Fallen Heights:

A/N:

Yep, here I am again,with another new Fanfic. This one's based on a Plot Bunny that was born yesterday in my head, on "what if the Hyuugas were massacred, not the Uchihas?" Reviews welcomed, and encouraged in fact, since I'm trying to apply Show-Don't-Tell more to my work, and need to know if it's working or not.

Prologue:

Hizashi looked into the darkening sky, with… regret. Hyuugas were not supposed to regret. They had to master their emotions, to keep their faces masks and their souls pure. As pure as they could, considering the circumstances. After all, how pure could you be, when you consigned your own family, your own brother and his descendants to lives of servitude?

Hands clenched into fists, the normally stoic Hyuuga frowned. For a moment, the moon reminded him of the Byakugan, seeing without limit. He wanted to pluck it out of the sky; just he wished to pluck the Byakugan from his own face… That was what it came down to. The enslavement of your own family, for this. This Bloodline Limit, that transcended the sacred bonds of family.

The worst part was that it worked. The system was hateful, but undoubtedly effective. If a member of the Branch House was kidnapped, they might cry, and mourn their passing, (for no Hyuuga would consider trading for the life of a slave, no matter how close they had been in life,) but then they would nod, and say that the Byakugan was safe, and its secrets remained wholly Hyuuga, and then they would forget. After all, slaves could not hope to stand against their masters, when they were raised from birth to serve, to protect.

Hizashi could not forget, though. He was the head of the Branch House, a great honour amongst the Hyuuga. He was the brother, the twin of the head of the Main House, and thus was present for every occasion that Hiashi-Sama used the Caged Bird seal to kill those Hyuuga unfortunate enough to be captured. He remembered their names, because nobody else would.

"Tou-San?" He glanced down, from the perfect orb of the moon to the wide eyes of his son, Neji. Neji… the pride of his life. His legacy. Hizashi put on the other mask he wore when Hiashi was not around; the mask of the generous father. Kneeling down, he grinned, putting Neji at ease.

"Yes, Neji?"

"Hinata-Sama wanted to take me out, to celebrate me getting into the academy. Do you mind if we go now?" Neji's eyes were hopeful, and he had that smile, the one that promised he would behave himself for the next month. Hizashi kept his smile strong, and closed his eyes.

"Of course you may, Neji." His son wrapped his arms around him, and laughed. It was like the chirping of birds, and Hizashi frowned on the inside, being reminded of the reason for his anger tonight. Tomorrow would be the day that Neji was… marked, scarred for life with the Caged Bird Seal. He looked past Neji, and saw the eldest daughter of Hiashi waiting nervously for him. Hinata. She was a kind chid, and gentle, but in the Hyuuga clan, those were not the qualities expected of the Clan heir. She may have been kind, and gentle, but she was weak, first and foremost, and Neji was strong.

And yet, she will be the one to inherit Hiashi's title, whilst Neji will be a slave in all but name. It maddened him, how to the Hyuuga, all was considered well, and in order, so long as the members of the Main House remembered to call their slaves 'cousin' or 'uncle'. Hinata noticed him looking at her, and blushed, before trying to hide herself behind a column. The girl was simply unsuitable for this life. If he had not suggested to her to take Neji out tonight, he doubted she would have had the initiative to come up with it on her own.

"Thank you, Tou-San!" Neji said, before releasing him from the hug. "Let's go, Hinata!"

"H-Hai, Neji-niisan…" Hinata looked at the floor as Neji took her by the hand and led her out of the Hyuuga compound. Hizashi stood to watch them go. No sooner had they left than Hiashi himself returned. The man was only Hizashi's elder by a few seconds, but he seemed years older.

"How is your wife, Hiashi-Sama?" As courtesy demanded. Both twins knew that he cared nothing for the woman that had doomed his son to slavery by giving birth to Hinata.

"She is fine, for now. They say that she will give birth sometime in the night, but she told me to return here, and sleep." Hiashi's eyes, normally sharp and suspicious of everything, were dull with weariness, as he made his way towards his brother. Hizashi smiled, his mask perfectly in place, his mind on… different things. As Hiashi reached him, he struck out. The killing-intent, if Hiashi had sensed it earlier, would have earned him the mind-numbing pain of the Caged Bird Seal, but Hizashi was too smart for that. By concentrating on other things, calming things, he could avoid leaking his killing-intent, until Hiashi was too close to form the seals necessary to disable a member of the Branch House. There was only one image that could keep him so calm, and suppress his killing-intent; that of Neji, a grown man, his forehead clear of the Caged Bird Seal.

Hiashi's eyes widened in shock, just for a moment, for that was all the time he had before Hizashi's Jyuuken strike hit his heart, and destroyed it. He looked at his brother, and gripped the sleeves of his robes, even as blood trickled from his mouth. He would drown on the blood leaked by his ruptured heart, and both twins knew already that Hiashi's death was mere seconds away. The Hyuuga head was shaking, involuntary tremors from muscles that no longer had the oxygen they would have, and Hizashi kept the smile on his face, the gentle smile he had perfected so well.

"T-tem…" Hiashi could not finish the sentence, his mouth filling with blood, but both twins knew what he was trying to say. He spat the blood over Hizashi's robes, his eyes strangely defiant, even in the face of his impending death.

"Do not worry, brother. I will not harm Hinata this night," Hizashi said in response, both sickened and relieved to see the indifference on Hiashi's face. Even he knew that Hinata was a failure, a disgrace to the Hyuuga. Hizashi knelt in his brother's blood, and brought his mouth close to his ear. "I cannot promise the same for your other child," he whispered, and delighted in the widening of his brother's eyes in silent fury, before they grew dull.

Hizashi glanced at the moon again, and looked down at his brother's face, suddenly peaceful. His fingers itched, and he knew what he must do. Quick as a snake, or the Heron that the Hyuuga often compared themselves to, his hand flashed twice, and when he uncurled his hand, there were two eyeballs lying in his palm. They were, after all, the most important items for a Hyuuga, these eyes. With utmost reverence, he placed them in a pouch, before he stood.

"Byakugan," he whispered, and his eyes flickered into their second sight. A quick glance behind him showed him all he needed to. There had been at least one member of the Branch House watching, and they were already moving, gathering the others. He did not care. Aside from Hiashi, nobody in the Hyuuga Clan could match him.

As he deactivated his Byakugan, he felt a slight burning sensation on his forehead, and irritably scratched at it, before freezing. Where before he would have felt the sickly smooth texture of the seal stretching across his head, there was nothing… No, wait, there were fragments remaining, but in the centre… His fingers traced what seemed to be the outline of a bird, and Hizashi grinned, this time without the aid of a mask, as he turned to face those that stood in his path.

"Hizashi…" one of them, a woman said, her voice low and dangerous. He remembered her. Hyuuga Yuki. She was the daughter of a cousin of his. Hiashi had not hesitated to sacrifice her father Hoshi for the sake of the Hyuuga secrets. Yet she had forgotten him, and Hizashi had been the only one to remember.

"Yuki-neesan," he replied, deceptively calm. "Do you mean to fight me?" Slowly, he slipped into the Jyuuken stance, and a half-dozen other Branch Members followed suit.

"What have you done?" Yuki said, as she activated her Byakugan.

"The Caged Bird…" Hizashi activated his Byakugan, mildly surprised by what he saw. "Has broken free!" As he said that, he rushed into combat, against friends and family, knowing that for every one he killed, there was one less who would demand Neji be marked.

…

"Hinata-Sama," Neji said, and grinned at his cousin. A year younger than him, Hinata, in many ways, saw him as her idol, the bar of achievements that she had to meet. Such a position, of course, fuelled Neji to try even harder, to prove that he was the best, though he bore Hinata no ill will, and on occasion even held back, to make her seem stronger than she was. It was one of many small kindnesses the cousins shared.

"Hai, Neji-niisan?" Hinata returned the smile nervously, and unconsciously gripped his sleeve.

"You're the best cousin I could ask for." He delighted in the glowing expression on her face, and her muttered thanks. So intent on the face of his cousin, and her reactions, Neji didn't notice the shinobi standing in front of them, until he bumped into the back of his leg. He looked up, and saw the fan of the Uchiha clan on the back of the shinobi, who looked down at him with red-and-black eyes that were never still.

"Hyuugas, eh? We'll need to ask you two a couple of questions,"

"W-Why? Wh-What has happened?" Hinata clutched at Neji again, who stood between her and the Uchiha. He was to be her protector, after all.

"Nothing, good, Hyuuga-San. Nothing good at all."

"This is the heir of the Hyuuga Clan, Hinata-Sama, and I am the son of the Branch Head, Neji! Answer our questions!" Neji sounded more forceful than he felt, and the Uchiha, with those endlessly moving eyes, saw the bluff.

"Kid, it's best if you don't ask too many questions at the moment. We're still trying to figure things out, you kno-"

"Shisui-niisan, you are required elsewhere." Shisui tsked.

"Aw, Itachi-niisan! And I was having such fun as well!" The one who had ordered him was barely older than Neji and Hinata, but he had a fully-developed Sharingan, and was giving orders to a Jounin, of all people.

"Y-you… Uchiha Itachi…" Itachi glanced at the two Hyuugas, and Shisui laughed nervously.

"I'll be going, then," he said, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"W-What happened, I-Itachi-San?" The Uchiha prodigy gave some consideration to his answer, as if unsure of how to tell a pair of children what had happened, before shrugging, and deciding to be truthful, as he usually was.

"Murder. No, not murder. A massacre." Hinata gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

"T-Tou-San! Ka-San!"

"Your mother is fine, and in hospital. Your father… Hiashi-San is dead."

"Who did this? Who? Have you caught him?" Neji was practically foaming at the mouth. Who would dare such an outrage, tonight of all nights?

"We… have our suspicions, but whoever it is has already fled the village."

"Wh-who do y-you think d-did it?"

"There are a few suspects; Orochimaru and Kumo-nin amongst them," Itachi said, but frowned. "However, there is no reason for one such as Orochimaru to destroy the Hyuuga clan, at such great risk to himself, and the Kumo-nin in Konoha have all been confirmed to have stayed at their hotel for the duration of today, under watch by ANBU for just such an occurrence."

"Then who? Who could do this?" Neji shook with anger, and it was only Hinata's tight grip on his robes that stopped him from rushing at the Uchiha.

"Hyuuga Hizashi was not found amongst the dead, and his skills surpass any other Hyuuga, save for his brother, Hiashi. I believe that he killed Hiashi in an ambush, before moving on to the others."

"Impossible! Tou-San… He would never do this! He…" Neji went numb. He wouldn't, would he? Not Tou-San…

"Itachi…" Itachi glanced at Shisui, who was approaching solemnly, in the manner of a man who knows he will hurt someone with his actions, but must follow through anyway. "We… found a message. It is for Neji-San." He held out a scroll, and, shaking, Neji took it. It felt heavy, almost unbearably so, and his whole body quivered as he opened it.

Neji, as you are reading this, I will no longer be in Konohagakure. My actions tonight… will forever brand me as a missing-nin, and deprive you of a father. However, that is the price I paid to bring you an even greater joy…

"No!" Neji held the scroll at arm's length, eyes wide with shock, already beginning to water. Hinata, nervously, took the scroll from him, and as she read, she began to cry as well. The two Uchihas, looking nervously at one another, decided to take a step back.

I have defied fate, my son, and delivered you from the slavery that awaited you. I understand that you will not realise yet what I have saved you from, but in time, I hope that you can forgive me for my actions, and realise that they were necessary. In the end, no matter what comes, be it imprisonment or death, my fate is irrelevant, so long as you push yourself to new heights, greater than mine.

Hyuuga Hizashi.

"Are... A-Are there… a-any survivors?" Hinata looked at Itachi and Shisui, a brief flicker of hope in her eyes.

"Your mother, and the child she carries. They are at Konoha hospital…" Itachi began, but glanced up when a member of ANBU, wearing a cat-like mask, landed softly behind the Hyuugas, a bundle in her arms.

"Hinata-San, this is your sister," the ANBU said, but her voice was hollow. Even the children could see that there was something wrong.

"A-and… K-Ka-San?" Hinata was shaking more than ever as Neji took the bundle from the ANBU.

"I am… sorry to report that Hyuuga Hikari died in childbirth. Hiashi-Sama will be saddened." The ANBU noticed the four of them flinching, and frowned behind her mask. Hinata dropped to her knees, and wailed, leaving the unfortunate ANBU to send a pleading glance, or at least, as pleading as possible, through her cat-mask at the two Uchihas.

"Shisui, show her," Itachi said simply, and the older Uchiha nodded, and beckoned for the ANBU to follow him.

"W-Wait! D-does she have a n-name?" Neji was mildly surprised at the quiver in his voice. That was something Hinata-Sama would do…

"Hai. Hikari-Sama called her Hanabi."

"Hanabi…" Neji looked down at the little girl he carried, who was absently reaching for him with her stubby baby-arms. What was he supposed to do with this bawling infant, who grabbed and screamed and cried continuously? He muttered a thanks to the ANBU when she took the baby from him, seeing his hesitation around it.

"Such an… unfortunate day to be born," Itachi said quietly behind them. "Almost as unfortunate as Uzumaki, to be born on that day."

"Shut up." Neji glared at the Uchiha, who was relatively unfazed. "Don't… Don't say anything."

"N-Neji-niisan?" he averted his gaze from Itachi, and immediately knelt face-to-face with Hinata.

"Hai, Hinata-Sama?"

"I-It… It was his f-fault. Your father…" Her eyes were hard, and held hatred for the first time that Neji had ever seen them.

"Hin-"

"Why? Why d-did he… You're his son, Neji!" Hinata grabbed him by the shoulders, and roughly shoved him backwards. Neji, shocked, did not attempt to fight back.Hinata had never pushed him before. She had never shown any signs of aggression.

"He killed them!" she screamed at him, and dug her nails into the flesh of his arm. "Why?"

"Hinata-Sama, please!"

"He did it for you! It's your fault!" the Hyuuga heiress, oblivious to her surroundings, concentrated on one thing only, that of the boy in front of her – His son. Her hand curled into a fist, and she brought it crashing down into Neji's face, though he didn't cry out. That enraged her even more, and she punched him, again and again, with Neji not attempting to even defend himself. It wasn't until the ANBU pulled her off her cousin that the rage faded, and she sobbed again.

"They're all dead!" she screamed, sobbing hysterically, before looking at the boy who had, moments before, been her best friend. There would be bruises on his face, for certain, but he stood as if nothing had happened.

"Hinata-Sama," he said curtly, and bowed, before walking into the Hyuuga compound. The moon, shining so bright, disappeared behind a cloud.

EDIT:

I'm going to give you guys a choice now, should I continue the fic from either:

A: The next day, with Hinata aged 5 and Neji 6

B: Graduation, with Hinata aged 12 and Neji 13 (If you pick this, feel free to include who you'd like to see as team-mates of Hinata, though Neji will still most likely be in Team Gai)

C: Post Timeskip, where Hinata is a 15 year old Chuunin and Neji a 16 year old Jounin.

I'll wait about a week, or unless I have an overwhelming majority for one of these choices. Whether you choose to make your choice via review or PM doesn't really matter.