A/N: Still a little on the short side, but I think it's a nice first chapter. Reviews are loved and reviewers are also loved. Let me know what you think!
"Neji?" asks Hinata, tilting her head at the other Hyuga. She wraps her hand around one of the iron bars seperating them both and then slowly slides to her knees, legs folding beneath her. "Are they treating you alright?"
It's a silly question to ask a prisoner, but the corners of Neji's lips twitch up all the same. "Yes, Lady Hinata. The Hokage has made sure that I'm being taken care of properly."
Or perhaps it was his sensei?
His former team-mate, Tenten?
Whoever it was that had pulled the strings, Neji has found himself sitting in one of the more proper cells. Two guards stand outside has door at all times - save now, where they have parted in order to let the Hyuga heiress inside, to give her time alone with the man that killed her father.
"That's good," says Hinata, softly. For a moment, their eyes meet, pale and pale, milk and milk, and then she looks away. At the floor, the wall, the dark fabric draped over her legs, anywhere save Neji.
And he's fine with that, really. Seeing Hinata here, now, it's hard for him.
Harder then anything else because he knows that she should hate him...and knows that she never will.
Almost as if on a cue, the other jounin looks up and her eyes are serious. Dainty lips have formed a thin line, and this is not the trembling girl that he once fought against, back when his mind was too clouded by hate to understand how anything in the world worked.
"Stop that," she says, and she sounds almost angry. "You're thinking that I should be mad at you, but I'm not. I know that - you had to have a reason to do what you did, and I don't blame you for it. I just want to know what it is."
Neji is silent for a long moment, a very long one.
He can remember, as a child, watching Hinata and Hiashi. It was back before Hanabi had ever even been thought of, and his cousin wore a silk kimono. White, with bright flowers and leaves and the swirls of the wind.
Neji had been bringing her tea and had tripped. It splattered over the heiress and she had cried out, in shock but not pain, because it was nowhere near that hot. The white kimono though had been stained brown though and, later that night, when the heiress was out of sight, Neji can still recall the searing pain that had coarsed through his body, scorching every nerve and setting him ablaze.
He exhales loudly and can feel Hinata's eyes, boring deep into him. Then he meets her gaze, steady and determined. "The Hyuga Clan has to change, Lady Hinata. Someone had to start it...and you have to make sure that it follows through. Do you understand that?"
It is Hinata's turn to be silent, mouth pulled into a thin line. Neji cannot help but think that she will make a wonderful head of house, much better any before her.
She is no coward, after all, and she is not afraid of change. In fact, she thrives off of it, constantly trying to prove others wrong, to better herself, to show that she is worthy of the Hyuga name.
So when she nods, Neji finds himself giving the slightest of smiles.
"Of course," agrees Hinata, and there is a look of resolve on her face. Determination in her voice. "I won't let you down, Neji. My father will not have died in vain, and your efforts will not be forgotten. I'll make sure of it!"