family affair

Twenty-five

some cuts, some bruises

"Broken nose, that's all. Some bruises and cuts. He'll be fine in the morning," Neji said.

The door slammed shut as they exited the room. He watched Hinata look around: down the long cream-colored hallways, at the dark polished hardwood under her feet, at the family portraits that hung along the walls. The curved stairway to their left led to the foyer at the entrance which split into two rooms, the living room with the attached study, and the sitting room. The powder room was to the left of the sitting room. If she were to walk down the hall in the opposite direction, she would find the back stairway that led to the main kitchen. She could hear the voices from there: Kiba and Ino and the clanging of pots and pans. The smell of vanilla rose up the stairs as if spying on them; the scents of an upcoming Affair.

To their left was Hanabi's door, which was ajar. She was sitting on her bed, watching Hinata and Neji through the crack though Neji pretended not to see her. Tonight, after the Affair, Gaara would pick her up and take her somewhere. Neji did not know what would happen next. There had not been time to talk about it.

"We do not have time until morning," Hinata said starkly, in a strained sort of way. Her voice scratched at the back of her throat, and no matter how many times she cleared it, it remained the same.

"You don't know how long we have, Hinata. You haven't been here," Neji said. His voice, too, was strained––but different. He didn't know how to talk to her anymore, not after the car crash, not after seeing her mutilated hand, not after looking into her face and realizing what this family has done to her. Maybe when he looked at her, he saw a reflection of himself, and maybe in that reflection he saw his father: how Hizashi struggled under the rules and the violence. How an affair with his twin's wife was the only joy he could manage. How even that was taken away. And anyway, part of this was Hizashi's fault, right? Good riddance. Neji was glad he died.

The thoughts were fast and true––what was worse, they hurt. And worse than that? They explained away this chasm between him and Hinata, who leaned against her bedroom door with great tiredness in her voice and feet, the bags under her eyes dark storm clouds, so large and angry. Behind the door rested her lover, who easily could have been beaten within an inch of his life, but of course, she saved him. That was what she was here to do, to save them all.

Allegedly.

It seemed like a joke, but it wasn't. Everything was ruined now: Tonight was the night Hanabi was to take Hinata's place, to join the Suna at the Boy's Club meeting, to secure their alliance, their guns, their money, their drugs. Tonight was supposed to lead them into a new decade, a new establishment of power, and now––disgraced, traitorous––Hinata has come to tell them that it was all a lie?

Well, what was he supposed to believe? And yet, when he looked down at her mangled hand the nausea was simultaneously constant and new. She'd gone through lengths to get here. She turned and looked him in the eye, her gaze old somehow, and said, "You don't t-trust me."

Neji said nothing. His phone buzzed in his back pocket. Tenten would be looking for him. The smell of chocolate and fruit wafted up the stairs.

"How could I, Hinata? After everything?"

She looked down at her hand again, smiling dryly. Then she looked at him, her teeth flashing like a lightening crack in the day time, "And do you trust Gaara more than me?"

Neji hadn't been expecting such a question. He heard Hanabi shift in her bed, pretending not to listen. Something thrummed in his chest, like the chord of a guitar being struck in the quiet of the night. The thrumming turned to anger. Heat filled his throat. His phone vibrated again.

"I don't think we need to talk again until the Affair," he said. This was reasonable. What else was there to discuss between them? He'd given her a chance, after all, to come home. To not leave. She didn't take it. She hadn't wanted it.

"Okay, niisan," she said, speaking gently, talking low. The familiarity with which she spoke made him bristle, the anger peaking over both of their heads, making everything red. "We'll talk later."

She went into her room, where Sasuke slept, and closed the door behind her so silently that it scared him. Behind him, a door squeaked open and he jumped in surprise. Hanabi peaked her head out––she and Hinata hadn't spoken yet, she had been forbidden by their father.

"Go back in your room, Hanabi," Neji whispered gently, like he was trying to convince a baby to sleep. "You shouldn't have been listening. I'm surprised Hiashi-sama even let your sister come up here."

Hanabi rolled her eyes and gestured Neji into the room. When he finally crossed the threshold, she shut the door with a slam, lurching her arm back like she was going to hit him, but slapped the door instead. "Don't talk to me like I'm a fucking child, Neji."

He wanted to tell her that she is a child. He refrained.

"I can't believe you just spoke to Hinata like that," Hanabi collapsed onto her bed, her weight sinking into it. On the vanity across the room, her dress for the evening was laid across the chair. It was a modest black thing, with long sleeves and an open back. Wholly inappropriate for her age.

"Why aren't you angry with her? It's because of her you have to do this," he gestured towards the dress with disgust. All of the makeup brushes on the vanity held childish shades of pink. Someone had placed red lipstick on top of the pallets.

"It's not because of her. It's because of the syndicate, stupid," Hanabi huffed and threw herself under the covers in one big movement, burrowing down like a bird in a nest. "You're all so fucking dumb. You don't know anything. If I were her, I wouldn't have even come back!"

Neji sat heavily on the edge of Hanabi's bed. He thought of his car crashing into Hinata's, how the impact made a sound. How he grabbed her body and put her into his car. How he gently laid her unconscious body down in the Theater, anger and guilt raising their twin fists inside of him. How when she woke, he had never seen fear like that on her face. And yet, and yet, and yet…

She had still left the Family. She left for a man. How stupid could she be?

In a quiet voice, deep within the fluffy duvet, Hanabi said, "he…he used to beat her, you know?"

Neji's hands clenched. His head pounded. "The Uchiha?"

"No," Hanabi said. There was silence for a long moment. "Gaara. They…they had dated and she kept it a secret. I used to go through her phone because that's what you do when your older sister suddenly starts acting all grown up and secret.

She…she never told anyone but I knew. And when I got scared and she let me sleep with her at night, I would see the bruises on her body. I asked about them once, but she just told me they were nothing. But one day, when they weren't being careful, I saw him pick her up from school and I watched him yank her into his car and everything made sense. I was a kid but I knew. I knew to keep my mouth shut too," Hanabi said.

Taken aback by this new information, Neji stood. He walked back a few paces. His stomach swam with regret––for what? He didn't know. "Why wouldn't she say anything to us?"

Hanabi raised her head from the duvet, looking at Neji like he was stupid. "Why do you think?"

-:-

"You're up," Hinata said, when she entered her bedroom––it felt big, and new, and not hers at all––and saw Sasuke sitting up, rubbing his bandaged head. Bruises covered him everywhere. She came to him at once, crawling on top of the bed and reaching for him. She moved hair out of his face. His eyes were cloudy, unfocused.

"Barely," he said quietly, blinking slow. He gestured vaguely and Hinata placed a glass of water into his hands. He cupped it and drank quickly, his Adam's apple bobbing, his neck red and bruised. "I'll be fine," he said when he was finished drinking, but his voice was still scratchy with effort. He cleared it. "I'll be fine to move out tonight or tomorrow-––whenever."

"Hmph," Hinata hummed, thinking, for a moment, that she was starting to sound like him. She watched his heavy movements, pressed a hand to his forehead. "I don't know if––"

"Don't start."

Hinata sighed. He would not change his mind. He would not let her go alone. She was in no position to argue so she just leaned her head back onto the crook of his shoulder and neck, letting it lull there. He turned his head, his cheek pressing against her forehead. It was cold.

"You're cold," she said.

"You're hot," he responded. The flesh of his cheek felt soft. She could feel it expand and contract when he spoke. "I'm assuming the conversation with Neji did not go well?"

Hinata sighed again: "he hates me."

"It's understandable," Sasuke said, grinning.

"Do we kill him?" Hinata asked, suddenly, her eyes wide, unblinking as she stared into the darkness of her bedroom. It was afternoon, but the curtains were still drawn. Her stomach knotted.

Sasuke blinked quickly in succession, startled. "Who? Neji?"

Hinata seemed to snap out of it, turning her head so that his own head moved in response. She got up. "No! No, sorry. I meant Gaara."

"I'd like to kill him, personally," Sasuke said, and he too, started to get up. He needed to move if he was going to be ready for the evening. As he did slow calf raises and knee lifts, he thought about how sexy it was to hear Hinata talk about them killing in unison. He was grateful for their partnership––that was to say the least––and that she trusted him so much to say something so crassly.

They were silent for a while. Hinata was pacing back and forth around the room, biting the tip of her thumb in concentration, and Sasuke was doing basic exercises, testing his strengths and weaknesses from his recent beatings. He needed to know where he was weak and what movements he should avoid. As he rose up for this thirtieth push up, a thought occurred to him. "Are Sakura and Naruto safe?"

Hinata nodded without stopping her movements around the room. "Of course. They're down the hall, I spoke to them before I talked to Neji."

"Good," Sasuke said. He pushed himself into a plank, then pivoted into a lunge. Then, he stood, grabbed his pacing lover around the waist, and dragged her towards her bed. She didn't resist, she let him. "When is the Affair, again?"

Hinata felt his mouth nestle into the soft place between her neck and collar bone. She breathed deeply, trying to focus. "At seven tonight."

"How long do we have?" He hadn't looked at a watch. He had no idea where his phone was.

"About four hours," Hinata said as he pulled her into his lap, his mouth already moving across her skin. Lucious, beautiful kisses––and just distracting enough. Her hands easily slid to his hair as she felt his body under hers.

"C'mon," he said, playing with the edges of her shirt, the soft skin of her belly, the delicate curls just under. "Let's relax."

"Okay," Hinata agreed, nodding. Sasuke was warm now, and so was she. She didn't know how the night would go. She didn't know when they'd get to do this again. "Let's relax."

-:-

"Remember when you first got here?" Hinata asked after they woke up again, a couple of hours later, with the sun long gone, far away from its perch above their heads. She traced a freckle on his chest, just under the collar bone. It was brown and round like a Hershey's Kiss. "How strange it was? How you came into the garden and saved me."

With her head on his chest, Sasuke's face was full of hair, but he didn't mind. "I do," he said. "And look at us now, you're the one doing all the saving. I underestimated you, Hyuga."

"Most people do," she said, but she said it like she had just won a prize, and Sasuke knew that she was grinning under all of that hair. "That's the point."

A phone began to buzz incessantly on the right edge of Hinata's bed-side table. The light of it was dim, just making apparent some lines in the ceiling, as it carried on its buzzing––telling them that it was time to get up. The Affair would begin in 30 minutes and they weren't yet dressed.

"Are you ready?" Sasuke asked, tugging this big wild hair that she had only really begun to show him recently. Usually, she kept it contained when they slept: braided flat to her head, or wrapped in a scarf, or––if she was especially tired––a bun would do. But now she slept with it loose: sprawling across their pillows, dipping below their waists, twisting around everything.

"No," Hinata said, but she slipped out of bed anyway, leaving the warm gift of Sasuke's skin. Sasuke got up after her, and they got dressed in the quiet dark of her room.

Hinata picked an outfit easily: a floor-length black satin dress with pearls sewn into the bottom like tear drops. It had no sleeves and a turtle-neck collar, but dropped dramatically in the back, showing off the woman with the knife between her teeth. Of course, the woman. Of course the dragon's tail.

She put on ruby teardrop earrings to match the bottom of her dress. The red was perhaps too much, but she didn't care. Sasuke came behind her and lifted her hair from her neck. "You should wear it up," he said. "So that they can see."

She nodded, took a ribbon, and looped it around where his hands lifted the hair. Once she finished tying it off, she looked at him. "Good?"

"Perfect." He said.

Sasuke's dress was more casual––he hadn't come prepared. Kiba had been nice enough––or had been ordered to––drop off a few dress shirts, pants, and shoe options. The Hyuga's were nothing if not respectable. They required that of their Family. Earlier in the day, Hinata had done the same for Sakura, dropping off a few of her dresses for her to choose from. She had been met with a confused, if not agitated, stare from the pink-haired woman, but she accepted it all the same.

He donned a simple black shirt that was only a little big on him, and sharp slacks that were secured with a belt. He made a joke about how Kiba had never bothered to dress this well at the Affairs, though he clearly had the clothes to do it.

When Hinata didn't comment, or even laugh, he saw that her fists had tightened at her waist, anxiety making a wrinkle appear between her eyebrows. He grabbed her hand, loosened her fingers. Squeezed.

It was time.

-:-

Hinata had not seen her father since she showed him her hand. The memory was blurry, despite it being recent: did he look displeased? Was he angry? Was he disgusted? And when she crawled over to Sasuke, sobbing, yelling––what then?

He gestured towards the man who had been hurting Sasuke, and the man left the room. He looked down at them, at their fingers, giving nothing away.

"Neji," he had said, but his eyes were on his daughter. "Arrange an Affair for this evening and then wake Hanabi, bring her to me. I will have someone escort Hinata and the Uchiha to her room."

He gave nothing away then, and he was giving nothing away now. Sitting in his big seat, watching everyone pile pastries onto their plates, he did not look at Hinata as she entered with Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura in tow. Naruto, who looked strange and flush being there again, was only getting half as many stares as Hinata was. No one even looked at Sakura, who had smartly dressed in a plain gray dress that did not draw any more attention to herself than she already had. A shame about the hair.

But Hinata could only give her father only a moment's worth of attention––there was something far more startling in the room. Hanabi. She was sitting in the spot where Hinata used to sit, beside their father, wearing a black high-neck dress, her hair piled on top of her head in small ringlets. Not that much time had passed and already Hinata's younger sister had passed the gauntlet meant for her. It broke Hinata's heart.

They made eye contact. Hinata felt her body jolt and Sasuke grabbed her arm to steady her. He gently pulled her to the ground, onto a cushion, near the front of the room. Naruto and Sakura took positions in the seats behind them, and they made a small square.

Hinata was aware of the stares on her back as she continued to watch Hanabi, who looked back––unafraid. Something passed between them, then Hanabi inclined her head and stood up. She reached out her hand and Hinata rose to meet her as if compelled.

"Welcome home," Hanabi whispered and Hinata watched the beginning of tears gather on her lower lashes. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Hinata said, pulling her younger sister into a hug. The room went silent, even the small noises of forks hitting plates were extinguished. Hanabi grabbed her arm hard, and alarmed Hinata looked down into her eyes: they wore twin expressions of a grief so big that Hinata was worried it would swallow them both. She stumbled back a little, taken aback. She whispered, "Have you––did you––Gaara…?"

It was barely a real question, and yet Hanabi understood and shook her head: no. "I haven't been ordered to go yet. I thought tonight, but then you…"

Hinata had interrupted. They had probably postponed, if not for an entire day at least a couple of hours. And what did Suna know of Hinata's little sabbatical? If they knew nothing, as they should, perhaps there was still a chance. Yes. There had to be.

"Don't worry," Hinata said, feeling Hanabi's hand loosen, watching the anxiety build in her little sister's face. She never wanted to see her like that again. "Don't worry. I'm here now."

"Of course I'm worried," Hanabi said tersely. So she did not understand, that is fine, Hinata mused. She does have to, not anymore. Hanabi, then, as if wanting to push her anxiety away, then reached for Hinata's hair, taking the short locks into her hands, wonder in her eyes. "You cut it."

"I had to," Hinata said, leaning her head back into her sister's hand. She could still feel the Family starring, but it didn't matter, Hanabi was safe. She would be safe.

"She cut something else too," Sasuke said, suddenly behind her so close that they shared heat. He looked politely at Hanabi, who smiled meekly back. The meekness was a strange, new thing, but Hanabi was a stranger to this room, after all.

Hanabi's eyes flew to Hinata's hand, and her eye's hardened like she had just confirmed something for herself. Hinata was sure that Hanabi had already heard the rumors. Hanabi squeezed her arm one more time, then let her go. "You look beautiful," she said.

Sasuke and Hinata found their way back to their seats at the front of the room when they heard the click of the lighter––Hiashi lighting his cigar to begin. Neji cracked the door open, letting in a gust of cold air. Hinata felt her back bristle with attention when someone sat beside her. She looked over her shoulder to see Ino and Shikamaru.

Ino's face was strained in a way Hinata had never seen before, like she was trying to hold her words inside of her mouth. Shikamaru, though appearing bored, had a wrinkle between his eyebrows. He too, was containing something. Ino opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it immediately when something at the front of the room drew her attention.

Hiashi stood, but still Hinata's eyes went to Hanabi, whose back stiffened as she looked up at him. Hinata could feel her pride and her fear. Hinata could only feel anger.

"Welcome, Family," Hiashi called, as he always did. "May our days be blessed with fortune, and our nights be protected and virtuous."

"God willing," everyone, including Hinata and Sasuke, replied. Though this time, Hinata got chills down her shoulders, white furry crawling up her skin in ways she had never felt before. The longer she saw Hanabi sitting on that pedestal, looking like a paper doll in her black dress and manufactured curls, the more her anger built. Sasuke must have felt it because he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and stifled a sly grin. It was, perhaps, not the correct response, but it was, perhaps, the response Hinata needed.

"I have called his emergency meeting under unusual circumstances," Hiashi began, as he sat back down in his seat at the top of the pyramid, in front of the room. He wore black linens, like it was summer. It made everyone else look underdressed. Sometimes he did that on purpose to disarm people. He gestured to the front of the room, "as you can see, my daughter has returned. And she's brought guests."

If only you knew, Hinata thought. He would, soon enough.

No one made a sound, though she felt the apprehension in the room at her sudden appearance. Perhaps even more so, their shock that Uchiha Sasuke was back in their midsts, relatively unscathed.

"Rest assured, she has paid massively for her escapades," Hiashi said, and Hinata winced at the word like it had tried to bite her. "And she and Uchiha Sasuke have been welcomed back to the Family with welcome arms."

The room was silent.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow, "God willing," he said, probing.

"God willing," the room rushed to respond.

So, her father accepted her back. That was a relief, but that did not mean that things would go back to normal. He no longer trusted her. And he would use Hanabi in her place. A sour taste filled her mouth like she was about to vomit. She swallowed. She felt Sasuke shift beside her, the warmth of his arm enough to center her. She leaned forward so their shoulders touched briefly. He nodded minutely.

"They come at an opportune moment for us," Hiashi said to the quiet room, his eyes sliding over Hinata and Sasuke's sitting positions, their twin dark hair, their opposing eyes, their pinkies touching on the tatami mats just briefly. "They will be on standby as dear Hanabi goes on her first mission. Hanabi will be joining Suna Gaara to a very important meeting this evening, which will solidify the Hyuga-Suna Treaty and help us win the invisible war against our enemies, and against the Akatsuki!"

Everyone cheered. Hinata watched Hanabi go inside of herself, the light in her eyes disappear, her arms covering her body, her feet tapping nervously. Hinata had to put a stop to this. She looked at Sasuke, looked at her own wrapped hand, and looked at the floor she was raised on. Then she stood, looked at the leader of the Hyuga Syndicate, the crime lord, the Yakuza boss, her very own father and said, "No. I will not stand for it."

The applause stopped. Neji looked up, his mouth falling open in a way that was so unlike him that it even shocked Hinata. Hanabi looked up so fast everyone could hear the joint in her neck pop. Hiashi's eyes went dark. He wavered, the lit end of his cigar like a beacon.

"Excuse me, daughter?"

This was unheard of, she knew. But hey, it was her funeral.

"I said no," Hinata repeated. "I will not allow you to send my baby sister to that man. I…" she faltered, halting at the stares she felt on her back, and at the twist she saw on her father's mouth. Sasuke looked at her once, nodded again–– his eyes were so sure that she felt briefly unstoppable when their gazes connected. "I will go instead, as was planned. I know Gaara better. I was the original intended. And…"

Hiashi raised his eyebrow. He had wiped his face blank. Hinata could not even say what she thought he felt at that moment.

"Suna Gaara cannot be trusted. I have reason to believe that he, in collaboration with former syndicate members of Orochimaru and the Konoha Special Agent Unit ANBU, are conspiring to double-cross us. They are on a mission to eradicate all of the original families from the Age of the Shinobi. They…" Hinata looked down at Sasuke, saw the fire in his eyes, and felt it too. "They were already successful––ANBU––at infiltrating Sasuke's clan so many years ago. ANBU killed off the Uchihas, and they are going to kill us off too. It's what Gaara wants."

The silence was palpable, and Hinata kept going as if her life depended on it. "I know Gaara better than you think, Father," she said, now sounding desperate since the expression on his face hadn't changed. "I can prove that to you easily. But I have found allies for us, real ones, in the Akatsuki. S-Sasuke's brother is one, and I––I have traded the Byakugan File f-for––"

Sasuke stood up suddenly, and that movement let her know that she had just made a terrible error. His arm went around her waist as she turned to stare at him in shock, but once she turned she saw that the entire room was staring at her with daggers for teeth. Hanabi was holding her throat and shaking her head. Neji went red.

"Shut up!" Her father bared his teeth, the outburst so unlike him that Hinata jumped back into Sasuke. He walked down the platform and stood in front of her. He was so close she could see the line of tiny freckles across the bridge of his nose. He was yelling in her face and Hinata would've shrunk back, would've disappeared, if Sasuke hadn't been bracing her, his hand around her waist, his breath near her ear. Steady, she heard him whisper.

"You are talking like a mad woman, Hinata," Hiashi growled, veins popping on his forehead. He was furious. "You sound like your mother. You have endangered us all. I can't believe I let this go so far."

He put his arm out and Neji stood up.

Hinata watched with wide eyes, thinking: He is going to kill me, my father is going to kill me. I have made a terrible mistake.