Hinata talked to her father, Neji and Hanabi

Chapter 45: Just as far in as you'll ever be out

Hinata didn't need to stop to think where her father was. It was perhaps the first time she'd gone to his office unsummoned and also the first time she'd entered without knocking.

Hiashi didn't acknowledge her immediately. He dipped his brush into the inkwell in a smooth movement and returned to the scroll on his desk. Finally, after writing a few lines, he said, "When I told you to collect yourself, I expected it to take minutes. Not hours."

"Are you too busy now to see your heir, chichiue?"

Hiashi paused at this, brush hovering over the scroll. Then he set it down and turned to look at her. "Sit."

Hinata sat.

Being here in this office, it was difficult not to shrink under Hiashi's scrutiny, but Hinata let the emotional upheaval of the last few hours fuel her.

"Well?"

"Were you lying? About the clan registry?" Hinata asked.

Hiashi observed her with cool eyes. "No."

Hinata's hands curled into fists, nails biting into the skin of her palms. "Why did you let me think otherwise?"

"I'm not responsible for the assumptions you make. Nor do I need to explain myself to you, daughter."

"You do if you want me to go along with it," Hinata said sharply. "It's within my rights to abdicate."

"You had the opportunity to do that during the meeting," Hiashi pointed out and Hinata couldn't hold back a flinch at the reminder of her inaction.

"…I don't understand," she said, helplessly. "You've never wanted me to be heir. So why…?"

There was no shift in Hiashi's expression at Hinata's distress. "You were weak, yes. And so had to be made stronger. Nothing more, nothing less."

"And Hanabi?"

"You are my firstborn. That is the way of things." Then, though his face remained blank, his voice lost some of its usual cold edge. "You are your mother's daughter. You were meant for this."

Despite herself, Hinata broke eye contact. Chin tilted towards her chest, Hinata stared down at her hands resting on her thighs.

Her mother's daughter.

Hinata thought of her mother, sweet smiles and warm hugs, flitting in and out on diplomatic visits or playing host to powerful allies. Soft, uncalloused hands that had pet Hinata's head, but never braided her hair nor packed her lunch.

"Nee-sama, will you make me lunch tomorrow?

"Will you braid my hair?"

Hiashi made it sound like Hanabi had never been an option. Like pitting them against each other, enrolling Hinata at the academy, postponing Hanabi's sealing, handing Hinata's training over to Kurenai had all been part of a masterplan with the aim of curing Hinata of her pathetic weakness.

Thick strands of midnight blue sheltered Hinata's gaze. "Chichiue…you use words like heir and daughter. But I think what you really mean is pawn."

"Everything is for the good of the clan. You will understand one day."

Bracing her hands on her thighs, Hinata lifted her head once more. "I will do my best for my people," she said firmly.

People. Not clan.

Hiashi leaned forward, eyes narrowing with a glint of interest for the first time. He nodded, once. "I know." Then he swiftly directed his attention back to his work. "You may leave."

Hinata inclined her head and rose to her feet. Her steps were soundless, so she could hear the break in the noise from Hiashi's brushwork. With the weight of her father's gaze on her, Hinata left the room and closed the door behind her without a backwards glance.

Telling Neji of her failure was something Hinata was dreading, made worse by the fact that he approached her first while she was still gathering the courage to face him.

He invited her to join him on a walk and though Hinata was early, Neji managed to be waiting for her when she arrived.

She could barely muster up a smile in greeting. Trailing after Neji as he cut a decisive path through the forest, Hinata was too trapped by her demoralizing thoughts to take in the changes spring had brought to the previously frozen landscape.

"Hinata-sama."

The call of her name came with a fleeting touch on her shoulder. Dragging her eyes up from the ground, Hinata saw that they'd arrived at a clearing frequently used by Team Gai for training. Huge logs and rocks of various sizes lay at the edges, repurposed for all types of unorthodox training methods thought up by Gai. Hinata had been persuaded to participate more than once and always left entirely drained of energy.

Neji had taken up a spot on a log and, after a moment of thought, Hinata took a seat next to him.

"Nii-san, I'm sorry," Hinata blurted out. It had been eating at her the entire time and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She drew her knees to her chest, arms wrapping around her legs.

"For what exactly, Hinata-sama?" There was no accusation in Neji's voice, but the question hit Hinata like one. She curled up tighter.

Hinata's eyes stung. "…I failed."

Neji said nothing. The sound of the cool spring wind rustling through the trees around them filled the air. "Are you surrendering?" he asked, carefully.

At this, Hinata's head shot up. "No! Of course not!" She shook her head emphatically.

They were face to face now.

"Then you haven't failed."

Slowly, as Neji's words sunk in, Hinata's brows unfurrowed. She knew she couldn't hide anything from Neji's clear gaze, so she didn't try.

"I've seen everything with this byakugan. My eyes can't be deceived. Surrender to it."

Neji had once used that skill to intimidate her. He'd read her body language during the chunin exams so accurately it had felt like he was seeing directly into her mind. Over time, he'd only gotten better at this and though sometimes Hinata wished she weren't so transparent to him, she hadn't felt frightened by it in a long time.

"Hinata-sama, when we came back from the capital, do you remember what we spoke of?" Neji asked suddenly.

Thrown by the change in topic, it took her a moment, but Hinata nodded when she recalled the conversation.

"…so it's a promise then. Let's do our best to protect each other?"

Neji's voice was low and serious when he continued. "I agreed to that because I believed we would be working together, not against each other. Back then, you were upset because you felt powerless. Today, I felt powerless too."

Stricken, Hinata loosened her hold on her knees, uncurling her spine to lean forward. "That's not — I didn't mean to make you feel that way!" she said, eyes wide.

"I know," Neji said. He faltered here, averting his gaze to look up to the sky as he seemed to lose himself in troubling thoughts. After a moment, he added, "I can't fault you for not relying on me when I spent our childhood giving you reasons not to."

With Neji's attention no longer on her, Hinata took a moment to observe him.

He looked better, stronger. Back on the mission roster and back to training with Team Gai, Hinata could see the improvements not only physically but also in the way he held himself. The aftermath of his injury had been a blow to his confidence, the pride that Neji wore like a shield had fractured. But he looked like himself again. Perhaps he had for longer than Hinata had realized, unable to let go of the image of him nearly dying in his pursuit to protect her.

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, for the second time. "Because I didn't want to burden you or to see disappointment on your face, I gave you the impression that I don't trust you." She frowned down at her hands, fingers twisting together. "I know…or I think I know that you wouldn't blame me, but sometimes it's hard to stop my mind from mistaking my fears for reality. And you're right, we made a promise to protect each other, but we can't do that properly unless we rely on each other.

A hesitant but lingering touch to her shoulder had Hinata looking up. Neji's hand was stiff, fingers held unnaturally straight in lieu of curling for a more comfortable grip. When she met Neji's gaze with her own, Hinata found no reproach there. Only determination and trust. To look at Neji and feel acknowledged, the implicit understanding that they were on the same side, that they shared the same values and dream was something Hinata couldn't have imagined herself worthy of six years ago. Something that she still struggled with feeling worthy of.

"Then rely on me, Hinata-sama," Neji said earnestly. "Tell me exactly what happened during the meeting and we will make a plan for what to do next. Together."

Hinata covered Neji's hand on her shoulder with one of her own, squeezing lightly before letting go. Then, taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

When Hinata and Neji returned to the compound, the first thing Hinata did was search for Hanabi. She didn't know what she would say, but if the likelihood of Hanabi being sealed had increased because of Hinata's actions, it was something Hinata would have to tell her honestly.

"Nee-sama!" Hanabi's wide smile was radiant as she ran up to them at the compound gates. "Guess what?"

Startled, Hinata could only make a soft questioning noise before Hanabi continued with glee.

"We got our first C-rank mission! We're leaving first thing tomorrow!"

Eyes widening, Hinata exchanged a glance with Neji. With the ninja lost in the war and the increased patrolling assignments within the village, having a genin team assigned to a C-rank mission wasn't terribly unusual, but the timing of it gave Hinata pause. Still, in the face of Hanabi's enthusiasm, she let herself smile.

"That's exciting, Hanabi. Do you need help packing?"

Hanabi bobbed her head. "Yes! And you'll come to see me off at the gates, right? You too, Neji-nii-san?"

"Of course," Hinata agreed. Neji looked taken aback, but gave a nod of assent.

Hanabi bounced in place and then grabbed hold of Hinata's arm, pulling her along. "Let's go! How many kunai should I take? And do you have bandages I can borrow? I'm running low. Should I pack solider pills or do you think Akio will share his?"

Pushing away her worries about the clan, Hinata did her best to focus on her sister's stream of questions. Anything else would have to wait.

Hinata's soft voice was lost in the ruckus of the overzealous genin on the other side of the village gates. Sasuke didn't want to intrude, but had inadvertently ended up here, body unwilling to sleep in and too restless to stay cooped up in his apartment.

It was the day they'd been waiting for. Naruto's sham surgery was scheduled in the afternoon, the expectation being that nae-ROOT would act while he was purportedly out of commission. One group of Konoha-nin would be on the defensive, stationed at strategic posts to counter any attacks. A second group of ninja would infiltrate the suspected nae-ROOT headquarters while its members were otherwise occupied. Sasuke would be part of the latter operation and he was counting down the minutes.

The noise by the gates died down. Sasuke waited a beat, his chakra fully masked, and considered calling out to Hinata. They hadn't had plans to meet and for once their schedules weren't aligned: she had the morning guard shift while his part would start in the afternoon. He might not see her again until it was all over.

When he'd seen her last, she'd arrived shaken and left substantially more put together. How much of that could be attributed to Sasuke's own efforts rather than her two hour nap was debatable, but Sasuke took satisfaction in it nonetheless.

After all, it was his bed she'd slept in.

As much as he'd hated the thought of her going back to the Hyuuga compound, she'd had that look of steely determination he wasn't willing to test. She wasn't in immediate physical danger and that had to be good enough for now. The rest he'd have to trust her on.

Before he could make up his mind either way, someone else made his decision for him.

"Uchiha."

With his chakra suppressed as usual, Sasuke should have been inconspicuous. He angled his head to see past the tree he had been leaning against, but didn't acknowledge the other shinobi right away, instead staring past him to track Hinata's distant form as she headed in the direction of Konoha Hospital.

Finally, when he could no longer see her, Sasuke turned to Neji and raised an inquisitive brow.

Friendly was not a word Sasuke would use to describe Neji, but their last few interactions had been amiable enough. The frostiness the Hyuuga was emanating at the moment was a far cry from that.

"Hinata-sama was with you yesterday," Neji stated. His arms were crossed against his chest. "I saw her —"

Defenses flying up, Sasuke scowled. "Were you spying on us?"

Neji appeared uninterested in Sasuke's ire. "I'm her protector," he explained. His lips pursed minutely, a momentary hesitation. "I stopped when I realized where she was."

As the words sunk in, some of the tension left Sasuke's body.

"…how was she?" Neji asked.

"Upset," Sasuke said blandly.

Neji frowned, but it didn't seem entirely directed at Sasuke. "She ran from me," he muttered.

The knowledge that it was him she'd run to made Sasuke more sympathetic than usual. "She wasn't upset at you," he said, shifting awkwardly. Neji's sharp eyes darted to him and Sasuke bore through it.

"She seemed better when she came back," Neji offered just as awkwardly.

They eyed each other for a moment, assessing. Then Neji said, "You could have come to the gates. Hanabi would not have minded."

Sasuke blinked. Then he nodded hesitantly.

Neji inclined his head. "Uchiha," he said by way of goodbye, before taking his leave.

Sasuke remained where he was for a few minutes, reeling just a little from the entire interaction.

Hinata pinched her thigh discreetly, not keen on getting caught by Fujiwara.

She'd been able to handle the accumulation of fatigue from balancing guard duty with her other responsibilities, but now with the exhaustion of yesterday she could feel it weighing down on her. She'd taken a soldier pill in the morning from the batch Kiba kept her and Shino supplied with. Though not as potent as the military grade ones, it had rejuvenated her chakra more than the brief snatches of sleep she'd gotten. The boost of alertness, however, was already starting to wear off. Her head felt foggy. She had no energy for knitting today.

She activated her byakugan for another quick sweep. The ANBU guard was stationed further away than usual, likely at some midpoint between Fujiwara's hospital room and the location of Naruto's planned surgery, though it was still hours away. Ino was in the hallway, heading towards them. Hinata exhaled, stopping the flow of chakra to her eyes. Her viewpoint narrowed and colour seeped back into her surroundings.

Fujiwara was watching her openly, no longer attempting to hide it. Curiously, she met his gaze.

Despite the recent weight gain, Fujiwara's body gave the impression of a child younger than fifteen. Looking at him, it was hard for Hinata to believe he was only three years younger than her. There was that flicker of life in his dull eyes again. Then he jerked his head away, frowning at the wall.

"…he grew up isolated and lonely, with a troubled home life," she explained impatiently. "He was surrounded by a family that hated him…"

The corners of Hinata's lips turned down. Her mind strayed back yet again to the meeting with the Hyuuga elders.

The sound of the doorknob turning saved her from that particular spiral of thoughts. Ino sauntered in with a loud greeting that Fujiwara expertly ignored before jumping into recounting her day. Hinata attempted to be an active participant, but even at her best she found it difficult to match Ino's energy. Fortunately, occasional nods and hums were enough to satisfy Ino's need for an audience.

A short lull in Ino's monologue provided an opportunity for Hinata to excuse herself, but she paused. Fujiwara was staring resolutely away while Ino took a look at the chart clipped to his bedside.

"Ino-san," Hinata started. Two sets of eyes glanced her way, though one pair immediately backtracked.

Ino studied her face with bright eyes. "Let's chat outside?" she suggested. "Boys tend to find girl talk boring." She shot a cheeky wink at Fujiwara before ushering Hinata out into the corridor.

As soon as she shut the door, Ino wasted no time in asking, "What's up?"

"Um…" Hinata glanced at the door to Fujiwara's hospital room, though without her dōjutsu activated she couldn't see the boy in question. This wasn't lost on Ino.

"Did something happen with Fujiwara?" Ino asked. She set her hands on her hips, palms cupping the bare skin above the low dip of her skirt's waistline. The confidence she'd always held in her own body had only grown as she aged. It was the kind of boldness that could be disorienting if used the right way and Ino knew exactly how to wield it.

"Actually, if I could ask…how are your sessions with Fujiwara-san going?" At Ino's frown, Hinata was quick to add, "If it's not overstepping, that is!"

Ino waved her off. "It's not going at all. At least not the psychiatric examination," she said, exasperation colouring her voice. "Physically, there's been a lot of improvement. In fact, we noticed he's healing faster than a normal civilian. But emotionally…"

"Oh…" Hinata's brows furrowed. "Well, I…I thought about what you said last time."

Ino's frown twisted into a guilty expression. "I'm seriously sorry about that, Hinata. I was acting like some kind of know-it-all, trying to diagnose my friends. It'd be better if you forgot about it."

"That's not what I meant," Hinata corrected gently. "I meant that, if you really think it might help, I could try…with Fujiwara-san."

Ino's brows shot up in surprise. "Really? You don't have to force yourself just because I said that. It's not like it's your job. You're not an iryō-nin or in the Jōhōbu."

Hinata offered her friend a small smile. "If it's within my power to help a friend, I should do my best. Besides, I'm a Konoha-nin: it's my duty to serve the village and the people of Hi no Kuni."

"I guess you're right." An impressed grin crossed Ino's face. "That was a pretty cool line, Hinata. I usually only get to see this side of you on missions."

Predictably, the praise had Hinata blushing. "Ah! I wasn't trying to sound cool or anything!"

Ino only laughed fondly. "And we're back to cute. Never change, Hinata."

There was still laughter in Ino's voice when she told Hinata to go get some rest before returning to Fujiwara's room.

As Hinata's blush died down, she was reminded of her fatigue. She lingered in the hallway. There was no Sasuke to walk her home today and most of her friends were similarly occupied, though Naruto's surgery was still hours away.

Not having a part to play in the mission had Hinata feeling troubled. She tried to tell herself it wasn't related to her skill level, but that didn't soothe the uneasiness in her stomach. Knowing her friends might be in harm's way while she was unable to help them was another weight on her mind.

Even if she went back to the Hyuuga compound, Hinata doubted her anxiety would let her rest. Remaining in the hospital could be a better use of her time, perhaps acting as backup for Ino in guarding Fujiwara or as an extra hand for Sakura and Naruto to handle any nae-ROOT that came to ambush the surgery.

Nodding to herself, Hinata started to make her way down to the vending machine for some much needed caffeine to bolster the fading effects of the soldier pill. Head down, she fished into her pocket for coins. A movement from her periphery had Hinata freezing in place, avoiding a collision with another body. Unfortunately the swiftness of it all was enough to startle the other person into dropping a stack of papers onto the linoleum floor of the hospital corridor.

Muttering a curse, Io dropped down to the ground. With an apologetic gasp, Hinata did the same.

"You should watch where you're going, this is a hospital!" Io snapped, looking away from gathering up the papers, only to flounder when she met Hinata's eyes. "Hinata-san!"

"I'm so sorry, Io-san!" Hinata arranged the papers she had picked up neatly before passing them over.

Io accepted them, avoiding eye contact. "It's fine, Hinata-san. It was my own fault. I should go file these," she said hurriedly before rushing off.

Hinata frowned guiltily. Although she didn't regret what she had said, she did regret that their last encounter had disturbed Io to this extent. As she started to continue on her way, a stray paper that had fallen under a bench caught Hinata's eye. Picking it up, she saw that it was a patient chart filled in with blue ink. Looking up and realizing that Io had already disappeared down another corridor, Hinata began to follow in the same direction.

"Io-san!" Hinata called, earning some looks from the small number of staff and patients walking past. A little self-conscious, she slowed her pace, not wanting to bother anyone. As she turned down an empty corridor, Hinata saw Io step into a room and close the door behind her. Relieved, Hinata entered the hallway, but stopped when she heard the sound of something heavy falling.

With a concerned gasp, Hinata rushed forward through the door — fortunately, Io hadn't locked it. The room looked to be a large office, lined with file cabinets. Further in the back Hinata could see a set of glass compartments filled with vials and medications. Hinata would wager this was one of the rooms the ANBU normally stationed outside Fujiwara's room had been relocated to keep an eye on.

But Hinata paid the contents of the room little attention, more focused on the iryō-nin collapsed on the floor.

"Genji-san, is she okay? What happened?" Hinata asked, moving closer.

Kneeling by Io with two fingers over the pulse of her neck, Genji didn't respond right away.

"Genji-san?"

Finally, Genji looked up with glassy eyes. He blinked, expression clearing. "She must be overtired from the extra shifts. Some bedrest is all she needs."

Hinata balked. The dismissiveness of his words was at odds with the sprawl of Io's body against the hard floor. Wanting to check for herself, she pushed chakra to the veins in her eyes. "Byakugan."

The usual rush of visual input passed through Hinata's dōjutsu to be expertly dissected and categorized by her mind. Simultaneously Hinata became aware of several things.

Io-san was alive, her ribcage expanding and contracting with her weak breaths.

Several corridors down, an intricate web of chakra was weaved around Fujiwara's hospital room. Genjutsu.

Beneath the genjutsu, a man in a ROOT uniform had a limp Fujiwara thrown over his shoulder while Ino was standing unnaturally still despite the fervent flux of chakra localized in her brain, a pattern Hinata recognized as indicative of someone resisting Shinranshin no Jutsu.

The ANBU assigned to the hospital was nowhere to be found.

Genji had a scalpel concealed in his hand, the blade pressed to Io's neck underneath his fingers.

"Truly fascinating." The corners of Genji's lips twitched into a half-smile. "But as much as I'm enjoying seeing your kekkei genkai from this close, I'm going to have to ask you to deactivate it." He slid his fingers back, revealing the scalpel as he applied pressure. Small dots of blood bubbled up where the sharp edge had pierced Io's skin.

Without blinking, Hinata directed her chakra away from her eyes, byakugan slowly receding.

Genji smiled fully. "Thank you, Hinata-san. There's no need for things to get messy." He glanced down at Io. "Well, messier."

Maintaining the constant pressure of the scalpel, Genji slowly reached into his pocket. He carefully thumbed through what sounded like several glass vials before pulling one out. It was filled with a colourless liquid, already inserted into a syringe. Hinata's eyes darted between the syringe and the scalpel, mind racing through options and calculating probabilities.

Suddenly there was a gust of wind behind her. Instinctively, Hinata spun around. As she did, she saw Genji throw the syringe out of the corner of her eyes. Reaching out, her fingertips just missed the plastic edge of it when it was caught by another hand. Within the span of a breath, Hinata met the mask of a nae-ROOT member looming over her just as she felt the sharp pain of the needle being jammed into her neck.

Vision flickering, numbness spread through her body like wildfire. She couldn't feel her knees, dropping to the floor in a heap. Then everything was black, muffled sound the only sensation left.

"What should…with her? Not…supposed to be…Fujiwara."

"Take...perfect opportunity…expand…tests…"

That, too, faded and then there was nothing.

Dun dun dunnn. Will Hinata make it out alive? You'll need to wait to find out as I'll be taking a break just until things slow down irl, but it shouldn't be too long!

Thanks as always to all my readers ^^

MVH