Hinata wakes late in the morning. She takes her time leaving her bed. First she stares at her empty bedroom, then rises on her arms, stands there as the air brushes around her. She doesn't look at the calendar and keeps her eyes away from the mirror as she brushes her hair looking out to the garden.
A maid comes to check up on her and seeing her awake, informs the guards outside to call for more maids and hurriedly comes and finishes brushing her hair.
They are nice. They chatter and liven up the room and make sure to ask Hinata about her wellbeing and if there is anything -anything at all- that she needs. But what Hinata needs is far away from her grasp and she only smiles and nods and asks for a light breakfast the maids run to get.
The maids leave her with her body freshened, her hair brushed and her kimono comfortably hugging her belly. Neji enters immediately after the last maid excuses herself from the room.
"Lady Hinata," he greets. He has been a reliable partner now that Naruto is gone, making sure to accompany her, making sure she takes care of herself. Making sure she attends her medical appointments with Sakura. "Lady Sakura is ready to see you."
Their walk is quiet, and a far cry of those uncomfortable silences that used to fill their conversations in the Hyuga compound. It's a quietness brought by spending so much time together they have almost lost topics to talk about.
The normal topics, of course, the topics they can share and not feel like they need a confession and a justification to be understood.
Hinata feels ashamed to speak of her past and Neji feels guilty over them. So they rebuild a relationship by putting a mantle over their shared past. The selves they don't really want to remember.
Why would they? Those times won't come back and they are better off without them.
Neji helps Hinata go up a set of stairs and Sakura's pink hair can be seen in the distance, moving towards them with a fast pace and a smile Hinata can't help but return.
"My lady!"
"Sakura," Hinata feels herself a little short of breath, but taking into account the size her belly is growing into it is to be expected. Sakura has assured her it is the most normal of changes.
The medic greets Neji as well. His presence growing into everyone in the compound as his role as Hinata's caretaker has cemented over time. As his care is so obvious they have all bonded over their shared relationship with the clan's lady. Short nods here and there, the shared of their day's as they meet each other in the hallways.
Hinata is the first to notice and comment on Sakura's new feature. "Sakura… wh-what is that?" Sakura tilts her head in confusion and Hinata points to her face. "Your f-forehead-"
"Oh!" Sakura's hand jumps to her face, "Is it showing already?"
Her hand brushes away her bangs and reveals a diamond shaped tattoo in the middle of her forehead, her eyes look up in an attempt to see what she clearly can't.
"It looks like a diamond shaped… seal?" ventures Neji and Sakura nods as she lets her hand rest at her side again.
"Correct. Found the technique in one of the scrolls Lord Jiraiya brought this time. I'm just surprised it's showing already, it's supposed to be harder, I think- or well, it's what was written in the scroll. I have yet to read it in full, though, so maybe there's something I've missed."
Sakura massages her forehead as they come inside her office, offering a seat for Lady Hinata, Neji usually stands near them at a distance. "But hey, I'm not complaining."
"W-what is it for?"
"Chakra storage, basically. It had a name but I- well, I frankly just skimmed past it, sorry," Hinata giggles at her honesty and Sakura smiles as she takes a seat in front of her, "It said it was the pinnacle of chakra control or something, so I thought it would be harder to- you know, show results."
"Your chakra control is formidable, Lady Sakura," comments Neji, remembering the way she fights with bursts of precisely released chakra from her fists for maximum damage. If her control was lacking the energy would just run wild inside of her and all that power would probably destroy her from within. He wonders who trained her and how, even he would have trouble managing all of that output at once. But he is a Hyuga first, so-
"Who t-trained you?"
Neji has to bite down the snort that threatens to spill forth.
"Mainly Lord Minato, but Lady Mito and Lord Jiraiya helped me too, after I was capable of becoming a sparring partner to the lord, he also gave me some pointers."
Hinata keeps her hands to her sides as Sakura's glowing hands caresses her belly.
"Well… Lord Minato did always tell me that I had a gift with chakra control, but I always assumed he was being nice," her green eyes lock with Hinata's and they crinkle, "I guess he was right."
"I w-would say so, too," Hinata says, full of conviction. Sakura thins her lips and whispers a thank you that makes her feel warm all over.
"How much chakra can you store?" Asks Neji then, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes scanning the ground around them.
"Years' worth, it said. I have a couple of months now, but I'm not stopping."
Neji looks solemn the next moment, lost in his thoughts, "that's good."
Sakura agrees. Whatever adds something to them. She senses Lady Hinata's increasing worry in the way her eyes travel from her to Neji, so she changes subjects with a chirp in her voice. "There were also a bunch of new scrolls about healing techniques," Lady Hinata's eye open with curiosity, but then Sakura remembers immediately after how this topic could lead to Lord Naruto's wellbeing, so she keeps on talking, "nothing about pregnancy, sadly, my lady, but as always, I can assure you that I have done my research and studying."
Her hands leave Lady Hinata's stomach and the lady's hand cover the empty space immediately after. "I know," she whispers and her thumb gives her pregnant belly a rub, "I t-trust you, Sakura."
Lady Hinata looks like the epitome of a pregnant woman now. Round belly, motherly looking. The soft and kind expression mothers ought to wear. Sakura is glad this child will have a mother like that.
"I will do my best to answer to your expectations, my lady."
Hinata gets flustered and Sakura pokes fun at her for being so nice the next second. What a lovely lady, they have. What a lovely wife her master has. Sakura can't help but remember hushed worries, whispered secrets, and seeing her lady now in front of her, full of… everything that was denied to her master before, is enough to make her feel emotional.
Everything is all right with the lady. Everything is all right with the child.
"I'm sure the lord will be happy when he comes back," Sakura assures, and she can see the worry in her lady's eyes.
But Sakura can vouch for this particular topic. Naruto will be happy.
•····························•····························•
Lady Hinata looks a little too in her thoughts that week. She spaces out and more often than not Neji has to repeat whatever he was saying for him to get an answer.
Not that he minds doing so. But it is an issue that nestles inside his mind, so one afternoon, after their walk, as he pours a refreshment for Lady Hinata, he asks.
"Is there something worrying you, my lady?"
Lady Hinata says nothing, so Neji knows it is something important.
She sits with her feet dangling off the hallway near her bedroom, one hand on her belly, the other swirling her drink with conscious effort. Neji sits, too, near her but not close, far away but not distant.
"If it is something you don't want to share-"
"It's a b-boy."
Her hand moves up to her mouth, as if the words came out without her permission, but there is no pain behind the action, there is no worry in the air. Just… resignation.
"Does Lord Naruto-?"
"Sakura, you and m-me are the only ones who k-know."
Neji closes his mouth. Undeserving, is the only word that fills his mind at first. He feels he pushed Lady Hinata to share this information. If she had wanted then she would ha-
"Neji…"
"Yes, my lady?"
"I… I'm scared…" Her voice is a whisper, drowned out, the wind around her sounds louder than her.
Neji is sitting at a proper distance one moment and the next he is right beside her, her hand on hers. "Don't be. Lord Naruto will love the child and you know it."
Because she did, right? If anyone knew him as a man and father it was her and it was enough to see Lord Naruto around Lady Hinata to know how much the man loved her and the child- It was a love they had never known, sure, but it was so clear, so strong that even Neji could swear on it.
"That's not…" Hinata takes her time with her words, as emotion fills in and pushes around her, "that just m-makes it harder, d-doesn't it? What Naruto h-had to go through..."
"My lady…"
Hinata sips on her drink in an attempt to keep her feelings in check, but Neji's concern shows so clearly it strikes a chord inside of her she can't control. Her chin trembles and she only has time to let her glass on the floor before a tear falls down her cheek.
Neji is right there, with a tissue she doesn't know where it came from dabbing at her face. It only makes the tears fall heavier.
"My lady…"
Hinata doesn't intend to bare herself in front of her cousin this way, had always thought this confession would be shared in a boring afternoon, after they had shared the updates of each other's lives, almost like an afterthought. Neji, you know-
"Th-thank you for being h-here."
Neji's hand stops. His whole body freezes. No.
And now that Hinata has let her mind free, she can't stop it.
"Th-thank you for not h-hating me like e-everyone else…"
Neji feels like he can throw up. The disgust that creeps up on him as Lady Hinata is the one thanking him for…
"Lady Hinata, please-" her face lifts up and stares at him and Neji has never felt so vulnerable and ashamed. He had entertained the idea, had imagined a scenario in which his cousin didn't resent him like she should, had dreamed of earning the chance of being able to do something more than be a bad memory. "don't... " his hand wipes the tears that stain her cheeks. Half his body is screaming for him to reject whatever chance of forgiveness Lady Hinata offers and hide away and forever, his shame dying with him. The other half is eager to catch this chance, hungry for something he has learned too late, so alien he barely knows how to handle it.
Lady Hinata, even after all she had gone through, was able to keep on loving her father, and if she could do that to a man like that… Neji was kept up at night sometimes, would she have the same deference with him? Would that be possible?
He didn't know he would feel like screaming in pain when given this opportunity.
"I… realized too late- I... do not deserve this opportunity." His hand trembles and he is barely holding hers, but she grabs onto him, not with strength, but firm. If he lets go, she will let him. "If… you are willing to give me this chance, then I- whatever you may need, whatever you may ask, I will-"
Lady Hinata shakes her head, "No, I want… not as a s-servant but as my f-family…"
Neji feels hot running down his cheeks, and he can only nod. "Okay."
"Okay," she repeats, her head falls to his stomach and Neji moves closer. Her hand on his hand, his other arm awkwardly surrounding her.
"I will be right behind you, then," he swears and Hinata nods against his clothes. The closest they've been, the most vulnerable they have ever been with each other.
"I don't think we have ever hugged, ever," he adds.
Lady Hinata snorts and her shoulders shake, her breath warm against his body. Neji rubs circles at her back, "I'm right behind you."
Hello, everybody!
First and foremost, I WANT TO GIVE THE BIGGEST SHOUTOUT TO RAMONA, a new guest who found this story and left a review for every single chapter on this fanfic. Thank you, I giggled with all of them. I am beyond happy you are having such a great time. (❁´◡`❁)
Also, another new guest named hi told me they gave this story a chance after seeing it in the favorites of another FF user. Thanks for leaving a message and thanks to all of you who favorite and engage with this story in any way (´▽`ʃ ƪ)
Other guests arrived but left without a name, so I can't shoutout you people, but welcome and I hope you have a great time!
As for the story, we are now turning the clock a little and we'll see what's going on in the Uzumaki compound!
See you next week, have a great one and take care!