Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
My Mother
When I was five, I asked my father about my mother.
My father had never spoken of her. Always, whenever I had brought up the question, he had looked at me with strangely soft eyes, but kept silent and shook his head. It was a very Father-like response. He didn't speak out much, but went about things with a sort of grim purpose. Like he had something very important to do, something that ate at him and wouldn't stop until he had done it. Something that left him feeling very bitter.
He wouldn't tell me who my mother was.
…
When I was eight, I asked my teacher about my mother.
I had made friends with some of my Academy classmates, so I knew that the other children had mothers. I saw them running alongside elegant women dressed in kimonos, or being taught their family ninjutsu by kunoichi who closely resembled them. Those were what mothers were like. I saw some children being carried by their fathers while their mothers walked alongside. I wondered why I felt so strange at first, and then I realized that I had never been like that.
Lee-sensei had just looked at me, with tears forming in his eyes. He told me to wait and be patient. That maybe someday, I would find out who my mother was.
…
When I was twelve, I asked my sensei about my mother.
She had come to our house to pay her respects to the family and discuss matters of my training with my father. The conversation was short, brief, and to the point. I had heard that sensei and my father were former team-mates since Genin days, but they had drifted apart after their team was made to break up. I would have thought that they would have talked more about their past, but all they discussed was my future, as one of the heirs of the Hyuuga branch house.
Tenten-sensei had looked at me with a brittle expression and told me not to concern myself with who my mother was, but to focus on doing her proud.
…
When I was fifteen, I asked Hanabi-sama about my mother.
Since my father was the official guardian of Hinata-sama, the soon-to-be head of the Main House, I was tasked with being the guardian of her younger sister, the next in line. Hanabi-sama seemed very wise in the ways of the Hyuuga house, and I thought that maybe she might have insight as to why no one would speak of my mother.
She whispered under her breath to wait for the Rokudaime Hokage. I didn't see how a future Hokage would help me find out who my mother was, since our Godaime was doing fine.
…
When I was eighteen, I asked the Hokage who my mother was.
It was a little strange, meeting the new leader of the village as one of his top jounin, and asking him about personal issues. But at this point, I had almost given up, and only the fleeting memory of Hanabi-sama's whisper had kept any hope still alive of finding her. Of course, my sensei and other teammates had left the room immediately, sensing that I wanted to be left alone to hear the answer.
The Hokage had rested his blue/red eyes speculatively on them as they exited the room, then focused on me. He said it was not surprising that I didn't know yet, but I would be forced to wait a little while longer until he could tell me.
…
When I was twenty, Hinata-sama succeeded her father.
The Hokage moved to abolish the Branch and Main Houses of the Hyuugas.
Hanabi-sama released me from my duties to find my own destiny.
Lee-sensei came over to celebrate with the rest of my former class and teammates.
My father no longer had a look of bitterness around him.
…
And Tenten-sensei, after twenty years of banishment from the House for a forbidden marriage, hugged me for the first time.
I had found my mother.
Author's Notes: There. My gift to the NejiTen community and fans who first supported me in my initial fanfic writings. Now that Five Pins has been fully understood (thanks to Silence-Darkness), I suddenly gained the insight and ability to write another NejiTen fic from the heart. This was also written in the middle of the night, in very much the same mood that possessed me when I wrote Five Pins. A lot of things have been left unsaid, but I hope you'll be able to read between the lines to sense the undercurrents behind the story. And I'm hoping that the soul of the piece shines through, at least. I know I poured my heart into this, probably my last and final conclusion to the natural progression my NejiTen oneshots have taken. Please read and review.