabi, what's going on?"
"Oh, nothing," the younger Hyuga sister replied nonchalantly. "I just figured if there is anyone in this world who could appreciate my necklace as much as I do, it would be you."
"But why are you giving it to me?" the eldest sister asked suspiciously. She watched her sister carefully and didn't note anything out of the ordinary. There wasn't a strange glint in her eyes that suggested she'd lost her mind (well—no more glinty than usual). Her clothes were in some sense of order and she looked like she'd bathed and eaten recently. In fact, Hanabi was looking quite serene; dare she say—at peace.
"I'm just covering my bases, that's all," she replied a little distractedly as she was currently digging in her knapsack for something. "Oh, and could you give this poetry book to Father? He really liked this poet. I would do it myself but he's in a meeting."
Incredulous, Hinata took the offered book in hand and read the title, just to be certain she was looking at the correct book. "Hanabi, this is your favorite poet. You waited in lines for hours so she could sign this and now you're giving it to Father?"
"Yes."
Hinata took a deep, cleansing breath as she prepared to decipher the bizarre logic that was her baby sister. "Hanabi, why are you giving away your worldly possessions?"
"No reason for you to worry about," Hanabi said, shrugging her knapsack over her shoulder as she turned to leave. "Oh, if I don't come back by sundown, tell Father—I regret nothing."
"Alright, enough," Hinata said rising from her position on the futon and thinking that if the heiress thing didn't work out, Hanabi could seriously consider a career in acting. She certainly had a flair for the dramatic. "You're going to tell me what's going on."
"Like I said, there's noth—Oww! Hina-chaann!"
Hinata had deftly snatched the spry Hyuga by the ear and was pinching painfully. She found it was quite effective in getting little sisters to confess wrong doing.
"Alright, alright. Damn! I'm sparring with Neji this afternoon."
Hinata immediately let go of her sister and took a step back in her disbelief. She decided right then and there that the glint-in-the-eye factor was no longer a reliable indicator of insanity. "A-Are you crazy? He's going to kill you."
"Hence the giving away of the worldly possessions," Hanabi said patiently as though she was talking to a particularly slow person. "You're usually sharper than this, Hina-chan. Have you been reading all night again? Nothing can possibly be that interesting."
"Don't change the subject," Hinata said shortly as she kicked the book closed when her sister attempted to read some of her notes. Hanabi looked up at her and then rolled her eyes dramatically. "Why are you fighting with Neji?"
"Look, it's just something I gotta do, alright? Don't make such a fuss," her sister waved her hand flippantly. "He's probably not going to kill me—maim me, possibly—but not kill…intentionally...well, he would have a lot of explaining to do if he did and we all know that Neji does not like communicating with the humans…so…"
Hanabi's efforts at levity died miserably under Hinata's stern glare and the young girl clucked her tongue nervously, her eyes shifting to anything but her sister. "I made a promise, alright. I have to go through with it."
"What sort of promise did you make to Neji, of all people, that calls on you to fight him?" Hinata asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. She didn't even realize the two spoke enough to even make promises.
Hanabi, probably realizing she said more than she wanted to share, immediately took on what Hinata recognized as the 'Prelude to the Screaming Fit' stance. "None of your business!"
"Listen, you are not fighting Neji."
Hanabi's eyes widened slightly at her sister's rare show to assertiveness but then she crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "While I appreciate that you managed to overcome your stuttering problem, which I can't help but note you only grow a spine when the situation involves me, I don't see how you think you can tell me what to do."
Hinata's cheeks flushed furiously with embarrassment but she stood her ground. "Neji is a gifted shinobi. You're not ready to fight him."
"Says who?"
"S-Says (darn it!) me."
"Then I suppose that means I'll have to prove you wrong," Hanabi said with a sniff, clearly offended that her skills were not recognized. She turned towards the door but stopped suddenly when her sister leapt passed her to block her way. "You can't be serious."
"I cannot in good conscious allow you to go fight, Hanabi. Please don't do this."
"Hina-chan," Hanabi began with forced patience, "I am about to be late and you know how Hyugas are about punctuality, especially the particular Hyuga who is currently waiting for me. Now, get out of my way and enjoy that necklace I just graciously gave you. And take a nap or something. You look like hell! "
It was true that Hinata has been spending many late hours with her reading and therefore losing a lot of sleep but she didn't think she looked as bad as Hanabi suggested, suspecting her sister was merely trying to distract her.
Until she gave a quick glance at the mirror.
'My word!'
Hanabi had a point but that didn't stop her from her current task. "I'm telling Father."
"What?" the young Hyuga squeaked in indignation. "You're telling on me!"
"If I must."
"You tell on me and you'll get Neji in trouble too."
Hinata didn't think about that and her realization must have shown on her face because Hanabi now wore a triumphant smirk. Desperate, Hinata took on a fighting stance.
Hanabi narrowed her eyes. "You're going to stop me from fighting by—fighting me? Seriously, sister, take a nap. You're running on stupid right now."
"If you want to fight Neji, you'll have to go through me first," Hinata said very seriously.
"Hina-chaaannn!" Hanabi whined in frustration, stamping a foot for emphasis and looking half her age. "I don't want to fight you. Just forget we had this conversation. Please. Go back to your reading and be blissfully unaware."
Hinata said nothing but raised her hand before her in the Gentle Fist Style.
"Tsk. Shit," Hanabi mumbled to herself before the room suddenly filled with smoke.
Hinata's eyes widened in surprise before she quickly activated her Byakugan but the specialized smoke masked any chakra she might have been able to detect.
"Hanabi!" she called before she found herself choking on the acidic smoke. 'I can't believe she set off a smoke screen in my room! It'll take months for the smell to come out.' She thought she should just let Neji pummel the precocious brat for that alone.
She fumbled her way to the door, wanting to clear out the smoke and also go after her sister (who was long gone, Hinata sensed that much) but found that the door was locked from the outside.
The girl sighed miserably. "Some ninja you are, Hinata."
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"You're late."
"Observant as always, Neji," Hanabi replied lightly as she tossed her knapsack next to a tree. Belatedly, she thought that she should probably go through great lengths not to provoke the boy standing before her but she couldn't help it. There was something about Neji that brought out the brat in her.
Neji scowled when it was clear the young heiress was not going to offer an explanation for her tardiness. "My time is valuable, Lady Hanabi. I will not waste it if you intend not to take this seriously."
"I'm here, aren't I," Hanabi said shortly. She was not about to let Hyuga-Stick-Up-His-Ass-Neji lecture her on anything. "If you want to back out just say so."
Neji positioned himself gracefully. "I feel I should say again that you are greatly outmatched. You will not defeat me."
The corner of Hanabi's mouth curled into a sneer of annoyance, recalling what it was about Neji that put her in ultra bitch mode. "And I feel I should say that I had no idea you knew so many syllables. That at least alleviates some of my concerns about your mental capacity."
Neji chose that moment to activate his Byakugan and attack.
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There are many people who think that being the heiress of the Hyuga clan is like living the life of a princess. After all, said clan is one of the richest, if not the richest clan in Fire Country. No one has ever heard of or seen an ugly Hyuga and the very name Hyuga practically oozed 'I'm awesome so you better show proper respect, peasant.'
And they generally got it.
If Hinata could be bothered, she would explain in great detail that her life was certainly not the life of a princess. It was more like the life of the ugly stepchild that no one wants to talk about and would happily push down a well if it didn't mean having to answer a lot of bothersome questions later.
The life of an Hyuga heiress (or ex-heiress; her father and various council members always made a point to remind her that nothing has been finalized yet) consisted of work, pressure and frequent bouts of self-loathing and feelings of inadequacy.
Case in point, Hinata was currently trying to jimmy her window open with an old kunai she found under her dresser. It was the same window that for years was jammed due to wear and tear; that was the source of great anxiety for her whenever she built up the nerve to ask that it be fixed only to immediately chicken out because she didn't want to be a nuisance.
She thought that she could have called for help but the humiliation from such an act might be enough to kill her and she wasn't ready to take that option despite the smoke burning her eyes and poisoning her lungs.
So here she was—Hyuga Hinata locked in her room by her own sister who kindly released a smoke screen that will make her bedroom smell like an opium den for weeks and her only way out is to crawl out of her window like a common criminal.
The life of a princess indeed. Irrational as it was, Hinata just wanted to bite someone for the sheer pleasure of causing pain. It was a side of her she went through great pains to hide because she's always regretful after one of her rare shows of anger. But sometimes it just felt righteously good to be mad beyond reason.
"Ah," she exclaimed in surprise when the window suddenly opened. It made a horrible sound that suggested it probably wouldn't be closing properly in the near future but she was not concerned about that.
Hinata jumped out the window onto the roof tiles, billows of smoke following behind her. She choked on the fresh air and she hacked unpleasantly as her body rejected the toxins. She tried to forgive her sister, remembering that Hanabi was never one for thinking things through but at that moment, it was very difficult.
"Hanabi," she wheezed out in between gasps of air. She activated her Byakugan and immediately picked up the high levels of chakra out towards one of the training fields. Judging by the intensity of the chakra flares, there was a fight currently taking place. Hinata was honestly surprised. Deep down, she knew that if there was a voice of reason in this madness it would be Neji. There was no way the Hyuga genius would cooperate with such an obviously bad idea but apparently she greatly underestimated her sister's ability to get her way.
She felt it curling in the center of her chest and she knew there was no denying it. She was angry. No, amend that—She was very angry. She didn't ask to be involved in whatever Hanabi and Neji were doing. She was minding her own business, reading her books and staying out of everyone's way like a good little disgraced heiress. But now—now!—her room was uninhabitable, she was feeling inadequate as a ninja again (because really, a smoke screen is such an elementary trick) and she's probably going to be blamed in the near future for: a) Hanabi being a quivering, black and blue, chakra depleted mass of goo in the middle of the training field and b) Neji, the gifted shinobi of the Hyuga Clan, becoming a vegetable due to excessive and repeated use of his curse seal for being the cause of said colorful mass.
Hinata actually snarled in frustration before she quickly made her way towards the training fields. She had to stop the idiots before someone found out.
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It was primarily by luck and secondarily by skill that Hanabi managed to dodge one of her cousin's more spectacular attacks. She had contorted her body in such an inhuman manner that she doubted she would ever be able to repeat the move again.
Not that she would ever tell that to Neji.
She saw how his eyes widen fractionally as she leapt back, the only sign of surprise he gave away on his otherwise impassive face, and she took a few moments to congratulate herself while she caught her breath and determine her next plan of attack.
"That was an unusual move," Neji said blankly. "One would think you were auditioning for the circus."
"Don't be jealous, Neji. If you ask nicely, I might teach it to you."
"Hardly worth knowing. You were simply lucky."
Hanabi's eye twitched in annoyance. "Can't you ever acknowledge when someone got the better of you?" she growled out.
"I can and I have," Neji answered flatly, clearly unimpressed. "I need not make such an acknowledgement here."
It suddenly dawned on her and the chakra veins bulged angrily around her eyes. "Have you been holding back?"
Neji rolled his eyes. "Of course I have. Do you honestly think I would fight you with full force? The fight would have been over long ago. I'm simply humoring you so you'll leave me alone."
Hanabi quickly snapped into her fighting stance. "That is IT! You better defend yourself for real, my friend, because I am about to kick-"
She stopped suddenly upon sensing another chakra presence approaching rapidly towards their location. It was vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
The chakra felt hyper-charged but controlled, the feeling was akin to fine, sharp razors cutting through the air. Her skin prickled with apprehension.
Neji, too, appeared to be equally transfixed; standing with his guard down as he tried to make sense of what this new chakra presence could be.
As the presence drew closer, the sensation changed to a feeling more like water, a thunderous tidal wave crashing through everything in its path-
Water.
"Hey, do you feel that?"
Water.
Angry. Water. Familiar. Family. Sister.
"Oh!" Hanabi's eyes widened with dread as she realized belatedly what the presence meant. "Nej—"
Suddenly, she could feel the presence behind her and she turned around to find a very angry Hyuga Hinata glaring dangerously at her.
"Hina—"
Before she could say or do anything, Hinata impulsively but firmly grabs her by the shirt, pulls her down over her knee and proceeds to spank her butt like it was long overdue.
Hanabi's shock was quickly replaced by pain and humiliation. She flailed about, trying desperately to get away but her sister's grip was solid and her strikes were very accurate.
"You never think, do you?" Hinata demanded angrily, raining down strikes that punctuated each and every word. "You just go around doing as you please without thinking about how your actions affect others! It is time for you to grow up, Hyuga Hanabi!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry," Hanabi cried, tears of pain and mortification rolling down her face.
Mercifully, Hinata stopped the spanking and sat the now shamed girl on the ground. "We'll see how sincere you are in a moment," she declared ominously, turning her attention towards her cousin who was so shocked by what he was witnessing that he didn't have the good sense to run away.
He couldn't help but take a step back as Hinata approached.
"Don't you dare run away, Hyuga Neji," Hinata practically growled, her hands glowing with hot chakra. "I need to have a word with you."
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The following hour found Neji and Hanabi sitting rather uncomfortably in the medic's office, looking quite cowed by their afternoon experience. How did things go so horribly, horribly wrong, Neji wondered, his left eye closing shut from the swelling.
He looked over at Hanabi who couldn't seem to find a comfortable position in her chair. But she dared not complain. Neji cleared his throat, "So, you set off a smoke screen in her room?"
Hanabi glanced over at him briefly before looking away. "I-Yes."
Neji nodded thoughtfully. "That was stupid."
"I am aware of that now, yes."
"I would have beaten your ass too."
"Yes, I know," and Hanabi squirmed with more discomfort knowing she brought this all upon herself.
Neji sighed and suddenly winced when his back gave an uncomfortable twinge.
"How's your neck?" the younger Hyuga asked sincerely.
"It's fine."
"Her strength has improved tremendously. I didn't think she could throw you like that."
"Me neither." Neji grimaced and leaned forward with his arms on his knees to relieve the pressure off his back. "Thankfully the tree broke my fall."
"…I think she was aiming for the tree, Neji..."
"I was being sarcastic, you twit!"
"Well, I didn't know! You're sense of humor is weir—"
The door opened and Hinata walked in. If she heard the barely audible gasps of terror upon her arrival, she ignored them. "G-Good, you're both still here," she said hesitantly.
She walked over and sat in a chair facing her cousin and sister looking very remorse. "I-I wish to apologize for losing my temper earlier. I've been under a lot of stress lately…and the smoke screen…my room simply smells awful…regardless, it was no excuse of my behavior. I should not have assaulted you both like that. I hope you can forgive me."
The transformation was simply amazing. Here sitting before them was the meek, shy Hinata that everyone in the village was familiar with but Neji and Hanabi were no longer fooled. They were now painfully aware of other side.
"Hina-chan," Hanabi began quietly, "You don't have to apologize. I don't blame you for being angry. I'm really sorry."
She looked over expectedly at Neji who was listening intently as he continued to lean heavily on his knees. He gave her a sideways glance when he felt her glare upon him. "What? Oh," he turned his attention back to Hinata and said, "I think your actions were well justified, Lady Hinata."
"You don't think you need to apologize too?" Hanabi seethed.
"For what? I didn't destroy—"
"Why were you two fighting again?" Hinata asked suddenly. She had crossed her arms and was now leaning back in her chair, waiting for an answer.
Neji and Hanabi immediately froze to the spot, recognizing they were once again on thin ice. Hanabi gave a conciliatory smile. "We weren't fighting per say. We were sparring."
"Practice, you can say," Neji added helpfully.
Hinata looked unsure. "I-It seemed p-pretty intense for a sparring session that is why I ask."
"Intense, you say," Hanabi repeated, playing very dumb.
"That was not our intent," Neji clarified. "We must have let the session get out of hand. We apologize, Lady Hinata, for making you worry."
Hanabi nodded eagerly in agreement, liking Neji's response better.
Hinata studied them both intently for a moment before she looked away, suddenly looking very pensive. "I do not like to see you two fight. You're both very dear to me and…I will need to rely on you both for what is to come."
"What is to come?" Hanabi repeated anxiously, sharing a very worried glance with her cousin. "Hina-chan, what do you mean? What's going on with you?"
Her sister's anxious tone snapped Hinata out of her brooding and she forced a smile on her face. "I just want the three of us to get along, that's all."
There was more to be said between the three of them. They could easily sense it but instead the silence settled around them.
Hinata sighed and lowered her gaze. "I should go." She stood up and held up her hand, staying Neji and Hanabi when they attempted to stand as well. "Please rest. I will check on you both later."
They watched Hinata as she left and to Hanabi she suddenly looked so vulnerable under the unknown burden she chose to carry alone. Hanabi looked over at Neji and saw the same worry mirrored in his expression.
Unconsciously, the young girl's hands tightened into fists upon making her decision. Her sister was right. It was time for her to grow up.