Chapter 42: We Need A Resolution
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Hanabi waited anxiously, inside the tea room, for news to arrive of her sister's safety.
Her chest collapsed in relief when her father had announced favorable news of her return. She pushed herself off the floor pillow and rushed down the halls when she heard voices greeting her sister. Though she had every intention to hug her, Hanabi had to stop herself in her steps.
Something was wrong.
Her sister's expression said it all.
"Daughter, are you hurt?" Hanabi heard her father say.
"I'm alright, father. Thank you for your concern." Hinata gave a tired smile, for more reasons than one.
"I know you must be tired, but the meeting must go on. I understand Uchiha-San had to go back to work, but we need to address the situation even in his absence. You know how sensitive these kinds of things are. Would you like a moment to clean up?" He said, his eyes falling to the traces of earth and leaves on her kimono.
Hinata gave a nod, and bowed. Her eyes briefly flickered over to her younger sister before briskly passing her without a word.
Did something happen…?
Hanabi asked herself, brows furrowed.
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"There's nothing between Uchiha-san and I,"
She only had to say it once, with dead stone-cold eyes, and they seemed to believe her.
"Hmm, Hinata-sama, you still need to be mindful of who you are. Uchiha-san may be nothing but a means to help you fix your ties with Lord Kakashi, but you've failed to conduct yourself as our princess. I suggest going forward you exercise extreme levels of privacy, only hosting your business-related meetings with Uchiha-san within these walls, under supervision." An elder said.
She bowed deeply while on her seat, playing the political games on autopilot.
"I apologize for forgetting myself for a moment as being a Sensei blurred that for me. But what worries me most is my virtue being questioned after this. How can I fix my image? I'd like to cleanse it." Hinata had said, not giving them the chance to say it first, as she knew this is already where the conversation was headed.
"I've already phoned the staff at the shrine and let them know you're interested in part-taking in some community service, right after school. Seeing you giving back to the community will make the public quickly forget about the article."
Hiashi scoffed in his seat, as this is the first time, he heard of this.
"Having my daughter laboring around as a priestess doesn't fix the root problem. We have bigger issues to worry about." He said as he waved the newspaper around. "This incident shows that today it was my daughters, but tomorrow, it may be your own sons on the headlines now that civilians seem interested in our lifestyle."
"I concur. This is a stunning, unjust act against our clan. The conduct of this news publisher is pretty textual in its intent, instigating conflict in the Shinobi world. They obviously aim to destroy our image by painting a picture that isn't true, to boost sales."
"Seems like our job is never done-"
Hinata rose from her seat when she sensed the meeting was about to go on forever.
"-If I may be excused, I have a lot of papers to grade, and a report to write to Lord Kakashi."
"Yes, of course. Then send in your sister next." Hiashi instructed.
An elder, who had stayed quiet the entire meeting, gave her an encouraging smile as she moved to leave.
"Hinata-sama," She paused after pushing her chair into the desk and glanced at the speaker. "We're delighted to see you have grown. You've even changed your allies too, from hidden soldiers obstructed behind masks, to known political figures who put faith in who you've become. It's a shame you stepped down."
Not many knew that today, she had helped prevent the village from plummeting into conflict that would have lasted for generations to come, and she decided to keep it that way. Still, she smiled, not used to recognition.
"I'm just a humble servant to the changing needs of our clans, and congratulations on your son being voted as the next candidate for leadership."
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Hinata turned her head to the side, staring off at the bushes of hydrangeas outside, as she sat in a quiet room she once used a lot, back in her genin years, the study room.
Even as Hinata tried to throw herself into work, she was unable to quiet her mind or focus on her task. Her mind, recounting previous conversations she had with her sister, until one of them stood out.
Hinata remembers the two had been lounging in Yoshino's chambers after an exhausting dress fitting for her wedding.
'Sasuke told me you two don't talk anymore,' Hanabi had said.
"He did…?"
'Yeah. I guess I understand the reason you asked him to stay away,'
"...Did he say that to you?"
'He didn't have to. It was too obvious. He's in a lot of pain. I'm thinking of asking Dad to hire a new tutor and keeping my distance too,'
"From what you've told me today, it seems like Father deems it beneficial if you maintain a political friendship with Uchiha-san,"
'Is that all that he ever was to you?' Hanabi asked.
"I know what you're implying…but none of that matters now, it's in the past,"
'You're going to be married soon, and your husband will own everything you own. I think you should leave me in charge of the Uchiha's land,'
"And why should I do something like that?" Hinata remembers asking, now understanding the thoughts behind such a question, which no longer seemed like an innocent thing at all.
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Hanabi, now I see that you were always dropping cues. You've been telling me for a very long time how you felt. How ignorant of me, that I did not see what was happening in front of me.
He wasn't yours, an inner voice pointed out in Hanabi's likeness, out of desperation to split the good and the bad parts, so that she can distance herself away from feeling hatred towards the two people that she loves.
You don't own him, the inner voice persisted.
You were supposed to have distanced yourself and be married, the same voice remained very critical as she thought about all the emotions Sasuke must've felt while she had pretended not to notice what was there.
His loneliness, his hurt, she understood. His actions, she did not. The empathetic side was very aware of men, and their nature, but found it hard to accept Sasuke in his entirety when reminded of his words.
He had assured her that it had always been her, and only her. Almost making it seem as though he would've picked her in every single time.
Hinata dropped her ink pen and pushed the graded papers to the side as she willed the tears away at the realization, he would've picked Hanabi had she still been with Shikamaru.
How sickening. How repulsive.
They both were wrong. They both were disruptive.
Hinata dropped her arms on the low table and rested her head, her eyes fluttering close as she lay still for some time. She opened her eyes and lifted her gaze when she felt someone walk inside.
It's never an enemy, is it? The people that could hurt you the most…
It was ninety-nine percent Sasuke's fault, she believed, and the rest hers.
'So you get to cosplay as a priestess, and I get stuck with a rehab Anbu.' Hanabi said sheepishly as she smiled.
Hinata hummed absentmindedly. She didn't think she could fake any pleasantries at the time. Her body felt exhausted already just from doing something that was not authentic to her, which was holding this rage inside. She tilted her head, too drained to try and even let this fly.
"Close the door behind you and sit down. We need to talk." Hinata instructed, eyes voided of emotions as she motioned for her sister to sit across the table.
However, the carefully timed phone call snapped Hanabi out of thought, with her shoulder slightly jumping. She glanced at Hinata, but her sister didn't react to pick it up. When it rang enough times, a housemaid had gone to answer it. Moments later, the maid entered the study room.
"Hanabi-sama, it's for you. The person wouldn't let me take the message."
'Onee-chan, hold on, I'll be back.'
She went down the hall, and entered the living room, and put the phone on her ear.
"Hanabi. She knows."
Sasuke?
Hanabi's eyes widened.
Sasuke couldn't possibly mean-
"I told her everything."
Was he…?
"Sorry."
…an idiot…?
Hanabi slowly pulled the phone away from his voice and hung up, swallowing as she turned to the exit, understanding what her sister wanted to talk about.
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Hinata didn't move or lift a finger to offer comfort as Hanabi silently sobbed in front of her while looking down at her lap.
'I'm sorry…'
"With you, I never had my guard up."
'I'm sorry.' She repeated.
Hinata eventually leaned forward and offered Hanabi a handkerchief before looking away. Something about her choice in love left Hinata wondering why him, why Sasuke?
'He was nice to me,' Hanabi said as she continuously wiped her tears.
"Anyone is capable of being nice." Hinata retorted.
'He was there for me when I lost my voice,' She replied, glancing down at her hands to hide her expression. 'There was no way of communicating with anyone else outside our clan. My only connection was him. Having him around was comforting.'
"So he somehow became special to you when you were feeling isolated from your other friends, and vulnerable."
'Are you undermining my feelings?'
"No. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. After seeing a therapist for so long, that's always how I think now. Why did you confess the day before my wedding…?"
'I had this idea of just wanting to move on. I wanted him to reject me. And he was always flaunting his feelings for you. How could I move on if he doesn't know how that made me feel?'
"Why didn't you tell me anything?"
'I tried.'
"Is that what last night was about?" Hinata asked, earning a nod.
Hinata still sighed.
"Here's the thing: You both hurt me beyond words. I feel gutted and betrayed, yet at the same time I love you both so much…but…" Even with time, she's not sure if she could heal from something like this. "I don't know if this mansion is big enough for me to be able to love you from afar." Once the public stops caring so much about her life, she vowed to move out.
Hanabi's lips moved, but Hinata hadn't caught what was said.
"Excuse me?"
'I said you led him on.'
'You toyed with him.'
'You used him.'
'You didn't see how sad and broken he was.'
'You don't deserve him.'
'Those are the kind of things I used to think about all the time. That's the real reason I confessed to him, with the hopes that he sees you're not the only one.'
Hanabi never saw her move, until the air split in half, along with the table, as paper flew everywhere.
"Hanabi. Please leave me before I really lose control." Hinata said coldly while glancing down at her.
Though she never claimed to have ownership of another human being, why couldn't Hanabi see that Sasuke Uchiha should've been off-limits?
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Thank you for the reviews!
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I know it's a short chapter
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Next chapter, time skip
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