Disclaimer: A simple (somewhat debatable at this point) plot like this makes my head hurt. An epic one like the one in Naruto would have already made it explode so I obviously don't and can't own it.
Chapter title definition for those of you who were wondering:
Disillusion - The disappointing loss of a belief or an ideal.
Definition based on my trusty Electronic Dictionary/Thesaurus. I don't know how I'd have survived this far without it :P
From his seat behind the regal oak desk, Soichiro looked out of the windows of his office with a vague distant expression. Although it was still mostly dark, morning was already starting to tentatively streak the sky.
He hadn't slept for the last several hours, his mind too preoccupied with everything that had happened. The more he thought, the less it seemed to make sense.
When he voiced these concerns to his god-brother, the quiet man standing guard behind him had stated simply, "Seiichiro-sama told me to give this to you when the time was right."
The way Hiroshi's voice was wrought with conviction and sadness suggested that much more depth was involved, however. The young businessman's suspicions proved to be true when Hiroshi handed him something that glinted in the candlelight before taking his leave.
Although it possessed no distinguishing features and could easily be mistaken for any other, Soichiro recognized the small metallic object instantly. It was the key his father had worn around his neck on a golden chain throughout his entire life.
It was the one that opened the last drawer of the very desk in front of him now, the drawer that had always been locked and kept firmly shut for as long as he could remember.
When he was younger, he had always wondered what could be inside. This wasn't the way his childish mind had imagined the day he would finally be allowed to see its contents.
Especially since the one he had been expecting to be by his side when he did so was his father.
Bending down, Soichiro easily unlocked the drawer and pulled it open, and was almost surprised, though it was not entirely unexpected, that the only thing inside was a relatively full folder. It wasn't until he glanced through the papers within that at long last, everything finally fell into place.
Majority of the file held records of Nakajima's extensive illegal activities for over a decade, ranging from fraud, embezzlement and even blackmail. How his father had gotten these was anyone's guess, but it more than explained why his father had neglected to even mention the man in his will.
Apparantly, it was this exclusion which had most likely lead to Nakajima murdering him.
Then there was a letter from one of his father's long time friends, the head of prestigious Hyuuga clan. It told him of Hyuuga Hiashi's promise to Seiichiro to keep his son safe if anything should happen as per his father's request.
This particular discovery sent a twinge of guilt through Soichiro, only for it to be replaced with utter shock when he read the contents of the last sheet of paper.
It was a copy of a birth certificate. Hiroshi's birth certificate. What he had been completely unprepared for was the surname attached to the beginning of his god-brother's name where it was written at the very top of the document.
Nakajima Hiroshi.
Soichiro remember the way Nakajima had brought Hiroshi back with him after returning from a business trip. At the same time, something his father had told him once he was old enough to understand came to mind.
"A person's assets will always be transferred to his nearest of kin after he dies, unless he wills otherwise. One day, Soichiro, all this will belong to you and I'm trusting you to continue my legacy."
The last statement was rather ironic considering the current state of events. Yet, Soichiro now realized that he had still been too young to grasp the true meaning and the possible implications of his words.
"Ah..." he said softly, a faint, resigned tone creeping into his voice.
He used his own son as a means to an end.
If Nakajima's scheme had succeeded, either Sakurai-san or himself would be dead and Hiroshi would have been executed for an attempted murder that was hardly his fault. Since his father's will technically named Hiroshi as the main beneficiary, everything would have gone automatically to Nakajima.
Although that situation had been completely likely to occur at the time, thankfully, it hadn't. However, Nakajima had still managed to claim one victory over them.
Despite all his wisdom, foresight and experience, Fujimura Seiichiro was dead.
As a child, Soichiro had never understood his father's actions, and even less so as an adult. But he knew that his old man's reasons for doing what he did had always been justifiable, even if he didn't always agree with his methods.
Whether or not his father's death had been a part of his plan or simply something that couldn't be avoided, he would never know. From what he could gather, it seemed that his father had blatantly sacrificed his own safety for him.
Not to mention, although naming Hiroshi as the direct heir had been able to somewhat redirect Nakajima's attention and draw him out to ensure that they would be rid of him once and for all, it was a strategy that placed significant risk on the only relative he had left.
Biological or not, his god brother had always been loyal to a fault. It was a trait he had constantly been annoyed by before he had assumed his new, precarious position. Thrown into a world of business and politics, he was now beginning to truly appreciate having someone he could trust.
His father had probably felt the same.
With mixed emotions running across his hazel eyes, Soichiro glanced at the file spread out before him. This was his father's way of communicating with him from his grave. It could also have been another one of his father's tests, to see if he would be able to put the pieces of this elusive puzzle together.
He had.
But when it all came down to it, perhaps the most one could do was to prepare and then hope for the best. His chances of making it through this entire incident unharmed had only been raised thanks to his father's careful planning. The fact that everyone, including him, had survived was mainly due to luck and, perhaps of it existed, some twisted form of fate.
The number of unexpected and sometimes downright unfair surprises that had occurred during this entire scheme were things that no one could possibly have imagined, let alone prepare for. It was also proof that things would never go just as anyone planned it to.
Life just wasn't that perfect.
Then again, Soichiro added to himself, replacing the thick folder in its rightful drawer and locking it tightly once more.
Neither are we.
Tenten had slept fitfully as her body continued its internal battle with the remnants of Nakajima's chakra. She'd tossed and turned so much that he had been forced to hold her down for the first few hours before her sudden, jerky movements caused the wound on her back to open again.
He hadn't expect her to sleep through it, quite the opposite in fact, but somehow she had. He was glad of it; she had been through enough pain for one night.
Now, with dawn's soft light streaming in from the window, he could see that her skin was paler than usual from blood loss and her hair was tangled and in disarray. Her breathing had steadied, though, and instead of unconsciousness, she was sleeping naturally.
Of course, he could still sense traces of unfamiliar chakra tainting hers. It would be days before the foreign energy would be completely expelled from her system. It wasn't something that could be helped.
However, it seemed like the worst was over.
He gently laid, on the bed, the hand he had been holding in an effort to calm her, but when she began to stir, he placed it on top of hers once more. Tenten stilled immediately and fell back into her peaceful slumber.
He owed her this much for taking that gamble with her life.
If he had agreed to Nakajima's condition, they would have failed their duty and Tenten herself would never have forgiven him if she knew he had let a man like him go for her sake. However, he also hadn't been absolutely certain that she would have been able to break free of the genjutsu, even with his help.
But what was done, was done.
He had chosen to risk her life for something so trivial and he would never do so again. Even if it meant she would hate him for his decision.
Neji's only comforting thought was that they had won in the end.
He didn't think it was much of a comfort.
The sun was blocked by an overcast sky. A gentle breeze was beginning to pick up, carrying pale pink petals from the garden's trees and depositing them around the garden and along the hallways.
The upcoming rain would wash away the remaining sakura blossoms with the sole consolation that they would return the following year.
Kazuya made his way down the deserted hallway, wanting to check on Tenten. But when he sensed two separate chakra signatures instead of the expected one inside her room, he hesitated.
Then he turned around and started heading back to his own room.
"F-Fuuma-san..." a familiar voice stammered slightly.
Kazuya froze as Rin rounded the corridor. Her feet were light and almost silent on the boards of the landing as she came closer, stopping just a few steps away from him.
She shyly lowered her gaze as she explained, her voice quavering at first and eventually holding firm. "I came to see if Tenten-san was alright."
"She's okay. Hyuuga's with her," Kazuya reassured her.
"Oh," she said faintly as she bit her lips in nervous indecision.
"Fuuma-san, about the wedding, I-"
"You know," he murmured gently, already knowing what she was going to say. "You don't have to seek my approval for everything."
He shifted uncomfortably as she looked at him with wide eyes. Her hair was down today, cascading down her back like ebony ribbons. She looked so beautiful, standing there in her ivory kimono...
Her expression made him look away; grey eyes glanced briefly at the sakura scattered space between them.
"I'm glad that you've found someone you can be happy with," he said quietly in a low, unreadable tone.
The way her lashes glittered with tears made it clear that she was not.
She smiled anyway.
"Thank you." Her reply was almost voiceless and this time, she didn't look at him when she spoke. The sadness mingled with her words caught his notice like nothing could.
"Rin..." he tried to explain, to retract the way that had come across to her in the face of her obvious hurt, but he didn't get a chance to do so.
"Sakurai-sama, your parents have arrived."
Rin turned around to acknowledge the maid that had addressed her earlier before bowing politely to the man in front of her.
"I'm sorry for bothering you, Fuuma-san," she apologized genuinely. Her low voice vibrated through him, her words catching somewhere near his heart.
Kazuya could only watch as both Rin and the maid disappeared down the hallway.
Through the tempest of emotions now coursing through him, the only one he could express and, to a certain extent, understand caused his fists to tighten unconsciously.
Ignoring the stinging pain in his bandaged hand, the Fuuma clan heir silently strode out into the garden and proceeded to vault effortlessly over the wall that separated the estate from the busy streets of the surrounding town. He didn't really know nor cared where he was headed.
As long as it wasn't here.
Author's Note:
This is quite an angsty chapter with the focus on the three leading men of this arc. I had to think emo thoughts, listen to emo sounding music and generally got all depressed and depressing while writing it. But it was fun, so who cares. :P
The first half (?) explains Nakajima's entire scheme as well as almost all of Soichiro's dad's. I got a bit lost while planning it all and I was half afraid I'd get an aneurysm or something from all the thinking and sorting through the plot piece by piece to check for loopholes and stuff. Like my beta reader said, too many men, too many wills... T_T I hope it wasn't too confusing and that you liked the little twist if you did manage to understand it.
As you can probably tell, I'm most likely going to keep giving Neji some grief over all the stuff that happened in the previous chapter. But he does sort it out eventually with a little help because he's just so smart like that. Kazuya on the other hand has some really big issues to deal with. He'll be MIA for the next chapter, but his past and Rin's will be revealed soon.
There will most definitely be some NejiTen fluff coming up, but other than that, the next two chapters are mostly about the OC pairing. I won't say who since it's pretty obivous. *wink*
Many thanks to Midnight Memories for beta-reading this and for helping me correct the awkward grammar and pointing out any vague phrasing that could have been potentially confusing. Expectedly, most of the trouble came from Soichiro's part, but now it's much much much better :)
Until next time.