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:Well, how are you all doing? I'm just loving this story again, and since I know how much you all hate it when I take months to update, I decided to treat you to another chapter. It's kind of short in comparison to most of the others, but I think it more than makes up for the last cliff hanger. So, please read and enjoy. I do want my darling readers to be happy, so I'll do my best to keep it that way. :)
Possession - Chapter Twenty-One
Hatake Kakashi felt the intesity swell within Hokage-sama's office immediately after Hyuuga Neji's confession. The Hyuuga guards wore the most excrutiating scowls he'd ever seen, and the pain they projected upon their Branch leader was palpable. He watched them battle their own protective instincts at the mention of the crime against Lady Hyuuga. This was probably not the way any man wanted to learn of something so heinous... however, each guard reluctantly peeled his eyes away from Neji.
Focus came back over them, and they surrounded their Leader and Branch leader, just as Maito Gai's anger had reached its limit.
"Twice!" Gai roared, lunging forward, an elbow aimed directly at Neji's face. It was stopped however by the block of the cheif guard, while the other five tightened the protective circle. The cheif pushed Gai back against the wall. He spared a quick glance at Neji, willing his own hands from ripping out the young man's heart.
He raped her! He raped the Leader! Hyuuga-sama had told them to disregard what they heard here, and he would follow her orders, however... He would never forget what was learned, and wondered if he could ever look upon Hyuuga Neji as anything but foul garbage again.
Maito Gai made another move forward, but was stopped clean in his tracks by the Copy-Ninja, as well as Kurenai. It took them both in combination of brute strength and hypnotic genjutsu to subdue the mighty Green Beast.
"Get him out of here!" Tsunade commanded, and immediately, the two ANBU who had been guarding the office door appeared in the room. They carried Gai's still struggling body out the door, slamming it shut.
Neji grasped his head, sinking to his knees beside the Leader. "I can't... I just can't do this..." He was trembling, tears beading in the corners of his pale, sullen eyes. "Hokage-sama..." He faced Tsunade's cast-iron gaze. "Take me away, Hokage-sama," he pleaded. "I will submit to justice. I will not resist..."
"Shut up!" Hinata wailed beside him. "You will submit to nothing!" Her diamond glare was affixed to the Hokage when she spoke again. "You will retract that statement from the record. He has no authority to speak on his own behalf!"
"Just who do you think you're talking to, Hinata?" Tsunade inquired. Her fingers fell away from one another, and she fipped one pig-tail back over her shoulder. "You may be the new Leader of the Hyuuga Clan, but little kunoichi, I am still your Hokage."
"Then, I resign."
The Godaime's brown eyes bulged and her mouth fell open. "Hinata! Think about what you're saying right now!"
"No! You think about what I'm saying!" She peered down at Neji as he continued to claw at his own face. "What happened between the two of us falls under the jurisdiction of the Hyuuga Leader! We were off duty, we were out of the village, apart from any other claim you could have! The fact that I am now Leader does not alter these truths!"
"Hinata..."
"His... life... is... mine!" The Leader seethed. "And if you continue to challenge my claim, I will have no other alternative."
The chief guard placed a firm hand upon Neji's shoulder, squeezing until the Branch leader gasped, finally realizing his Leader's words. "Hina- Hinata-sama! What are you doing? You can not protect me from this!"
She didn't answer, and looking up at her, Neji thought he saw the stern spectre of her father looming behind her, the same hard, emotionless mask gracing both their faces.
"Hyuuga-sama..." He whispered.
"On your feet, Branch leader," she commaned. Neji stood, but kept his head lowered to the floor. "We will take our leave now, Hokage-sama."
All eight Hyuuga began backing toward the door, when Tsunade stood from her desk.
"Hinata, wait!" The Godaime called. In an instant, Kakashi and Kurenai were at the door, blocking their escape. "I will not accept your resignation. You are too valuable to Konoha."
Hinata scanned the room, calculating their odds against the Copy-Ninja, her jounin sensei, Shizune and the Godaime herself. They would lose of course, but she had been prepared to die in defense of her Branch leader. She searched the faces of her guards. They too were prepared to die. And Neji? Poor Neji would take the guilt and shame to his grave.
"I'll admit it," Tsunade said. "I did not anticipate you'd go to such lengths-"
"You have not yet seen the lengths to which I will go for my niisan," the Leader answered.
The Godaime gave a quick gesture of her head, and her ninja reluctantly stepped away from the door. "No one here wants to see that happen," she said.
"Perhaps Hokage-sama is willing to negotiate then?" Hinata asked, eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps," was the sannin's strained reply.
"Hanabi-sama," the Main House man bowed to the Hyuuga princess as she stepped upon the platform built as a pedestal for her sister and the new Branch leader. Hataro followed her, much to the irritation of the man and the others he spoke for. "Hanabi-sama, will you please release these men to their duties? Apparently, your honorable sister has forgotten that the affairs of the Hyuuga must be maintained properly. Surely you understand-"
"What this princess understands," Hanabi began, "are Hyuuga-sama's orders. Which of course, were for all Hyuuga to await her return."
The man sneered at her dismissal. "This is unacceptable. We do not approve of your-"
"Hyuuga-hime," Hataro interjected. The pleasant smile on his face belayed nothing of the anger Hanabi new was hidden beneath the facade. "Do you think our honorable relatives truly wish to defy the will of our Leader? Hyuuga-sama will not be pleased by the trouble they seem so intent on causing." He grinned at her, then made a show of polishing the Leaf symbol on his hitai-ate with his sleeve. The sling on his arm made the movement awkward, but Hanabi doubted anyone watching thought it would hamper his ability to enforce her will.
Subtlety, he always told her, was the best way to get what she wanted. Much better than screetching and wailing... or violence. But as the Hyuuga watched his careful actions, Hanabi was sure he knew just how blatant he was being right now. But then, it was having exactly the effect she wanted, wasn't it?
"Hai, Hataro-kun," she answered him. "Neechan will be angry with them," she took a seat on one of the cusions upon the platform, as Hataro knelt down at her side. "And I don't think anyone here can forget how angry neechan can be." She pinched her chin between two fingers. "So, in order to save you all from neechan's terrible anger... why don't you all sit down and shut up." Her eyes narrowed, and the cold glare she cast upon the men gathered before her was unmistakable.
Hanabi raised her head slightly, and the Branch guards surrounding the platform took one step forward. The Main House men bowed to their princess then, before backing a few paces away to seat themselves in the grass. Though they kept their mouths shut, their snarling faces did not escape the princess' gaze.
"Very good," Hanabi said. "I'm so glad the Hyuuga can be counted upon for such reason." She looked toward Hataro. "Don't you agree, Hataro-kun?"
"Oh, yes, Hyuuga-hime," he grinned, wide and dangerous. "I could not possibly agree more."
"Then, it's settled," the Godaime Hokage swiped her signature across the document. "House arrest. No missions until the suspension of the probationary period." Her brown eyes scanned the Hyuuga Leader. "I will decide when it ends," she added. "I also understand that there will be times when he must leave the Hyuuga compound. In those instances, Hyuuga Neji must be accompanied at all times by these men," she nodded toward the Hyuuga guards. "And I will be sending the ANBU to observe him from time to time on Hyuuga land." Her eyebrow arched. "Is this acceptable to the Leader?"
"It is," Hinata answered.
Tsunade turned the document, placing the pen upon it for Hinata to add her own signature. The Leader quickly signed it, and a truce was met between the Leader of Konoha and the Leader of the Hyuuga.
Hinata bowed to the Hokage, and Neji followed suit. He could hardly believe what had happend. He was free... perhaps not entirely, but he would be allowed to return home. He released his held breath, then slid his gaze toward the woman he would forever owe. Hinata-sama...
"And you," Tsunade spoke directly to the Hyuuga guards. "Nothing that you've heard or witnessed here will leave the confines of these four walls, right?" It was less a question than an order.
The chief nodded.
"Very well," she said. "You may go."
As the Hyuuga filed out of her office, Tsunade waited for the last second to call Hinata back. The young Leader turned, lingering at the doorframe.
"Inside Hinata," the sannin beckoned her. "There is something else we need to discuss."
"But-"
"Kakashi, Kurenai, you are both dismissed," Tsunade pointed out the door. The Copy-Ninja shrugged, following his comrade out. The door closed behind them, and Hinata was left alone with the Hokage and her assistant.
Hinata stared blankly at the medical chart. "Impossible," she whispered.
"I know what you're thinking," Tsunade said. "That there hasn't been enough time for an embryo to even be detectable... and normaly, you would be right. However-"
"It's only been three days... How can you sit there and tell me I'm pregnant, when I only lost my virginity three days ago!"
"Please calm down, Hinata-chan," Shizune pleaded. "I was only able to find out about the embryo by running some very specific tests. We weren't even looking for a pregnancy."
Hinata grasped her belly. "Is it even a real life yet..." Her voice was hollow and strained.
"Hinata, please," Tsunade attempted to comfort her. "It was through a chakra testing proceedure that Shizune discovered the pregnancy."
"So what!" Hinata's fingers dug into the fabric wrapped around her petite mid-section.
"I don't think you understand what this means, Hinata-chan. Please listen to us," Shizune tried again.
The Leader of the Hyuuga stared down at the hand on her belly. "What do you expect me to do? What am I supposed to say?"
"Hinata!" The Godaime demanded her full attention. "This embryo..." She took a deep breath. "This child, already has its own unique chakra signature."
Hinata's pale eyes grew even paler. "No..."
"Denial is not the answer. You will have to face this."
"No... no..."
"I am sorry, Hinata, but the truth is that you are going to become a mother very, very soon."
Her hands shot up to cover her mouth. "What will I do? How will I explain this to the Clan?"
"There is no need to say anything yet, Hinata-chan," Shizune said. "You need time to work through your feelings." She paused, considering her words carefully. "And time to decide whether you want to have this child."
She felt sick, utterly and truly sick. Just when she'd thought she had her life coming under control... this...
"I have to go," the young kunoichi said. "I have to go right now. I can't stay here when I have so much work to do..." She grasped her belly again. She started to back away from Tsunade's desk, when the sannin held out a small, unmarked black folder.
"You are relieved of all your ninja duties for the next three months. All except this."
Hinata snatched the folder away from her, tucking it into her obi without even glancing within. Tsunade supposed that was best. It would be better for her to be in the safety of her own home before she read the details of that assignment.
"May I go now, Hokage-sama?" The girl asked through clenched teeth.
Tsunade nodded, and Hinata walked stiffly out of her office, and into the waiting area, where her Branch guards, and her Branch leader awaited.
End Chapter Twenty-One