Rumored

"This is unbearable! How can we not visit her?" Kiba yelled at the gates of the Hyuuga estate, trying to be annoying to the guards that were ignoring them. "I mean come on, we could probably sneak in without the guards noticing anything!" He yelled near one of the guard's ears. The guard stood still, painfully absorbing all of the yells Kiba was throwing.

After a while of intense yelling Kiba backed down and sulked near Shino.

"Calm down, at least she's back up on her feet." Shino said stiffly through his collar.

"On her feet?! They probably chained her up and are making her cry or something like that!" The guard's temper snapped just then at Kiba's comment. He stepped forward face to face to Kiba even though Kiba was taller than him he took him on.

"How dare you. We would never harm Hinata-sama, what motive do we have?" He was obviously younger than her, but showed admiration that the older branch members would have scowled at. Kiba took on this challenge.

"You're a branch member; all of Konoha knows that you're out to get her." Kiba spat, venom coating his voice.

The branch member paled, readjusting his headband that covered his forehead. "I-I'm not like that! No one would dare hurt Hinata-sama! She's kind and gentle…" He blushed when he remembered their meeting the day before. "She's not what the elder's make her out to be!" He rambled on.

Kiba ignored the young branch member guard. "Can't believe we can't see her…" Kiba mumbled, "Maybe we can just knock this guy out and catch her by surprise. He's just a lousy branch member, we can take him." Kiba was about to go on with his plan, but….

"What about the branch members, Inuzuka Kiba-san?" Neji asked as he stepped outside from the gates Kiba was just so desperate to pass. Kiba gave a nervous and surprised expression all in one face.

"Nothing about them Neji, ah ha." He said nervously. "I heard you got upgraded to blue division captain, congrats." Kiba attempted rather weakly in flattering the older anbu.

"Thank you. If its Hinata-sama that you want to see, you should give her some more time to get used to the situation at hand." Neji wasn't at all keen with the idea of Kiba and Shino being around her. They would be unwanted in his eyes and he wouldn't want anything else to trouble the unfortunate girl.

"Situation? She's going to be the same Hinata-chan we all have known and love. She wouldn't have changed at all; both me and Shino know how she'll react to us!" Kiba argued, shifting his stance to a more competitive one, a fist in the air. Shino leaned against the Hyuuga's stone wall/gate and relaxed himself.

"Yes, she is the same Hinata we all know, but how will she react to you when she suddenly sees you 5 years older than when she last saw you?" The Hyuuga stared at Kiba, waiting for a response.

Kiba knew that he would surprise her, he knew that anyone would be surprised to see all their friends turn suddenly 5 years older, but that wasn't what he was troubled about. It was the fact that she might actually reject him .

Hinata, to Kiba, was a very naïve girl. She was gullible, kind, and was very self-conscious. She was weak, Kiba hated to admit it even to himself. Physically she could make it one her own for a while. Who knows how she is now, only if they would let him through to see!

"Well we won't know how she'll react unless we see. How did she react to you?" Neji was calm and answered Kiba in the politest way he could.

"Hinata-sama, was very kind when she saw me, I wasn't much of an impact in her life before…" Neji trailed on, regretting his ignorance to her when he was 16, wishing that he was kinder to her for her to understand how he grew to love her more even with her absence. "But you, you've been with her through tougher times than I have, do you not expect her to be shocked at how much you've changed?"

"Quit questioning me! I know she'll be shocked. I mean look at me? Who wouldn't get shocked at this?" Kiba gestured and twirled to show Neji his body, being cocky about it. Of course Kiba was mad to the point he was doing silly things, but he was furious with the twenty questions Neji was throwing at him.

"Precisely why we should give her some more time to adjust, since you apparently think everyone gets shocked when they see you. Now if you make more fuss out here Hinata-sama will likely hear you, you don't want to give her a bad first impression do you? Yelling at the front of a gate and insulting your superiors is hardly any way to impress a lady such as her."

Kiba blushed from embarrassment and frustration. His crush on the girl—now woman—was discovered somewhere in the 5 year gap she had disappeared in. Everyone noticed how quiet he was when she got into a coma.

Shino recalled such a moment even before then, when Kiba would have one of his silent fits. It was at their first Chuunin exams event, before anything bad had gone wrong with Naruto. Hinata had gone to cheer him up right before Naruto's match. That had made Kiba confused and jealous, even if he didn't know it.

"Well, you! You probably uh…" Kiba stopped, his eyes roaming the area. From the road they were on to the gate that was closing shut. "Hey! Neji, I was talking to you!! Don't just walk away!" Kiba stomped his foot onto the ground causing dust to rise into the air.

"Kiba, he's gone." Shino spoke, short and to the point.

"I know that!" Kiba yelled back, a frustrated blush on his cheeks again.

Along the side of the road, beyond Kiba's and Shino's eyes' view someone had overheard their conversation.

"You should stop yelling…" Shino's voice disappeared as the unknown eavesdropper walked away with the information that many had not known about, ready to spread it around like a virus.

The true heiress to the Hyuuga has returned!

Neji walked into the green and luscious garden that was to surround Hinata's part of the main building complex. The flowers were blooming as if greeting him. Neji convinced himself that visiting Hinata would only be an added plus as he was going to visit Hiashi in the main house anyway.

He entered the traditional old-fashioned house. The very maids wearing kimonos, he felt as though time here was back in the day (from whatever time period they are in now).

The rice paper doors and the repetitive pattern of squares along it were hypnotic and called no attention when passing by.

It has only been a couple of days since Neji spoke to Kiba and Shino. Although he wasn't all that sure that it was a good idea to speak about such matters in public.

Approaching the sliding doors that led to the master of house, he knelt on one knee and asked for permission to enter.

The low approving mumble from behind the screen allowed him to enter.

"Hiashi-sama, I have news that concerns Hinata-sama and her awakening." Hiashi was looking at the stacks of books on his desks, running back and forth between them while listening to Neji who continued to ramble on.

"Well?" Hiashi said in between glances of two ancient books.

"The rumor that she has woken up and is in search of a…suitable partner has risen in the village sir. I'm quite sure that it has gone to lengths as far as to many villages across the land…" Neji hesitated, he knew that the older Hyuuga was staring at him now, giving him his full attention as he put the two books down.

"Neji, please come in." Hiashi motioned towards one of the wooden chairs, but Neji gracefully declined with the flick of his wrist. He slid the doors shut and waited for him to respond.

"What do you think?" He asked, Neji took a moment to look confused then caught himself.

"Excuse me sir?" Neji questioned, not understanding his question.

"That rumor must have caught the interest of many strong ninjas out there…" He left the situation hanging for Neji to figure out.

"You want strong men to know of your daughter?" He was skeptical, his voice showing hints of disgust.

"Of course I want them to know of her, she's the heiress! I need her to find someone acceptable." The thought was acceptable enough for Neji; he sat down in a chair in front of Hiashi's desk, where he had situated himself.

Hiashi's hands wandered across the wooden desk and whistled to grab a pen. He waited for Neji's reaction, seeing if Neji was at all interested in his daughter. Marrying among cousins was common enough and allowed almost everywhere. He decided to push Neji a little further.

"Unless you think…that you're the only other man beside me that she needs to be with?" Neji's face flustered the slightest bit, but he regained composure too soon for Hiashi's likings. Neji thought about it, seeing as Hiashi was trying to push him, he couldn't tell if he was bluffing though. So Neji tried with a bluff of his own…at least he thought it was a bluff.

"She needs me more than she realizes, I'm sure that we can have only you and I as the only men in her life." Sounding as convincing as he can, he saw that he got a rise out of the old man.

"Yes, I'm sure that could be arranged." He said awkwardly, coughing to try to stay cool. "But at any rate, many fine eligible men are coming to meet her. It's too late for final decisions…She must find a husband!" He stated finally, the awkwardness had not faded entirely.

Neji's feet glided across the tatami mat when he stood, making small noise as he did so, and he added a comment to the conversation almost stiffly.

"Yet you don't let her out of her own manor to see her friends, or maybe someone she might have liked." He thought rather sickly that any man out there was good enough for her, the sweet girl knows.

"Her friends could not prevent her coma to happen, I don't expect them to protect her as friends much less protect her as a wife." Hiashi pressed. "We've talked about her going out; we can't have that…what if something happens to her?"

"I'll be there to protect her, you shouldn't worry." Neji moved to take his leave, waiting for that old man to approve of Hinata seeing her friends again. Hiashi gripped the pen in his hand and made a resolve.

"You must protect her, Neji-kun, as if you were protecting me."

I will protect her even more than that. Neji smiled wryly at the man and nodded his head.

Hinata knew she was being kept inside for her safety, but she didn't know that it would be so annoying. The restrictions that were put on her, she was already 20, she could take care of herself. She huffed, walking into around into incense filled room that was to be her room for the time being.

She doubted that anyone knew of her waking up, besides her family and the hokage. She sat down on a cushion in front of the huge vanity that supplied many jewels and ornaments, none of which she took particular interest in. She stared at herself, plain with no makeup, her hair straight and almost reaching to the floor as she sat on a soft cushion.

When had her eyes become so devious looking? They looked narrowed, but still very wide at the same time. Her cheeks were pink against ivory skin, her fingers ghosting the skin there.

Where had her body gone? She thought. She was still the 15 year old girl in the inside, but her body was that of 20 years…20 years! She mildly cursed at the person who had put her in a coma for 5 years, whoever it was.

She combed her hair with an irritation she never knew she had. There was a scuffle at the door as someone asked to come in, she let them, her irritations slowly fading. She didn't understand why no one had told her what happened back then, when they were fighting…she remembered. But she didn't remember who she was fighting with, or who she was fighting for.

"Hinata-sama, it's almost time for dinner. Your father will be waiting for you in the dining room along with some guests. Would you like some help getting prepared?" The maid scanned her attire with weary eyes. She was one of the elderly maids that had helped her with most of her needs.

"O-Oh, um yes, I-I don't know w-what to do…I mean my h-hair hasn't been this l-long before and I…" The elderly maid shushed her politely as she motioned for some other maids to help Hinata, she picked up strands of Hinata's hair, analyzing it.

"Yes, I don't remember your hair ever being this long before. Your hair seems to be more nourished than before, there's a shine to it now. Luckily you've been here for a week using the shampoos we've provided…haven't you?" The elderly maid brushed through Hinata's hair, as others went to fetch her an outfit for dinner.

"I d-do, they r-really smell familiar." They both smiled. The other maids, they were young, Hinata noted, found two outfits for her. They set both of them out to the right of her, weighing them in their hands to see which one she would pick.

One was a simple white blouse that cuffed at the ends of the sleeves with a long black skirt that slit at the sides, showing a generous amount of leg.

The other was a kimono that she never once has seen before in her wardrobe. It was very ornate and seemed difficult to put on, but she could see from just glimpsing at it that it would be revealing her chest a bit too much for her liking.

She sighed, "Who are the guests that my father has invited so eagerly to dinner?" The stuttering not showing because her irritation had clouded much of her mind. The maids found that topic a bit off from them trying to figure out what outfit to wear, but they answered willingly.

"Some men from nearby the country, they are quite wealthy or so I've heard…" They glimpsed at each other, clearly they gossiped between chores.

"I see…and my father chose these outfits for me?" They looked surprised to see that she guessed right and nodded. She knew what her father was doing. She was distressed in picking outfits, but she picked the first of the two, finding that it was easier to put on.

They spent a moment on her hair deciding to wave it. She noted the expensive earrings they had her wear and found them too dazzling for her. A voice from the door questioned if she was there.

"Hinata-sama? Are you ready?" Neji's deep soothing voice gave Hinata comfort from the women who stared at her. She shied away from the mirror, not bothering to look at her appearance any more. She felt embarrassed as her skirt skimmed her legs every time she walked.

When she came out of the room, the maids long gone in a different exit, she hesitated. Neji looked at her quizzically, but realized what she was wearing. He struggled to remain composed, almost failing on several accounts. She blushed all too much to bear.

"I-Is it too m-much..?" She whimpered, they began to walk as she twirled her fingers.

"O-Of course not. You look absolutely stunning." He stuttered as a blush dominated his cheeks. She smiled, though she didn't know what else to say.

"If you d-don't mind me asking…but w-why are you here?" She asked, still too embarrassed to look him in the eyes for too long.

"They've decided to take the dinner to a restaurant, I'm to make sure you aren't to be harmed while remaining unnoticed by the…men." He didn't seem to like the 'men' at all.

"He's letting me out? B-But I thought t-that I was to keep a low profile from…others?" She wasn't confident in her statement that it came out as a question. Neji made a disgusted face at the thought of Hiashi.

"Apparently there has been a change of plans, now that you've been rumored to many of the countries. There will be 'men' that will try to court you, or so Hiashi-sama says." He almost rolled his eyes at the last part, but was surprised when Hinata gave an angered expression.

"It's unfair, why should I have to stay inside this compound if he's just going to sell me out so some men I don't even know." She almost let her eyes get watery. Neji felt the oncoming sadness from her and tried to cheer her up.

"Of course that's not what he wants…He's just trying to protect you from men and show you to them at the same time, of course under his supervision. He's just protecting you Hinata-sama, you know that." She just shook her head, they were right next to the room where the men were at with her father.

"Take these 'dates' to be your chance to see everybody else out there. I'm sure all of your friends know your back…" He smiled at her, his eyes gentle and comforting. "Be careful around the men, and remember that you aren't 15 anymore." He attempted to pat her head, but landed his hand on her shoulder instead, feeling the awkwardness as she stared at him. "I'll be watching from afar…so umm don't get too worried." He gave one last smile and left with a wave to get ready to follow her to her dinner 'date', or so he put it.

"I'm still 15 on the inside Neji-nii…" she whispered as she reached out arms that were too long than to what she was used to, and opened the door to where he father and her date were in.