Curse Seal

A/N: Sorry for the delay. FINALS ARE OVER. It's all up to fate now. Though if in July I discover that my academic records have been forever tainted, I suppose I can always go off to Hollywood to prostitute myself, in the words of J.D. Salinger. ((cough)) Well. Enough stalling.

A Moment of Suspension

Soon after Hinata's homecoming, Neji was released, and the two retreated to the innermost confines of the Hyuuga compound to nurse each other's wounds. Hinata didn't forget about the Head Elder's insistence for certain improvements in her leadership however—it was just that those days, she doubted she could have been of any use to the clan anyway.

The Council of Elders whispered that Hinata was shirking her duties—had she gone into complete reclusion with her Branch House protector? Their leader assured them there was nothing to worry about. Instead, he openly declared that Hinata had agreed to host suitors, and the Council instantly forgave their Head's indifference towards her more minor duties in light of this new development.

Moonlight

But despite the conditional moment of solitude the Head Elder had bought for Neji and Hinata with his excuses to the Council, true freedom remained elusive. After all, the Hyuuga House was made up of walls with byakugan eyes.

One night, a few weeks after his exoneration, Neji was woken by yet another shadow at his door. This time, however, its silhouette was easily distinguishable.

Hinata paused outside Neji's room for a long moment, as if contemplating whether or not to enter. Neji didn't rise to meet Hinata, but only watched her shadow from his bed. At last, the door opened—slowly, silently—and as a ray of pure moonlight fell over Neji's face, he closed his eyes.

The door closed, and Hinata crossed the length of Neji's room to where he slept. The soft shuffle of her bare feet on wood floors resounded in his ears, and as Hinata knelt by Neji's side, he appeared to not notice. His chest rose and fell as if he was really asleep.

"Neji nii-san," Hinata whispered, so softly that Neji decided he needn't "wake up". She placed a hand on his forearm, nudging him gently. "Nii-san?"

Still no answer. Hinata relaxed. It was not possible that Neji could still be asleep. She sat back and looked at the shape the moonlight took as it filled the contour of his face. His mouth was closed, his cheeks were warm, and deep shadows encircled his eyes. His hair was splayed out on his pillow unceremoniously. The curse seal on his forehead was uncovered. She couldn't help it. She reached up and touched the seal with the tips of her fingers.

Neji's eyes snapped open, and he grabbed the offending hand. Hinata flinched.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded harshly.

"I…" Hinata blushed slightly. She still felt a little fear every time Neji spoke to her in that tone, despite knowing that he would never hurt her again—at least not in any way that could really matter. "I'm sorry."

That did not answer the question.

Neji unconsciously tightened his grip on Hinata's wrist as she knelt awkwardly beside the bed, clutching her kimono closed at her chest. She wouldn't make eye contact with him, and Neji didn't even try to make the situation any easier on her. The truth was, he had a pretty good idea why Hinata had been so morose ever since she returned from the hospital. He just didn't want to let her up.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked again, in a gentler tone. Hinata lowered her head, refusing to answer. Neji imagined how the wood floors must be bruising her knees. He also wondered whether she was cold—the seasons were changing, and she was wearing little.

Hinata shuddered, and Neji relented at last. How many times had she sought shelter in his room? He sat up, moving to the edge of his bed. Hinata took the offer and climbed under the covers with her nii-san, just as she had done when they were children. Neji embraced her tightly from behind before she could turn to him. He nestled his face in the crook of her neck and closed his eyes, breathing in moonlight and lavender.

Irrepressible tears rolled silently down Hinata's cheeks. They tickled her nose—she couldn't wipe them away because her hands were clasped in Neji's.

They both thought the same thing. How rare was a moment of peace, of honesty without consequence? As they lied beside each other in the dark of night, seeking refuge under blankets at the center of the Hyuuga household, time seemed to lapse into a standstill, and morning promised to leave them alone forever.

By and by, Hinata felt Neji's heartbeat on her back steady, as he really seemed to fall asleep.

Tea

When dawn came, Hinata gently disentangled herself from her nii-san. He didn't wake up. Hinata wondered how many sleepless nights Neji must have suffered throughout the years, acting as her protector. He looked utterly exhausted. Hinata readjusted her kimono, and left Neji's room as quietly as she could.

She spent the earlier hours of the morning in the bathhouse, one of the only times during the day it was empty. Once she was finished washing, she returned to her room and prepared tea for Neji, which she often did, if she had the time.

Standing outside his room again, Hinata's face reddened as she knocked and waited for a response. She was thinking about the night before: what had happened, and what could have happened. She didn't even notice when, after five minutes had passed, she was still standing at the door.

"Hinata-sama," came Neji's voice from behind her. Hinata turned and was glad to see him smiling at her, albeit a little sadly. His clothes were evidence that he had already spent some time at the dojo. Neji eyed the tea tray in Hinata's hands and guessed, "Red barley?" That was her favorite.

Hinata shook her head. "Chrysanthemum," she corrected him. "This is a year to the day my father died."

That would explain the four cups. Neji cleared his throat. He had actually forgotten what an important day it was to Hinata.

"Hiashi-sama preferred green tea over anything else."

"But he always asked that I prepare chrysanthemum," Hinata argued, and a certain light came to Neji's eyes as he smiled knowingly.

"That was your mother's favorite."

Death

Following that small revelation, Neji accompanied Hinata to the Hyuuga burial grounds. There, they saw that ardent Hyuuga members had already swept Hiashi's grave, and piled fresh flowers before it. Neji immediately looked at his own father's grave, beside which Hiashi's had been situated. It was dirty and undecorated, mainly because Neji hadn't gone to visit his father since the anniversary of his death six months ago.

"He might have hated that," Hinata murmured, looking at the ostentatious display of and spread out before Hiashi's tombstone. She turned to Neji and saw him standing aside, rigidly holding the broom he had originally brought for Hiashi, but for which his own father appeared to have greater necessity. A slight wind picked up, and the tea cups rattled on their tray.

"Nii-san," Hinata called to Neji quietly. He seemed to come to his senses somewhat, and wordlessly set to cleaning his father's tombstone as Hinata poured the tea.

Hinata tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Never mind what paths they took in life," she observed coolly, "there are no Main or Branch delusions in death." She placed identical cups—each filled only half way—at the foot of the graves, thankful that her voice sounded much stronger than she felt.

Neji quickly finished sweeping his father's grave, and retreated beside Hinata. "What good are the dead to the living?" he wondered aloud in response. "They can't change anything."

Hinata made no reply, but her silence spoke for itself. She poured two more cups of tea. One she handed to Neji—the other she held tightly in her own hands, to keep them steady. The cup was warm.

"To death, Nii-san, or life?" Hinata made a half-hearted attempt to smile, as swirling yellow flowers bobbed up and down below the surface of her tea.

Neji felt somehow twisted inside. He did not want to toast to either life or death—it was unsettling, to hear those things mentioned in passing, and with such lethargy. Because honestly, it really broke his heart to hear Hinata speak of life and death as if they were only distant realities, when he distinctly remembered a time when she had been fervent, and content, and honest: when it had been easy to hate her, even when he loved her…

Without responding, Neji downed the tea in one gulp, as if it was wine, and just as quickly returned his cup.

It had been a dismal year, a particularly eloquent, poised, and sedate year in which far too many things—things with real significance—were left unsaid. The apathy was overwhelming, and Neji had nearly caved in to it when he openly attacked Hinata. However, it was also within that last year that the two had grown closer. An understanding had certainly been reached; they simply could not voice that which they intrinsically knew.

Hinata nodded vaguely, and drank as well. Just as she drained her cup, a pigeon alighted on Hizashi's tombstone with a message bearing the seal of the Head Elder tied to its leg. Something rather like fear crossed Hinata's face for a split second as she realized what the message must entail.

"Nii-san," Hinata drew Neji's attention away from the bird. "I need to tell you…"

There was only one reason why she would be sent such an abrupt summons. Hinata had anticipated that the Council would waste no time in securing a suitor for her, just not so soon.

The pigeon cooed. Neji headed towards it, but Hinata hastily caught a hold of his arm.

"Please, Neji nii-san, listen to me. I have to explain—"

"I know you're going to be married," Neji interrupted, and Hinata was stunned into silence. His expression betrayed no part of his emotions, and yet it seemed he was taking great care avoid looking at her. "The Head Elder informed me of it before I was released."

Hinata didn't know how to respond. When Neji finally made eye contact with her, the indifference in his eyes hurt her more deeply than she would allow him to see.

"I could not refuse," she whispered, as if in apology.

"I understand," Neji assured her, tone softening as he went on, "I know that we're expendable to the wellbeing of the clan…and that no one is truly free." He was so matter-of-fact in his deductions that Hinata was at a loss of how to respond.

Hinata nodded vaguely. "I… I'm glad you understand…" She allowed Neji to retrieve the message from the pigeon.

"It says here that a possible candidate for your husband has already been found," Neji reported as he read. "He's the head of a clan with which the Hyuuga have always kept a deferential correspondence." He suddenly paused, staring at the letter as if unable to register certain information. "His name is Ikeda Kenji of Amegakure, Rain country."

The name, though eminent, did not faze Hinata. Her father had dealt with the Ikeda clan only briefly throughout his entire life. They were a noble line from a traditionally obscure village, rumored to possess a variation of the byakugan bloodline limit. To merge their two houses would be a major turning point in the history of both clans, and yet… Hinata felt oddly removed from the news. After all, if she rejected Ikeda Kenji, the Council would propose another match instantly. Moreover, whatever reason she might have had to want to delay the search for a husband now seemed ambiguous.

Sometimes, it was difficult to tell what Neji felt. He hid his emotions so well. The way he spoke so plainly on the subject indicated that he didn't seem daunted by the recent development in Hinata's duties as Head of Hyuuga in the slightest.

Sometimes, Hinata felt as if all their "understanding" was just something in her head.

"And so they request my immediate return to the Council?" she guessed. Neji nodded in confirmation. Hinata picked up the tea tray and turned to head back to the Main House, though not too abruptly, nor in any way suggestive of her disappointment.

"Hinata-sama."

Neji called out, and Hinata stopped in her tracks, heeding his command as was her habit, despite their contrary stations.

"You know the Head Elder has always been wrong about how 'dispensable' we are?" Neji's callous tone forced Hinata to face him again, and something in his eyes reminded her of how they had faced each other in much the same way at the Chunnin Exams. "We grew up hearing we're only worth that which we could sacrifice to the clan. That doctrine justified our existences. We, as members of the Hyuuga, have never had to question our purpose. And now, we're expected to show our gratitude."

It was defiance, Hinata realized finally: that thing in Neji's eyes. And with that realization, she discovered something new as well. Neji had always been the defiant one. Though he once worshipped the limitless potential of byakugan and aspired to prove himself worthy of the Main House, he had always despised Hyuuga tradition and the power of the Main House over the Branch. Sometime in the last few years, however, while Hinata worked to transform herself into the perfect Head of Hyuuga, Neji had made an equally extensive transition towards setting aside his individual ambitions, and even adopting a secondary role as her protector.

Hinata hadn't even realized how much Neji had changed in his intrinsic being before she heard him suggest that she join him in rebelling against the Hyuuga.

"All we must sacrifice now… are only sacrifices for the sacrifices we have already made, don't you see?" Neji demanded.

"It's not like that," Hinata disagreed softly, shaking her head. "You must not antagonize the Elders. We… we do owe them for all they've done to preserve the clan."

Neji closed the distance between him and Hinata with a couple of strides.

"What about what they owe us, Hinata-sama?" He leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips. "Think about it. There's nothing for us here." Hinata shuddered, and Neji reassured her, "You don't have to be afraid. I'll always protect you."

But Hinata couldn't help it. She was scared—mainly of being married, and partially because of Neji.

He kissed her again, this time deeper. She returned it apprehensively. Neji broke away, devastation flitting across his face for a split second before being replaced by default apathy.

Hinata apologized, and—because there was nothing else for it—turned back towards the Main House. A few moments later, she heard Neji begin to follow.

A/N: I want to thank you all again for the sweet reviews. They're what keep me going.