Ch. 36

Let there be Drama

Part 1

Itachi yelped as his door was kicked in and he yanked his blanket up to cover his chest as his room was invaded by a dressed-up Moriko and Ryusuke. Itachi gawked at them before squinting at his clock to see that it was seven pm. He had been in the middle of a nap, in preparation to take the night shift of being Moriko's Anbu guard.

"Get dressed! We're going out partying tonight then sleeping at the Sarutobi compound so his Anbu guard can watch us for the night, everything's been cleared," she said with cheer as Mikoto entered Itachi's room as well, his mother beaming as she laid a nice shirt and pants on the bed.

Moriko Oooed happily seeing the clothing before she began muttering about accessories and started digging through Itachi's desk, looking for items that she knew he had.

Ryusuke chuckled as he held out a hand helping the disgruntled young man to his feet. Itachi sighed and pulled the shirt on over his bare chest. He frowned at how tight it was on his arms and chest before he pulled the pants on over his boxers. They hugged his ass but were comfortable on the thighs and still had range of motion.

He sighed as he buckled his belt and put his kunai pouch on the back. Moriko returned a moment later holding a necklace that he sometimes wore, and a few leather bracelets. She helped him put them on then had him sit so she could do his hair, pulling his bangs out of his face and leaving a few face-framing pieces out while she did a half-up up half-down hairstyle. Ryusuke chuckled and Itachi glared. The other man held up his hands in defense.

"Hey, don't glare at me, who do you think she got ahold of first, huh?" Ryusuke drawled with a smirk, his posture lazily slouched yet doing nothing to make the man look smaller.

Itachi eyed him critically taking in the short sleeve shirt that hung open, the leather corded necklace, the loose harem street pants he wore, his hair down for once.

Itachi looked over at Moriko to find that she was wearing a short body-hugging dress with a plunging open back and long sleeves with a square neckline. At the shoulders at the back of her neck, a golden chain connected the two sides of her dress to keep her sleeves from falling. At her throat, she wore a several golden chain chokers, a large gem of deep teal hanging like a pendant from the bottom choker chain.

Her hair was in an elaborate half up half down with a slender section of hair hanging down between her shoulder blades so her lovely back and backside weren't covered by her hair like normal. Her hair was pulled into two graceful swirls on each side at the back of her head with a couple face framing pieces hanging down, teal gems on gold chains dangling from her ears. On her wrists she wore a golden bangle bracelets on each that were loose, her nails painted an attractive coral. On her feet, she wore black high heels with red soles that made her long legs look all the more graceful.

Itachi looked away swiftly not wanting to get caught gawking as Ryusuke smirked at him and Moriko finished doing his hair.

"There, done," she murmured as she grinned at him, and he was able to see the makeup she wore. Her eyes were smoky, her lashes a sooty black, her lips and cheeks an alluring shade of coral. His eyes widened and he swallowed nervously. She laughed as she straightened sending him a flirty wink.

"Don't let clothes and a little makeup fool you Itachi, I'm still the same lunatic you were running from yesterday morning," she teased with a wink as his face flushed at being so obvious. Moriko smirked as she pulled him to his feet and began rushing him out the door and into the hallway where Sasuke and his father were. His father was smirking seeing his eldest so abnormally tongue-tied, and Sasuke's eyes were narrowed as he looked them over.

"If you don't snap out of it soon I'm going to tease you mercilessly allllllllll night Itachi~," Moriko said singsong before laughing at seeing how red his ears and neck were. He shot her an annoyed look and shunshined out of the house to get away from her antics and the smirking of his father's knowing looks. The other two followed him easily and soon they were exiting the gates of the compound into the main street.

"Moriko-sama!" called a young Hyuga woman who waved and dashed ahead leaving the group of other Hyuga behind. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the group having spotted Hizashi looking dressed up and very uncomfortable as they dragged the clan head along. So, the Hyugas must have been spying again and caught onto Moriko's intentions of going out for the night. Joy. He sighed, not looking forward to watching the uptight group awkwardly attempt to have fun.

The cheerful group of Hyuga seemed to have spotted something further up the street that had them all stopping, their cheerfulness dying a swift death and drawing the attention of Itachi's group. Turning they came to a stop spotting the Main branch Hyuga walking down the street. The other group came to a stop before them, the Main Branch looking them over with clear disapproval.

Hiashi's lips pursed as Hizashi straightened, eyes challenging under the displeased gaze of his elder brother.

"So, they have you chasing after this tart still. I've been hearing of the shameful antics of the Branch Clan for months now. I can't believe how far our family has fallen, chasing after a meaningless woman because she can do a few seals," said Hiashi smoothly as he gave a haughty sniff in his brother's direction. Hizashi's face was mottled with red fury, and he took a step forward before a redhead stepped between the two groups.

"You know, provoking Hizashi-san to fight you while there's a directive that keeps your two families separate constitutes as breaking the directive of the Hokage, Hyuga-dono. But what would I know, being just a worthless tart after all? I'm glad to know the best insult you can come up with for me is to call me sexy and to take note of my gender. Thank you Hyuga-dono, but you're not my type," she said dryly. One of the Main family sneered down at her as the man eyed her outfit with disdain.

"Oh? And what type is that? Hear that Hizashi-san, you're not her type," the Main Branch member mocked. Moriko's eyes were cold as she smiled.

"No. I don't go for child abusers. Or a man who has proven to be such a horrible father. After all, why would I ever subject my children to that," she murmured dead serious causing the street to go so quiet a pin could have dropped. The Hyuga elders looked startled at their dirty laundry being aired without care as several of the Main Branch Hyuga scoffed. Hiashi's face twisted with rage as he took an angry step forward.

"That useless, weak child nearly tore our clan apart! I did everything in my power to give her another chance, to protect her! And what did she do?! Failure after failure after failure to the increasing resentment of the Branch Clan! You act like they're angels like I'm the devil incarnate! You're an ignorant naive fool and I hope they take advantage of it," he snapped. Moriko smiled deeply, amusement in her eyes. Hizashi suddenly stepped forward, eyes riveted on a couple of Main branch members, the veins bulging around his eyes.

"Did you never take notice as to when she began failing so miserably? Tell me brother, who were Hinata's main teachers when she began regressing in her skills," Hizashi hissed as Hiashi's face froze.

"It's not our fault the girl was such a poor student. She needed to be toughened up," defended one of the Main Branch members as he gave a haughty sniff. Hizashi kept speaking ignoring the other man as he focused on a bewildered Hiashi.

"Why do you think his brother killed Hitomi? Hitomi had entered the main compound to finally speak up on what was happening to that poor girl, how her instructors were purposefully sabotaging her to further limit the Branch Clan down and they killed her for it," Hizashi snapped as Hiashi's eyes grew contemplative as he frowned. The Main branch member scoffed as the elders behind him shared startled looks, dawning realization on their faces.

"They are just trying to sow discord in our ranks. Don't listen to them Hiashi-sama," another young man argued. Moriko piped up, tone thoughtful.

"All of you are acting like Hinata is a failure… do you know how quickly your daughter is progressing now that she's out of your hands Hiashi? Has your clan taken the time to spy on her progress, I wonder?" she mused as the skin around the man's eyes tightened, the suspicion on his face growing as he looked at his clan member with sudden intensity as if he could discern the truth of their words. He didn't looks surprised at the news that his daughter had advanced, meaning the clan had been spying on the girl. Moriko's smile grew threatening as she realized they might be targeting the child. A few shadow clones appeared around her, the clones already heading swiftly in the direction of the Branch Family compound to set up seals and alert the Branch family of what was going on; a few more clones were heading for the Hokage residence and the Uchiha residence since the children might be in any of those locations.

"Oooooh, you have. Is that what this is about? She's finally showing some promise… and your Branch wants her back," she mused taking an educated guess. Hiashi stiffened and she couldn't help but burst into incredulous laughter, the cackles raising the hair on the back of their necks. Hiashi seemed to snap out of his thoughts to bravely shoulder on.

"If what you say was true then she was sabotaged and was released from the clan under the false pretenses of being a failure."

"Pretenses that your clan members concocted."

"She is my daughter."

"Not anymore," Moriko murmured, expression now deadly as she visibly contemplated murder, her eyes drifting to Hinata's old instructors as the men tried to sneer back to hide their discomfort. At the same time, Hiashi went still for a moment, feeling the first taste of killing intent starting to lace the air. Finding his resolve he straightened his eyes determined.

"Return her to us. Her being part of the Branch clan was never part of the agreement we made with the Hokage," he bit out as she smiled a predator's smile. They wanted her to return her little angel to their disgusting clutches? She could see the girl's shy smile in her mind's eye. Murder in broad daylight was starting to look more and more appealing to Moriko.

"True. That is why the Hokage and I are her guardians. As her guardian, I have asked the Branch Clan to assist in her training as a personal favor. They have been so kind as to oblige my request, and she has made friends in the clan," she said before continuing, speaking over an elder who tried to talk.

"She has a promising future in front of her as a powerful and talented kunoichi. Did you know? Last week she managed her first Kaiten? We were all so proud." She said as Hizashi seemed to gather himself before speaking up once more.

"As requested we have been training her. Hinata-hime has been doing well in the gentle fist and has been training diligently with Neji and the other children. She is also a lot happier now. We all are," he said with quiet pride as she gave him a proud smile of her own. She looked away to meet the Main Branch's furious eyes, the veins around them bulging.

"You think you can feed us this farce. We know the girl spends nights at their compound. She will be given to the Main branch, or we shall take this matter before the Hokage," accused an elder as she jabbed an accusing finger Moriko's way.

"If your spies are diligent then they should also know she spends nights at the Uchiha clan as well. It's almost as if she's spending nights at her friend's houses. If you wish to trouble the Hokage over his ward spending the night over at other friends' places… " she said with fake thoughtfulness.

The elder clenched her fist in anger before moving to walk past the group moving towards the Branch Compound, not back towards their own. Several more members did the same. It was clear that they were done talking and intended to take the girl by force from the Branch clan compound. When Hiashi turned to follow them, Moriko's furious voice halted the leaving group.

"You have broken the Hokage's decree to keep the clans separate, and you did so intending to renege on the bargain that allowed your clan to avoid the worst of their punishment for the murder of Hitomi Hyuga, only the guilty party being imprisoned for his actions. You were originally heading to the Branch clan to kick up a fuss, claim they broke the decree first, and try to pressure them to give you my child to hush things up. The most you have to stand on is the most minuscule of technicalities.

"Now you think you can just walk past me and take my daughter?" she snarled loudly as she followed after the group of Hyuga. She raised a hand to indicate that Itachi and Ryusuke stay back with the Branch clan members. The Main branch whirled to face her as they took fighting stances.

"She is still part of the Main branch never having received the caged bird seal that would indicate her status as a Branch clan member. She belongs to us," snapped one of the girl's previous instructors.

"Do you really think you can stop all of us?" demanded one of the elders as they began to circle her, preparing for a fight.

"Normally, I don't leave people alive for there to be a warning, so consider this a one-time boon, Hiashi Hyuga," she hissed as her killing intent filled the area around them, the ground cracking.

They froze and shook in terror, several of them hitting the ground as they struggled to breathe under the oppressive chakra pressure.

She walked calmly through the frozen group of shaking Hyuga, stepping on air till she was Hiashi's height so she could lean over and whisper in his ear.

"I know how hard it must have been to try to navigate that situation, to have her not meeting your expectations. I know you were stuck in a terrible situation with no good options because of the structure of the Main and Branch families. The truth is, I don't care if it was justified when any of you hurt her. The situation has changed and she's my child now. If you ever try to take my daughter from me again, they aren't going to find any of your bodies. There will be no proof, no trace, and if any of you ever manage to hurt her to get at me, I will show you seals that will make the Caged bird seal look like a joke," she said, just loud enough for the Main branch to hear. After a moment the killer intent disappeared and Moriko snatched Hiashi's face, forcing his wide frightened eyes to meet her dead serious ones.

"Repeat what I just told you," she demanded, making sure he hadn't mentally blanked out from the stress. He stuttered like his daughter still did and she nodded thoughtfully as she listened correcting a few points. The rest of the clan was running the direction they had come from like the devil was on their heels, leaving their shaking clan head to his fate.

"I-I didn't know she was b-being sabotaged," Hiashi gasped out. Moriko's smile was all teeth as the color in her eyes started to flicker as if it would change.

"But you knew they were hurting her. And you let it keep happening," she hissed as her nails began to dig into his cheeks drawing blood. She froze when a shadow latched onto her own. She released her gravitational seal to look over her shoulder at Ryusuke who was visibly starting to sweat under the strain of his technique. She sent him a wink to show him she wasn't about to lose control and he released the technique. Satisfied the man was thoroughly cowed she shoved him away and he staggered back, still shaken. After a moment his eyes widened when he realized she was standing in the air like it was nothing.

Horror flashed over his face at the realization of her skill. She wasn't just the typical sealing master that knew a few seals. He had heard of the sealing masters of old, the ones that could break the world like she was currently doing. When she had threatened to make the caged bird seal look like a joke, she hadn't been joking. With her skills it would be nothing for them to all disappear off the face of the planet. He scrambled to catch up with the rest of his fleeing clan.

She breathed deeply as she reeled in her temper from earlier and turned to face the shell-shocked group behind her.

"Holy fuck, I think that old bitch Anzu pissed herself," breathed Hamiko Hyuga before she burst into cackles of laughter, coming over to hug Moriko. The redhead yelped as she slipped off her floating barrier. The sight of her flailing for balance as Hamiko gleefully didn't help her regain it seemed to break the tension in the group and a few of them breathed sighs of relief. She stumbled to the ground before shooting the young woman a peeved look. When Hamiko only grinned wider Moriko huffed but let the young woman do as she pleased. It seemed to relax the tension further as the group chattered about what had happened, heading for their intended bar.

As they walked, Moriko suddenly turned to Hizashi as something Hiashi said registered and she felt a fool for not noticing it sooner, that Hizashi's clan had been pushing him to pursue her in marriage. While she didn't mind, she wasn't so sure about Hizashi's willing participation. She came to a stop, and he did as well, his uncertain expression nearly making her frown. That demonstration of her anger earlier had alarmed him, rightfully so.

"Your clan hasn't been free since its founding, Hizashi-san, and you haven't either. From your first breath, people have been forcing you to live with their decisions. The only repayment I want from the Branch Clan is for you to use that freedom and find someone who makes you happy. I offer up any favor I have with the Clan for this boon," Moriko said quietly as she looked to her right to meet Hizashi's startled gaze. His eyes widened at the sincere honesty that he saw in her eyes for his happiness.

Her fury earlier had been terrifying, the weight of that oppressive pressure nearly driving him to his knees. The sight of a mirror copy of his face clutched in her hand as his twin dutifully repeated back the death threats she had made had been horrifying and surreal. Her threats to use seals had set off a visceral part of him, the part that woke up in the middle of the night from another night terror, the phantom pains of the caged bird seal his only companion in the dark. But right here, right now she was as serious as when she had been threatening his brother. She was dead serious about giving him his freedom.

After a moment the fear seemed to finally simmer down and it clicked in his mind, what the Main Branch had been trying to do. They were trying to take Hinata. Moriko had been out of the village for two weeks, and they had been spying on the child. They had intended to take the child by force, and they knew Moriko was very fond of the child, the woman who had taken their slaves and servants from them. Hinata might have been hurt or killed 'accidentally' in the attempt to reclaim her if she had resisted too much. If they had managed to steal her back, they would have used her suffering to pressure the Uzumaki into doing what they wanted.

Well, they could have tried, but Hizashi was fairly certain the woman would have rescued the girl and pillaged the main branch, leaving carnage in her wake. And she would have left carnage, damn the consequences because the girl would have been hurt in a very short period of time. There were certain members of the Main Branch that were sadistic bastards. He was sure that they had wanted their favorite punching bag back having had it snatched out from under their noses.

In his memories he remembered the terrified girl fleeing the main branch dojo on more than one occasion as she turned ten, clearly wounded as she staggered away or limped as quickly as her wounds would permit. He remembered seeing a rotation of members of the main branch leaving that dojo as different instructors were called in to try to work with her, but there had always been three that stood out in his mind because she had always left swiftly and wounded. He remembered his resentment of all of them, even that poor girl. His son was so much stronger and yet his sweet Neji would never be able to outshine that abused little wallflower.

What the majority of the Main Branch hadn't known was that the treatment of the girl had grown further resentment in the clan because the Branch clan wasn't allowed to outshine the Main. And some of the Main Clan members took advantage of that, mainly those three men, traumatizing the girl further to set the bar lower and lower for the Branch Clan, to put them in their place.

Not that the Branch family could call them out for this little game those members of the Main family were playing. Hitomi hadn't backed down and had tried to tell Hiashi of what had been going on. She had been caught in the Main Branch quarters by one of those three instructors that were damaging the girl under the pretense of 'training.'

Hosuke had used the caged bird seal to fry her brain, claiming it had been self-defense, but it had been a clear message to the rest of the branch clan to keep their mouths shut or else. Hizashi could still remember the smell of burnt flesh as he had rounded the corner that day. The only thing that had saved him from the same fate had been the arrival of a furious Hiashi, being drawn by the bloodcurdling screams like Hizashi had been. If the Hokage hadn't acted when he had, Hizashi and the others would have acted on their plan to end the suffering of the clan in one fell swoop with a poisoned feast.

Better dead and free than trapped in that terrible situation.

Suddenly there had been quarantining, and the main branch started to fall sick as panic swept through the clan at rumors of a disease that would ravage them from the inside using their chakra to kill them. They found themselves out of their compound and in another one a day later, the Branch family reeling from all the sudden changes and the uncertainty.

The Hokage had called a meeting.

In walked the Hokage, his tall white-haired student, and a stranger with red hair and an appealing face. Their lives had changed forever.

No more being forced to do things he didn't want to, being forced to have a child. He loved his son dearly, but he hadn't wanted Neji to be born into this life of unending slavery and servitude. When the old Oba had indicated who they wanted him to marry, he had almost gone along with the demand out of habit before he realized he didn't have to. But there were further forms of coercion and he had grudgingly gone along with it at first, if only out of guilt. He had hurt her greatly. After all she had done for his family, him taking the gifts himself as Clan Head had been the least he could do to show her the proper respect.

Then Jiraiya had told his clan he needed to be buffer, more fit, sweaty, and handsome. He had resentfully resisted, and the clan had gleefully taken to hounding and attacking him to force him back into shape.

And she stepped in to shield him from the harassment, more times now than he could count, the young woman not having realized till now it seemed, that they had been pushing him to marry her. He knew she hadn't realized it till now because the moment she had, she was offering to put a stop to it. She wasn't going to cage him. She hadn't tried to take advantage of the Clan's gratitude or his guilt. She did things because she genuinely cared like how she had taken in Hinata and protected her as fiercely as if she were her own child.

And she was offering him the true freedom to follow his desires at great cost to herself since he knew she would need political support to join the Clan council. But her eyes were unwavering as they held his.

In that moment, staring at that lovely, grim face he felt certainty that he was looking at the person that he would feel safe holding his heart.

Behind the two, the Hyuga were holding their breath, a bit awestruck by the serious but heartfelt moment that had devolved in front of them. Ryusuke's eyebrows had risen in surprise at the sincerity in her words as he read between the lines of what she was saying and the man's reaction.

'She knows the clan is pushing him to pursue a political marriage, but she wants him to pursue his own happiness, giving up any favors she has with the clan to secure his freedom to follow his heart, damn.' He thought, knowing what a big deal this was. Having such a large favor from the Hyuga was not something to be taken lightly and using it to secure someone's freedom for love was huge. She was showing how much she valued his happiness over any gain she could have gotten out of such favors. And he could tell from the growing awestruck look on Hizashi's face that the man had understood what she was doing for him. Ryusuke took an educated guess that Hizashi's wants had never been so prioritized by someone before. She had freed the man and now offered to free his heart.

After a moment Hizashi's eyes softened into something warm and soft as he took her hand, a small smile covering his lips.

"Save your favor for another day. If you do not object to me, I think I'm right where I want to be," he murmured as he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb, his smile soft and shy. Her eyes widened in the realization that despite being faced with the freedom to pursue his own choice, he wanted to pursue her of his own volition instead of being pushed into it. Her cheeks blushed red before something fond and sad filled her eyes as she squeezed his hand back. She suddenly began walking down the street before she turned to grin at the large group of people.

"Come on guys, let's get a move on," she called with cheer, the sadness in her eyes neatly hidden by the cheer. Ryusuke quirked a brow as he thought about what he had seen, meeting Itachi's somber eyes.

'Did you see the same thing?' Ryusuke asked in Anbu sign.

'Yes. It's always been that way. She pulls away for a while afterward,' Itachi signed back.

'She's hiding something. She doesn't think she has a future with anyone,' Ryusuke signed, and Itachi stopped walking for a moment, brown furrowed before he slowly looked up, stunned realization in his eyes.

'I think you're right.' Itachi signed face grave. Ryusuke's lips pursed as he looked where Moriko had situated herself between the Hyugas talking animatedly with the group, laughing as they talked. She wasn't snubbing Hizashi, but people were now being pulled into the conversation to create some distance with the man who was still gazing at her with those soft lovestruck eyes. Ryusuke nearly snorted incredulously. He hadn't thought those with the Byakugan could look like that, he had always found such light eyes to be creepy, not endearing. He wondered if the Sharingan could convey such emotions and snorted as he shook his head looking at Itachi. Well, he supposed he would find out soon enough.

AN: to be continued... tune in next episode!