hello! this is chapter three i hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as i did writing it. =)
CHAPTER THREE
Itachi rolled the blue scroll between his hands. The flickering of the candle beside him provided him a rhythm.
Back and forth, back and forth.
His father's otsuya would be later in the evening, but right now it was just the two of them.
He could tell his father whatever he wanted. No one was around and the series of privacy jutsus he cast would ensure that no one could hear. He glanced at his father's body; a katana was placed on his chest to provide him a safe journey to the afterlife. From where he sat his father looked peaceful. You never would have known that he cut open his stomach in a gesture of painful relief from life.
He stared at the space beside his father's body. "I can only imagine what you would have done if you were in possession of this scroll, Otou-sama. I hate to admit but that scares me."
Itachi looked at the scroll in his hands.
It contained so much power that it was no wonder that Orochimaru wanted it. He shivered when he thought of the disastrous possibilities the scroll held.
"I am not certain what I will do with the Hyuuga just yet," He said softly. "However I am certain of what I will not do. I will not commit genocide to put the clan elders at ease. I will come up with another way to humble them."
With that said he sealed the scroll back up and hid it on his person.
Itachi stood and gave a low bow. "I apologize, I cannot do as you have instructed."
There wasn't anything else to say so he left.
He closed the door silently and reactivated the security seals on the room. With one last look, he quietly made his way to his room.
His inauguration would be in a few days, it was best to do it as soon as possible to avoid unrest within the clan. The younger members of his clan would want to know what he would do to improve the Uchiha but the older generation would want to know what would be done about the Hyuuga. It was something he had been pondering upon himself.
If his ancestors had not revolted all those years ago, his entire family would be something akin to slaves and that did not bode well with him.
The Hyuuga had to stop what they were doing.
He had to control it from their weak point, their future, and then attack it. Though he barely spoke to the Hyuuga Heiress beyond the required pleasantries, there had to be some merit to the things that clan was saying. He had to ensure that they kept her. If what they were saying was true and she was an unfit head then the clan would implode in and of itself without any help from him.
But first, he needed something that would burn at the abundant Hyuuga pride.
"I need the Hyuuga Heiress to bow to me."
.
.
.
Veins bulged slightly around the girl's temples as chakra coursed through them. Her hands glowed and created streaks of light as they moved. Her fingers brushed by Neji's arm, barely making contact but that was all she needed. She got herself into a defensive position as fast as she could but that was no use, his chakra covered fingers closed off all the chakra pathways in her defending arm and now it hung useless at her side.
Though she managed to close off a handful of chakra pathways in her opponent's arm, she had lost control of her arm completely. It was a bad trade-off.
She pivoted on her heels, her functioning arm bent in a defensive stance in front of her. She made sure to coat her arm with chakra to protect herself from her cousin's next attack.
"How many times do I have to correct your stance, Hinata?" Her father's stern voice called out. Hyuuga Hiashi stood at the stairs watching with his arms crossed across his chest. She let her chakra seep back into her body, no point in wasting it.
"Neji, please correct her form" Her father ordered. She didn't miss the way he referred to her cousin by his name, said with a fondness that she found herself jealous of. Her father had only ever said her name with disdain.
Neji bowed and moved closer to position her body. He moved her arm closer to her torso. Her feet shoulder width apart with one slightly ahead of the other. Knees bent to lower her center of gravity, her palm spread, fingers together at face level. Her useless arm was supposed to be protecting her side, but it couldn't and that would give her opponent the advantage.
"Thank you Neji, proceed."
Neji raised an eyebrow in warning before starting on a full frontal assault. She managed to turn in time to escape the first few jabs but Neji had repositioned himself so that the next few would land. She couldn't get her chakra up in time; some of his jabs didn't have chakra and therefore didn't interfere with her chakra flow. He was going easy on her.
She twirled into his defense and elbowed him in the gut. When he was off balance she made her attack. Her fingers ran along his arm and obstructed every chakra pore along the way. He wouldn't feel a thing, only a sudden numbness while his arm would hang useless at his side just like hers did. The playing field was now even.
"Your form is wrong," Hiashi interrupted again. "You should be the most proficient at it, you are the future head! How are you going to lead this clan using your bastardized version of the Jyuuken?"
Hinata bowed her head. "I'm sorry father."
"Reopen his tenketsu, start from the beginning."
She shot her cousin a sheepish smile and lowered her head in a small bow of apology. He merely turned to his side to give her access to his limp arm in response.
"We are losing sunlight here Hinata, I suggest you hurry if you want Neji to make it to dinner."
"Yes father." She stammered. She quickly stepped up to her cousin and ran her fingers along his arm just like she did before and stepped away.
"Begin"
She barely managed to dodge the first few strikes. She was getting tired and it showed.
Lately she was feeling tired and irritable and it showed. Over the past few days she went to bed early, but woke up the following morning feeling like she hadn't slept at all. It was as though her body was up and about while her mind was resting because the last thing she remembered was going to bed. After her daily training regimen, she found herself more exhausted than she ever was before. It was beginning to weigh on her because she was finding it harder to focus. She made mistakes she hadn't made since she was four years old. It gave the elders more ammunition and she was helpless to improve at her present state.
She clumsily dodged to the side at Neji's next advance and tripped, fumbling into a somersault and barely landing on her feet. Her shoulder ached at her faulty roll and she felt a sharp pain in her ankle.
"Stop," Her father ordered. Neji obediently stopped where he was and relaxed his stance. "You will continue tomorrow. I expect you to practice your katas Hinata."
"Hai otou-sama." She ignored the pulsing pain in her lower extremities and gave a bow as best as she could. She waited for her father to leave before slowly walking to the stairs of the training ground and taking a seat on the steps.
"You were distracted." Neji said, "Why?"
"No reason ni-san." She replied. She gingerly rolled her foot and turned it this way and that, to see how bad the damage was and found her ankle fully functional aside from the sharp shooting pains. She took out a roll of bandage and tightly wrapped her ankle before standing up to test it. "I'm just a little tired. I think I'll go to bed early tonight."
Her cousin said nothing as he took a seat. He patiently waited for her to position herself so that he'd have access to her arm and went about restarting her chakra flow. She shuddered at the pins and needles feeling that swept through her arms. "Thank you."
He said nothing, but merely nodded his head as he accepted her gratitude.
"You should go have dinner." Hinata said softly.
"I'll escort you back to your room."
"That isn't necessary," The heiress said in a rare moment that showcased her authority. "I know you've had a long day too ni-san. Please go have your dinner and turn in for the night."
Neji bowed respectfully at her dismissal and waited for her to leave.
"Right," she nodded. "I will see you another time. Thank you for your help." She left as quickly as she could, knowing that he wouldn't straighten his posture until she did.
Hinata managed to walk slowly back to her room without encountering any of the clan elders or her father. She had already had her dinner hours ago and would not be running into them again until the next day. That was a relief.
Once in the privacy of her room she procured a water basin and summoned water. Her elemental ninjutsu was rather elementary as the Hyuuga used strictly taijutsu. She discovered that her practice of ninjutsu was rather frowned upon when she was caught using it a year ago. But that didn't mean that she stopped practicing it.
She stuck a finger in the water to test the temperature and was pleased to find it cold. She unwrapped her ankle and slowly settled her foot into the basin; the water provided a refreshing numbness that she wished would spread to her heart.
Maybe then, she'd be the heir her clan wanted her to be.
She let her foot soak a little longer before she got ready for bed. She crawled into her sheets and willed herself to sleep. She needed to be well rested because it was only going to get harder.
.
.
.
By the time Itachi returned home, he was beyond exhausted. The last time he felt so drained was when he went six days on two hours of sleep. In reality, that wasn't too far from the truth. He'd been avidly avoiding his home in the days following his father's death. There was a darkness in the air that he didn't quite know how to get rid of.
He fingered the elaborate embroidery on the hem of his ceremonial robes as he walked to his room. He could not remember the last time he had been in his room and he wondered if the dust started piling yet.
He hated dust, but duty called and he had bigger things to worry about than how many dust bunnies he had in his room.
As of three days ago, Uchiha Itachi, was officially the head of the Uchiha Clan. The inauguration was long and tedious; it would have been more entertaining to watch paint dry. He had almost wished that he was out on the field, assassinating crime lords like he was just the other day.
Almost.
Had it really only been a week since his father passed away?
It seemed much longer.
He rubbed his eyes and flared his chakra throughout the house.
His mother was in her room resting as was expected. She was taking her husband's death rather hard and anointing him as the new head so quickly certainly didn't help things, but it had to be done.
Sasuke's chakra was nowhere to be found but that was expected. He was spending the night under the supervision of his cousin Obito, playing in blissful ignorance of recent events. Itachi wanted to keep it that way for just a bit longer.
Itachi stopped in front of his bedroom door, eyes sharp and alert.
Someone was in his room.
He drew a hidden kunai from his sleeve and slowly opened the door. He did not like killing, but if someone had managed to sneak into his home, his family was in danger.
That left him with no choice
He darted into the room, kunai in hand. He came up behind the intruder and held the kunai to her throat.
"Don't move."
The woman turned away from the weapon and he came face to face with Hyuuga Hinata and her pale lavender eyes.
"Okaeri Uchiha-sama."
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