Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sometimes, Hyuuga Hiashi regrets what he has done to his family.

The eyes of his dead brother haunt him long after he leaves in the night to become a martyr to the Leaf; Hizashi, who was kinder and gentler and by far the better fighter, got the last laugh in the way he died. That ultimately, Hizashi was remembered as a hero and Hiashi as the monster who sent him to his death.

The eyes of Hizashi's son and his own daughters still haunt him.

Hinata is a girl who is only what Hiashi has made her to be. His taunts and belittlements stole what little confidence she possessed to begin with. She did not grow under Hiashi's "care"; she only wilted as a flower denied water and sunlight would.

Hinata was denied the care she needed. Now, she is only what the world has made her. A hesitant, unsure kunoichi, more of a nurturer than a killer. She is firmly established in the hospital now, a medic as her mother was before her. She spends every moment she can away from home.

If Hinata is bad, Neji and Hanabi are even worse.

Neji is the epitome of Hyuuga: brilliant, sleek, graceful, deadly and cold. He is the best the Hyuuga have seen in years, surpassing even his own father, and Hiashi has no doubt that it will be a long time before anyone in their clan emerges to surpass Neji. But it is not all perfect, because a branded member shouldn't be so good, and everyone knows it.

The Main House fears him; the Branch House resents and ostracizes him. Apart from Hinata, Neji is friendless amongst the Hyuuga clan, and there is not much that timid Hinata can or will do for him. Hiashi was not doing Neji a favor when he started to train him himself; the boy only earned the further hatred of the Branch House.

Neji is the Branch Member Hiashi fears the most, though out of all of them Neji is the least likely to kill him in his bed.

Hiashi has turned Hanabi into a little monster. He is the only one she will answer to, the only person she fears; Hiashi highly doubts that his younger child respects him at all. Hanabi refuses to bond with either Hinata or Neji, despite the overtures her sister attempts to extend, and has long since forgotten the close bond she and Hinata once shared. Neji doesn't even bother anymore.

Hanabi, in her father's eyes, is the embodiment of the Main House's arrogance.

But there are some things Hiashi doesn't ever see.

Hiashi doesn't ever see Neji's occasional kindness towards his two younger cousins, how he offers to train with Hinata and Hanabi, and puts objects that need to be put in high places away for Hanabi.

Hiashi doesn't see Hinata's growing courage, how she blooms around her friends and loved ones. He doesn't see how she flourishes away from home.

Hiashi doesn't see how Hanabi treats her sister when no one's watching. He doesn't see the small kindnesses Hanabi does for her sister and cousin, how they will find the household chores allotted to them mysteriously done before they even start, or how they will come home tired and find a hot meal waiting for them in their respective rooms.

Hiashi does regret what he has done to his family. But he knows that it was for their own good. Being who they are, his daughters and nephew are prime targets for the elders' scheming, and breeding any softness in them would just make them even more vulnerable than they already are.

And Hiashi isn't quite cruel enough to do otherwise.

I felt like after all I've written of him I had to redeem Hiashi, even if it is only a little bit.