My schedule is changing so until I'm settled, my update schedule will be a little bumpy.
Many thanks to these people for reviewing: zisaidwut, Hynamy, reeroy and busi sibeko1, a guest.
Thanks for reading.
oOo
Chapter Fourteen: Taking Steps in My Direction
They gathered in Hoheto's kitchen. Hoheto was the clan's resident surgeon and med-nin. Hinata wanted to make sure she got his input.
Many Branch members pushed into the small space. People sat on chairs, pillows, the floor, the table; just everywhere they could.
Ko, who retained his Main house designation, passed out leftovers he smuggled from the kitchen. He slipped Hinata some sweets with an indulgent smile. She returned the expression and patted him on the arm. She nibbled as the rest of her family members grabbed their own snacks.
Hoheto stifled a yawn. Hinata did not blame him. They were up very late, to avoid any prying eyes. No one in the Main house worked a night shift. They should be asleep.
Just in case, lookouts were stationed around the compound. Ko, one of their spies in the Main, had assured the group that tonight would be the best time to meet.
Auntie Yoko cleared her throat. The whole room respectfully quieted and stilled.
She nodded at them before speaking. "Hinata has news."
The group shifted their gaze toward Hinata. She took a deep breath and resisted the urge to fidget.
"Hiashi has given me the poison. My antidote is effective against it."
Some shoulders slumped in relief, and others tensed.
Neji was one of the people who frowned. "It means his plan is going ahead as planned."
Hinata sighed. "Yes. And unfortunately, I'm going to have to start dosing Itachi."
"Why?" Yota asked.
Hoheto pursed his lips together in agitation. "This way, she can build up his tolerance to the poison. If she carefully and slowly administers the poison, his body will adapt."
"I'm sorry," Yota shrunk into himself. It saddened Hinata to see such a large man try to make himself so small. "I don't understand."
She took pity on her cousin. "If my father goes behind my back and manages to give the Hokage the poison, and I'm not there, it means Itachi could die. If I build his tolerance, we make sure he's safe with or without me."
Neji shifted in his seat, his expression grave. "We can't lose you, Hinata."
She reached over and patted his knee. "I'm not planning on going anywhere. It's better to be prepared."
"Do you know which poison it is?" Hoheto asked.
Hinata shook her head. "The blend is unknown to me. But all my mother's poisons were similar. The antidote I reverse engineered with Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san will be effective against all of them. It will vary but will work nonetheless."
"Bah!" Auntie Yoko spit. "I hate that Hiashi still has the rest of the poisons in his possession."
"Tsunade-sama is currently working on building up a stockpile of the antidote. But it takes months and…" Hinata suddenly could not catch her breath.
Her tongue started hurting, indicating that she was too close to spilling Hiashi's secrets. The cursed seal on her tongue prevented her from revealing the Main house's plan to outsiders. Every single member of the Branch had one. Which made it difficult to discuss their counter-operations.
If only Hinata could tell Itachi. She would let him know in a heartbeat.
"We might not have months," Neji intoned gravely.
Ko spoke up. "Our side of the plan is moving smoothly. We have slowly been siphoning rice and grains from the Hyuga stockpile into our hidden locations in the woods. The Inuzuka have been transporting the deliveries into the Village's granaries and silos. However, I know the elders will soon check the stock. Soon, we will not be able to do much more than that."
It heartened her to know that Kiba was able to help her Branch family. She had not seen him in so long.
"Thank you, Ko-kun," Hinata said.
"Are you able to keep the Hokage on a dosing schedule?" Hoheto asked, returning the conversation to the beginning. He pulled out a small calendar and pen from his pocket and began to write.
"Yes." Hinata carefully recited the days she would give Itachi the poisoned tea. He would receive tea almost every day, but he could only take the infinitesimal amounts of poison every three days.
Hoheto grimaced. "It's going to take eight months for him to finish the course and become immune."
"I can't risk him getting too sick," Hinata said.
"We have to either keep Hiashi busy for eight months, or we have to get him to expose himself before them," Neji announced.
Auntie Yoko sucked at her teeth. "Tch. That man and his crew of vipers are too wily to reveal their hand willingly. The elders are wise because they've lived so long. They know how to cover their tracks."
It would be so nice if Hiashi implicated himself. But Hinata knew that was too much to hope for. Hiashi never made her life easy, and he would not start now.
Ko spoke again. "Eight months will take us into the winter and spring. Will the Village have enough food to last until then?"
Neji huffed out an agitated breath. His chakra, even with his tight control and chakra blockers, boiled over in suppressed rage. "We can only do so much. Hiashi has not been telling me anything about his…" He choked for a second.
Hinata moved forward. Did his seal activate?
Neji shook his head and sucked in a deep breath. "His… friends. He still does not trust me."
If Hiashi had his way, Neji would become the scapegoat. Neji was not Hiashi's heir out of guilt or duty. Neji was a sacrificial lamb. If Hiashi got caught, they would pin all this on Neji.
Which was why Hinata felt determined to take Neji's place. She would be the one to fall on her kunai instead of him.
If their plan to save the village went belly up, Hinata planned to take the fall. She was the person who went to Tsunade with stolen scrolls full of treasonous plans. She was the one planning to poison the Hokage.
If something happened and the Hyuga were prosecuted as traitors, then Hinata would give Itachi too much poison. Not enough to kill him. But enough to brand her as the only mastermind.
Her family would be saved. Hinata swore it.
She ran her still burning tongue over the seals on the inside of her mouth. Her lifeforce, through these seals, was tied to her father, Haruko's grandfather, and another elder. When she died, they would too.
The Branch would survive. She no longer held the title of Clan Heir. But she remembered all her lessons about how to be an effective leader. One of the most important lessons said: if all your men are dead, who is left to lead?
If Hinata and Hiashi died, hopefully that would be enough to keep her whole clan from being executed.
oOo
Coming up: In a show of very inconvenient timing, Hinata starts realizing what kind of man Itachi is.