Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto or any of its respective characters. This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. (Mostly my amusement.) However, if I DID own Naruto, it would be called "Neji and Hinata: Byakugan Babies Galore!" That has a nice ring to it...

Author's Note:Warning! Warning! Blood and Death Within! So, I haven't much to say, except thanks to all, and please enjoy this short, but totally sweet chapter. And as always, please review so I know I'm still making you happy! ::cheeky grin:: The end is nigh! The end is nigh!

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Possession - Chapter Eighteen

Lady Hyuuga recognized the chakra signature of the Branch elder. She stepped forward, and was flanked on all sides by her shinobi. Kakashi fell back from her group, having been forced out of the circle surrounding the young Leader. He frowned through his dark mask. These Hyuuga sure were obsessive about her security. Not that he could blame them. They'd just lost one Leader, and their princess was still missing.

"Hyuuga-sama?" He questioned, but received no answer. Her gaze was fixed ahead, on the man whose arrogant gait led him to a most assured death.

"Elder..." The word fell from her lips quietly, almost sweetly. "Have you come to plead for your life, or to offer it in penance?"

He laughed, smirking as he looked her up and down. "You look like your mother," he said. "Although, she was more imposing in a kimono."

The Lady shrugged her small shoulders, pouting slightly. "We can't all be perfect," she cooed. "Now, tell me. Why are you standing here, breathing my air?"

He took one step forward, and the guards pointed their pikes in his direction. "I've come to kill you, Lady." He smiled.

Her eyes sparkled gleefully. "I'm not surprised," she said. "It's been one of those days..." Then, she gestured toward the empty garden. "Shall we?"

Lady Hyuuga carefully stepped backward, leading the elder into the garden, while her shinobi kept their protective shield around her. She waved away the approaching guards, waiting for her enemy to join her on the battlefield. She sighed once, and her shinobi opened the circle, allowing her to step in front of them.

"Here I am, Branch council," she hissed. "Come at me, if you dare."

The elder had an all too pleased look on his face. "I challenge you, Hyuuga-sama, in a duel to the death."

Hinata's eyes darkened slightly, while her expression fell away. "So be it," she took to her stance.

"Hyuuga-sama!" Kakashi interrupted. He appeared behind her, placing a palm on her shoulder. "I am afraid I must object to this. Hokage-sama's orders, you know."

She scowled. "Do you expect me to let him go unpunished?"

"Never," the jounin answered. "If I understand Hyuuga protocol correctly, a Lady such as yourself reserves the right to have a shinobi of her choosing stand in her place." Hinata peered up at him. "I ask that honorable Hyuuga-sama allow me to further stain my filthy, murdering hands, so that she might retain her purity."

"Sensei, this isn't your fight," she whispered.

He looked down at her, his sweet little cherry. "This was always my fight, Hinata-chan. The Godaime would not have sent me here, otherwise."

The lead Hyuuga shinobi, who had first arrived with Shizune, stepped beside his Leader. "I must agree with Hatake-san, my Lady. You must be protected."

Her diamond glare pierced through them both before she spoke. "A show of hands," she said. "All those who wish to see me flay this traitorous scum alive?" Her eyes scanned the men around her. Not one hand was raised. Frowning, she looked toward the throngs of Hyuuga lining the perimeter of the garden. Again, not a single hand. She gritted her teeth. "All those in favor of Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's Copy-Ninja, standing in my place?" The vote was unanimous.

"Please stand back, Hyuuga-sama," Kakashi said, in his familiar bored tone. "This might get ugly."

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Neji burst through the door, and the Hyuuga inside the darkened room descended on him in droves. They were waiting, and he'd fallen right into their trap-- or so they thought.

The prodigy rolled forward, thrusting the Leader's sword into the soft thigh of his next victim. He slashed through the Branch Elder's bone and flesh, carving his path onward, toward a soon to be severed neck. The head fell to the floor, and Neji lept over the falling corpse. He saw them all clearly; ready to fight, willing to die, and all of them scared out of their wretched minds.

Good. Fear always made the killing easier.

He spun on his heel, slashing outward in a wide, spiraling arc; blood splattering, body parts flying. He ended with a thrust toward the gut of the man behind him, the other Branch elder. While the body slumped, Neji struck two fingertips on either side of another's throat, then again in the middle, shattering the fragile adam's apple. His opponent gurgled as the blood pooled and overflowed from his gaping mouth. Then the prodigy stood, straight as an arrow and pointed the Leader's sword at the shivering form of the last Main House elder.

"I am death," he said, long hair wafting on the breeze of his chakra. "I am the right hand, come to lead you into oblivion." He stepped forward, and the survivors among him inched back along the wall. "Fear is your only comfort." The veins around his eyes stretched and pulled his face into a hideous mask. "Know that when the fear subsides," he grinned, cruel and feral, "only the quiet rage shall remain." Then, he lunged forward, taking many heads.

At last, he was upon the Main House elder, and as the man fell backward, Neji sliced his belly open, spilling the intestines all over the heap of squirming, screaming bodies below. He stalked forward, sweeping the warm guts aside with the Leader's sword, then kicked the corpse away, intending to cease the helpless wailing. However...

"Neji-kun!" His own mother threw her body over the squirming mass, sheilding it the only way she could.

He froze, eyes drawn to her horrified expression. "Okaasan?" His calculating, shinobi mind finally registered the voices of children sobbing around him. Then, his stomach lurched and he had to swallow to keep the vomit down. The Branch leader's eyes bulged, crazed with hate. "Hostages..." He shuddered, and his mother nodded, stiffly. "Children..." His head turned toward whomever was unfortunate enough to still be living. "My own mother!"

And the Plague was born in that instance; cold, sweet revenge echoing through him from the blade in his hands...

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The young ninja leapt from the trees and onto the cool earth, running as fast as his legs would move. He clumsily adjusted the uncounsious lump draped over his shoulder with his painful, broken arm. His wonderful, terrifying, hard-ass princess Hanabi was starting to stir. Damn. How unlucky. She was going to be pissed.

He looked back over his shoulder, scanning with his Byakugan. His brother was all alone out there, fighting... possibly dying. With renewed purpose, his speed increased. If he didn't get far enough away, he and the princess might be drawn back into the melee. He knew his brother had been studying forbidden Hyuuga Arts. He'd planned to pester him into passing the scrolls along when he was finished, after all. So, he knew what his brother had planned for that god-forsaken worm. The Hyuuga weren't exactly known for their command of fire-based jutsu. Still, they had special skills that were useful in situations such as these.

When he faced forward again, his eyes spotted two shapes moving toward him fast. He stopped, laying Hanabi at the trunk of a thickly rooted tree, then prayed to the Gods that he would have the strength to defend her. As he waited for the approaching shinobi, his mind puzzled over Hanabi-hime's lack of recognition. He pouted. He couldn't really blame her for not remembering him, but damn... He'd thought their friendship had meant something to her. Oh, well. Now wasn't the time to dwell on hurt feelings.

The Hyuuga let his broken arm dangle uselessly, while the other gripped onto the senbon needles between his fingers. If he stuck them in the right places, death would be a certainty. Yes. He would just have to be smart about this. He could win. He could save Hanabi-hime.

His brows creased, as he emptied his mind of all unnecessary thought. Only the will to fight and protect remained, and not a moment too soon, for the shinobi had arrived...

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"Hey, you sure know your way around here, eh Sasuke-teme?" Naruto slapped him on the back, causing the Uchiha to growl. He glared back at his team-mate. No. He still needed Naruto's help. The idiot was still useful. It wouldn't do to incapacitate an ally right before a battle. He turned forward again, watching Sakura's slumped shoulders. He hadn't meant to hurt her. Not really. He hadn't meant to hurt anybody. But what was done, was done. He couldn't change the past. All he could do was clutch onto an uncertain future. Sakura was annoying, but she was a capable, strong-willed kunoichi. She would make a good mother for his children. She would be a fine Lady Uchiha... if he could get her to the altar in time.

His eyes followed her nervous handling of the ring he'd given her. She'd been more difficult to subdue than he'd expected, more resistant to the Sharingan than she should have been. Perhaps it was because they'd been team-mates for so long. She'd seen and felt his chakra so often that she'd developed a natural barrier that he'd had to dismantle, brick by brick. It had taken several stolen moments over the last week or so just to get her to dump the Aburame. Now, she was having doubts about his intentions.

"Sakura," he called her name. She didn't answer. Damn. She was giving him the silent treatment. When all this was over, he would have to show her just how important to his future she was. It was going to be tedious and annoying, but... it wouldn't be all bad. Sakura was great kisser, and she really did have excellent chakra control.

"Yo! Sasuke-teme! Quit spacing out! We're almost there!" Naruto called from up ahead. Sasuke frowned. He needed to get his head in the game. Hinata-chan wouldn't be having these stupid sentimental thoughts at a time like this. She'd be killing her enemies. Mercilessly. Beautifully.

A subtle, yet familiar sound began to pull at the Uchiha's ears. "Do you hear that?" He asked his comrades. Chirping, chirping, chirping... "Chidori," he whispered.

"Sensei's in trouble!" Sakura shouted. "Hurry up, Sasuke!"

He ran after them, catching and passing both easily. He focused his own chakra into his blood-red orbs, while the familiar weight of a kunai settled into his palm. Soon, the others matched his speed, all of them focused on the two clashing chakra signatures. Kakashi-sensei's was easily distinguishable against the lesser adversary. Sensei probably wouldn't need any help, but they would be there to back him up.

Team Seven hurried onward, toward the shocking, sizzling, electric chakra...

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Hatake Kakashi wasn't really a young man anymore, but he was pleased to know he could still hold his own amongst younger shinobi. Of course, that had nothing to do with his current match. The jounin winked at his little cherry, while his opponent staggared backward. He'd had no doubt that she could take him, but there simply couldn't be any room for error. The Hokage would have his head if she were injured again, and he certainly didn't want to be on Tsunade's bad side. His eye creased. Although, Hinata-chan's bad side didn't sound so bad, at all.

The Hyuuga Branch elder limped forward, forming the seals to a jutsu he would never have the chance to use. "Chidori..." The Copy-Ninja's voice was a low growl. "One Thousand Birds!" And as he lunged forward, the electric chirping filled his ears, blocking out all other sound. So much so, that he didn't hear the quiet gasp of the Hyuuga lining the walls around him. He only knew something was terribly wrong when his student's furious yell tore through the haze of battle...

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"Princess!"

Hinata whipped her head around, surprised by Sasuke's sudden and unexpected wailing-- only to find the weapons of her own shinobi sailing toward her back! "Protective Eight Trigrams! Sixty-Four Palms!" Her chakra whipped around her body, deflecting the sharp steel. "What is this!?" She shrieked. "Traitors! Traitors, all of you!"

They came at her again, rushing forward, Jyuuken palms flying.

"We might have failed, but our revenge will be absolute!" The lead shinobi struck her thrice in the chest. Hinata fell backward, her shocked face conveying the betrayal that was slowly and surely hardening the ice around her heart. She landed on the wet earth, and he grasped her throat, lifting her to meet his deceiving eyes.

"Goodbye, Lady Hyuuga," he smiled, drawing his palm back for the killing blow.

Hyuuga Hinata's eyes glazed with raw destruction. "Yes," her voice was a hollow shell, echoing the rage of her forebearers. "Goodbye." The blade eased from beneath her billowing sleeve, held firm in her small calloused palm. The red ribbon wrapped around its hilt was her reminder. Never be at ease. Never trust. Always suspect. And always, always carry his kunai.

And the Leader opened her attacker's throat with a cry of bloody retribution...

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Neji stood before the bloodied, shivering children, looking down upon them with a expression of hard-fought sorrow. It couldn't be helped. He couldn't take back what he had done. All he could do now, was be the Branch leader they would so desperately need.

"Look into my eyes, children," he said. With some quiet coaxing from his mother, they obeyed. "Killing is never an easy road to take. It hardens the heart and deadens the emotions. The ease with which I slew these men came only after many years of psychological training." He took a sighing breath. "Some of you will become shinobi. Of those, many will join the ranks of Konoha's killers because of this night alone." He knelt before them. "Remember, and never forget. To be Hyuuga is to be hard, to be cold, and most importantly..." He stared into the sullen eyes of his strong, beautiful mother. "To be Hyuuga is to be aware of all that surrounds you." He turned his attention back to the enthralled Hyuuga children. "May you recognize the stain of betrayal, so that slaughter such as this might never occur again."

Then, the Branch leader stood, walking toward the door leading into the blood-slicked corridors. "Follow me," he said. "For I am the right hand, come to lead you safely home."

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The Godaime's ANBU halted in the small clearing. The young Hyuuga shinobi lowered his senbon, his broken arm twitching in pain. Relief bled from his eyes in the form of glossy tears, and they saw the unconscious girl laying nestled within the roots of a great, leafy tree.

"Hyuuga-san," the commander stepped forward slowly. "Hanabi-sama is safe now." The boy stepped back in defense of his princess. "And so are you."

"No," the boy answered. "Not safe. Not yet." He glanced back to where he'd come from, deep in the forest of Konoha. "My brother..." Then, he straightened his spine, looking hard and determined. "My report."

The other Leaf ANBU nodded, as he approached the still wary youth. The Hyuuga frowned, and the elite shinobi decided it might be better just to stay back.

"There is a Hyuuga chuunin back there, fighting off two Cloud ANBU," he explained. Two other Hyuuga are with him, an old woman and a middle-aged man. Both are Konoha's enemies."

"We understand," the ANBU said.

The youth fell to his knees beside the girl. "And... Hanabi-hime has a request." He sighed, and the ANBU waited patiently for him to continue. "The corpse-- the one without eyes," he said. "It belongs to the princess." Then his mind was filled with the image of that Cloud lech all over his precious Hanabi-hime. His teeth clenched with unmasked fury. "And so does that worm-bastard's right hand."

End Chapter Eighteen