Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto. R&R please.

Chapter 5: Protector

I.

Two children were huddled together and peering at charred, tiny sticks.

The boy's fingers were nimble, darting through and sorting out the general mess that he had smuggled in a handkerchief to show the younger girl.

"Remember?" He asked her expectantly. They'd both seen how the leaves had swirled as glowing embers in the air. "He started that bonfire."

But Hinata was a little troubled—her mother had told her to address people properly, and the elder brother who'd visited with his father was both her and Neji-nii's senior. To Hinata, just calling the elder brother 'he' seemed a little rude.

In this instance, she dared to correct her cousin and suggested, "He's older than us—we should call him Onii-san."

Neji-nii didn't say anything at first, although she saw that his eyes had narrowed. It puzzled Hinata that he was the first to look away by transferring his gaze to the handkerchief that he was gripping tightly in his hand. "Alright."

She wondered if Neji-nii liked the elder brother as much as she did.

Hinata's father had wanted to speak to the elder brother's father privately in the study. But while his father talked with the Hyuga head, the elder brother with the jet hair and eyes had been asked to help one of the Hyuga servants in the garden.

That day, Hinata, Neji-nii and some other Hyuga children had eagerly watched the servants sweep the autumn leaves into a giant pile. But instead of leading the elder brother's father to his study, Hinata's father had also paused.

They'd all gathered, watching the elder brother help start the bonfire.

Hinata was sure that like her, Father had never seen anything as pretty. While she hadn't taken notice of the elder brother's name because she was mostly hidden behind Neji-nii, she could still remember the older boy's sooty, long hair—even longer than Neji-nii's and in a ponytail— and the high collar framing his chin as the fire had flowed from his lips.

"How pretty," She had whispered to Neji-nii, and he must have agreed because he had been silent, watching the bonfire with all of them. Even though it was two weeks ago, she could still remember the fire.

But as Neji-nii opened the handkerchief and held one out charred stick to her now, she backed away clumsily.

"Will Koneko get burnt?" Hinata was concerned with protecting her newest doll. It was already her favourite doll with its round, feline body and pleased expression. Ever since she had received it, it had slept by her side for the past two weeks.

"If it gets too near the fire." Neji-nii looked at her, and then looked away quickly. It was strange, because he rarely ever did that, if at all.

"Kiku says we're not supposed to play with fire," Hinata whispered, hiding and protecting Koneko in her long sleeves, although she was far too fascinated to leave just yet.

"We're not playing with fire." Her cousin said confidently, noting her wide, frightened eyes.

To Hinata, Neji was taller, faster and much, much cleverer than her. He could even count in multiples of nineteen. So she kept quiet, sure that he was correct and afraid that he would leave her behind.

"This is a match, Hinata-sama— it starts the fire."

"Really, Nii-san?" Hinata asked, still a little afraid of those dark remnants of whatever they had been. "I thought you needed chakra—," She put a small hand to her lips, trying to imitate the elder brother with the dark hair and even darker eyes who'd started the fire two weeks ago. "Is the match good enough?"

"My father said so." He said this matter-of-factly, a proud smile lighting up his face as if that put an end to any query.

"Then what do you do with the match?" To be safe, she checked around them, but the servants who had not seen them sneaking off were probably still gossiping some distance away. If they huddled and squatted like this in the North gardens, nobody would suspect that Neji had saved something that they were not supposed to even go near. "It smells funny, Neji-nii."

"You strike it." Her cousin said authoritatively. He did it against a rock, but nothing happened. He frowned, looking closely at its nib. "It's supposed to catch fire. And it lights up, and it looks really pretty. Like—" He fell silent, eyes flicking once to hers.

Unable to come up with a descriptive, he then rubbed it harder in retaliation, mouth pursing.

"No!" She exclaimed, thinking that it would surely catch fire now.

But he shushed her immediately; clearly afraid the servants would hear them.

So she nodded, trying to appease him by huddling closer and thus promising that she would keep their secret. She wanted to follow Neji-nii; the other cousins weren't half as fun even if they were older and often smiled and laughed with her.

Besides, Neji always knew all the good places to play and hide and seek and all sorts of things about animals that his father always told him about. To Hinata, Neji-nii was different, because he was about her age but he was the older brother that she would always have even if anything went wrong.

When Mother had said that Neji-nii would be a protector last week, Hinata had asked, "Just like Father is to Mother?"

Mother had only looked at her and smiled. Mother was a little strange at times; quiet and tired and pale.

These days, the maids were all busy caring for Mother, and Hinata found it easier to slip away from them. Neji-nii, however, never had any trouble. He could be almost invisible because he was so quick and so clever.

She wanted to be like him—to make Father smile at her the way Neji's father smiled at him.

So she nodded, eyes huge in her face although she did not know it. "I'll be quiet, Nii-san, I promise. What do you do after that?"

"It's supposed to light up like this." He did it yet again, but nothing happened.

Confused, Neji looked at the charred piece, thinking about what his father had explained after he'd caught Neji trying to breathe fire instead of practicing his usual forms. Sitting them aside from the heat of the afternoon, he'd assured Neji that chakra wasn't even required to start a fire.

He'd shown Neji how to start a fire with these sticks, but why wasn't it lighting up now?

Neji frowned, trying yet again.

"Maybe," Hinata suggested timidly, her tiny index straying to her small, pink lips, "The match is only good once?"

He began to say something but a rustling sound was heard from the distant bushes.

Instinctively, he activated the Byakugan, searching around them to see who it was.

She had already pressed herself behind him, afraid and trembling, afraid of being scolded. She had yet to master the posture, and Father had admonished her just hours ago. "Neji-nii…"

"It's just a bird in the bush." Neji-nii told her, calming them both down. "Kiku and Souji are still talking and lazing around back there."

"Really?" Hinata said in awe now, not letting go but staring at the way that his eyes were so sharp and the veins around those throbbed and swelled.

Curiously, she reached out to touch one vein very lightly. Her own eyes weren't as strong, and meekly, she said, "You're amazing, Nii-san."

A pleased smile bloomed on his face and he looked down embarrassedly, lobbing the useless match into a bush. Then he got up, pulling her with him and dusting them both. "Come on, Hinata-sama."

She took his offered hand, as he had always extended and she had always taken.

But he must have spotted a servant coming too close with his still-activated Byakugan, for his eyes narrowed and he hissed, "Let's go!"

As she laughed joyfully and felt him pull her into a run, they never did look back to check if the servant had caught sight of them.

They were already scrambling away with their long sleeves flapping in the wind, and their sandals made tracks in the dirt that they never turned to witness.

So it was that Hinata looked for Koneko later and found that she had failed to protect her cat doll. She was miserable and even more ashamed when Neji-nii heard about it from a maid and snuck to the North gardens alone to search for Koneko.

But Neji-nii couldn't find Koneko no matter how hard he had tried, not even when he'd spent a whole extra hour in the gardens instead of practicing his calligraphy.

Later, when she crept to the gardens and saw him still there, he explained that Koneko was too small and that she oughtn't to cry because she had other dolls.

Still, she was so sad and couldn't help crying in front of Neji-nii. Not noisily of course, because they weren't supposed to be hanging around in the North Gardens in the evening without any servants to follow them.

"Don't cry," He whispered, eyes big and sad in his face, and he squatted next to her and put his arm around her.

But she could not really stop sobbing and her nose watered away even though she tried not to cry. Nor could she find the words to explain to him that she was still worried. She did not know how to say that Koneko had no protector in this dark, cold night whereas Hinata had Neji-nii.

Then he dried her tears with his sleeve because he had to leave to the West hall for dinner and she to the East. Only his fervent promises that they would find a real cat and its kittens together made her cheer up a little.

"When shall we, Nii-san?" Hinata whispered, her pinky linked in his. Her eyes were bright and round in the indigo evening from the remnants of her tears. The crickets were singing, and yet, she thought she heard his heart beating against his throat.

"Soon," He promised.

Four nights later, the Hyuga Estate went into lock-down.

II.

Had he been asked for his honest opinion, Neji would have advised the erstwhile Hyuga Head to avoid assuming that his elder daughter would go through the betrothal plans without a single objection.

Certainly, Neji had sensed the timeliness with which Hiashi had eventually acknowledged and successfully honed the various qualities that Hinata possessed. Never mind that gentleness was not valued as much as competency; never mind that innocence was not valued as much as intelligence, never mind that consideration for others was not valued as much as the hierarchy that had been long-established. The shinobi system was changing, and the true mark of a shinobi was adaptability.

It mattered little that every trait of Hinata's was not particularly valued by the Clan. Hiashi had seen qualities that were rare in the Hyugas and certainly amongst most in Konohagakure. If his elder daughter seemed helpless and apologetic even in the most inappropriate times, she made a fine diplomat in some ways.

Neji had always understood that, because he had seen for himself how others took to his meek, sweet-natured cousin. But while Neji had not fully understood that those qualities made her a pawn until recently, he had seen firsthand how determined and tenacious she could be.

Yet, he had not been asked to predict her likely reaction to the Hyuga Council's plans. Even for someone who tried to remain at the fringe of the Clan politics, Neji understood that it was the Hyuga head and the council's prerogative to betroth her to any common idiot if they deemed fit.

Of course, Neji understood that this particular cousin had never really fit into the mould of those before and around her. But the assumption that Hinata would fulfill her responsibilities was a reasonable one for all intent and purposes of a betrothal. Her mother had lived by the Clan's rules, as had Neji's. Her uncle had died by the Clan's rules, even if willingly. Similarly, other cousins and relatives had been bound by similar rules for all their lives and would continue to perpetuate those, and even the Elders and the Head were to observe the rules.

Some things weren't a matter of rules, as Neji had learnt. Principle and habit were far more compelling, personal choice aside.

Mostly, he had expected her to decline, if politely and diplomatically. He had half-expected her to be silent for as long as it would take for the plans to come into fruition. He had mostly expected her to shoulder the burden and only appeal to her former teammates for their aid if forced to the end of her rope.

He had not expected her to come here— to him.

Yet, survival did not hinge on being truthful, and the point of procedures and propriety had little to do with self-actualization. Honesty, of all things, was not particularly valued in a compound that housed those with all-seeing eyes.

And that was why, Neji decided, he could never be entirely truthful with her.

The blurred outlines of his cousin's shadow was cast against the shoji outside, and if he had been snug in a clean, dry robe and possibly too drowsy to eat his dinner properly, Neji was wide awake now.

"Neji-nii?"

The lanterns in this room were lighted, but there were only two and the room was too large for it to be completely illuminated. While the lights would have told most that he was awake, Neji was aware that Hinata still preferred to sleep with a light or two nearby and assumed this of others, including him.

If he remembered correctly, she had been frightened of the dark as a child.

"Are you asleep?" Her voice was barely audible, even through the thin paper walls. She must have woven her way to his quarters, treading as quietly as she could on the stone path past the North gardens separating the two compounds.

He hesitated. It would be easier for him to be silent.

But the force of habit and the conditioning that he'd received even during his prematurely-disrupted childhood was difficult to overcome. Without understanding the way that he was drawn to the light beyond the other side of the paper doors, he had already started getting up from the table.

Thanks to the seasonal winds, it had snowed a little earlier, and now the evening wind swept the last few fallen flakes into a flurry. The insidious darkness of the garden was dotted momentarily by a rise of dancing white and he looked at the way that Hinata stood before him, shivering a little in the cold and holding a lantern carefully in one hand.

There were a few snowflakes clinging to the bangs on her forehead and her long eyelashes, and he resisted the urge to sweep those off. Evidently, she had stood outside for a while before she'd decided to knock, not even daring to venture even to the veranda while waiting.

"Good evening, Hinata-sama." He greeted her, if only out of formality and because he did not want to confront the issue directly.

"N-Neji-nii." His younger cousin had never really lost her stammer, although it rarely appeared these days. That was, of course, unless she was extremely nervous. "I-I wanted to see if you would h-have a few moments to spare."

Even after all this time, the perpetual shyness of her mannerisms was clear to him. With her free hand, she tightened the shawl around her, fidgeting a little and already being self-conscious. "I disturbed you, didn't I? I'm s-sorry."

"You should come in, Hinata-sama, or you might catch a cold." He told her.

"O-Oh, no, I can't." She demurred immediately, even taking a step back. Timidly, her gaze flickered up to his, and then dropped to the side.

There was the unwritten rule that no woman should visit any man's quarters in the Hyuga compound after dark, save in specific circumstances. The protocol was observed strictly and it was with good reason that Hinata was hesitant. But it seemed evident to him that between freezing to death and keeping to decorum, the former took precedence.

Hence, Neji rephrased his concern in a way that would compel someone like her to come in, prudish practice and sense of propriety or not. "The wind's coming in, Hinata-sama, and my room will get cold."

As he'd expected, she stammered an apology and left the lantern at the side without a further word. Carefully, she slipped her feet out of the casual geta and pattered into his quarters, as wide-eyed and wondering as a kitten.

Her hair, hastily knotted at the base of her neck had loosened. It snaked softly against her chalky cheeks and caught the candlelight in his room. As she crept in warily, her white tabi making her feet soundless against the floor-mats, Neji thought that she might have been a girl of twelve, a young woman of eighteen, or perhaps a soul that had been trapped in a shell for far too long.

He shut out the wind, mostly watching as she moved in.

It occurred to him that she had probably never been in here before, although there was nothing very different about these rooms from the others. This was but a single cell in the body of the Hyuga Estate's highly traditional layout and intricate wooden structures. Save for the variations in size, each structure of the massive estate was backward, stiff and unyielding, and in a corner of the West Compound, most quarters were indistinguishable.

Those aspects made it generally impossible to make many modern amendments to the place, and so the night lights were mostly lanterns and candles. Those illuminated the four walls, the adjoining room where Neji slept, and also the table in this room's corner with his unfinished dinner.

She noticed the food and said worriedly, "I've interrupted your dinner, haven't I, Neji-nii?"

"Not at all." He shook his head, gesturing to invite her to take a seat and then retaking his own. He moved the barely-touched tray to the side but fetched a spare cup and poured tea for the both of them. "I don't have much of an appetite this evening."

"I-I see." She gazed at him, eyes rounded in her concern. Still like a lost kitten, after all these years. Carefully, she noted the new injuries that he'd sustained, and he understood that she was counting those as she tended to do when she saw him. "Did the mission go as planned?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama." He said dutifully, looking right back at her because averting one's gaze was a mark of telling untruths. Smoothly, he turned the questions back to her. "How may I be of use to you?"

She swallowed once, as if gulping for air. She probably hadn't expected him to cut the niceties so soon. Her eyes were very pale in this light, and Neji wondered how those could fill up with so much obvious worry when the Hyuga eyes were mostly blank.

"You must have heard." She finally managed to say. Her hands met and wound together. "If I want to assume the position as the Hyuga head, the Elders suggest that I enter a betrothal."

"Yes, and I offer you my congratulations, Hinata-sama."

Still seated on his knees, Neji moved carefully away from the table and then bowed formally from where he was. His hands touched the floor, and his face was inches away from it.

He knew how to wear a mask.

"Don't, p-please." Hinata shook her head, still not touching the tea that he had poured for her. "I doubt that the Elders would trust the Clan to me— as they have shown." Her lips trembled slightly. "Not in my individual capacity, at least. But if I may serve my Clan in any way, I am fully prepared to."

He did not doubt that she was prepared to. But even as her father had informed him of the Hyuga Council's decision, Neji had instinctively seen their still-existing fears; they thought that she was too inadequate to lead in her own capacity and too unlike the heirs before her.

Try as he did, Neji could not quash the sense of injustice that lingered. Below the near-frozen ponds outside, the water would shift and warm. Konoha was changing with time, and beneath all appearances, she had changed as had some things within the Clan. Why did it have to be so deeply-ingrained in so many of the Hyuga to resist change?

But Neji understood that it was far better for him to continue closing his eyes to her dismay and the way those fingers moved aimlessly around the barley-colored clay cup. It was better for the Hyuga not to look beneath the surface of things too often, and it was better for him not to look at her as someone that he felt any particular emotion or empathy towards.

He watched as she began to fidget again. Her voice was even more hushed than before. "I was told little, but Father informed me that the betrothal may involve a person who is not from this Clan."

At the very least, Neji had prayed, let her not be a sacrifice, even if she had to be a pawn. But it was not his place to remark on such things, and now he ventured to say, "The Hyuga Council has not made a poor decision before— you will be in safe hands, no matter whether the betrothal is within the Clan or not."

"But I was told that they are also considering a betrothal within the Clan," Hinata said softly. She trailed off, looking trapped and lost. "If this is so, Nii-san, I-I ask a favour of you."

Then Hinata moved carefully away from her seat before dropping into a prostrating position before him.

He actually reared back.

The last time Neji had retreated was during a mission when he had been poisoned. And even then, he'd argued with the second-in-charge for a while before he'd reluctantly sent the others forward and then struggled back to the village alone.

Then again, the most lucid, secretive part of Neji had always reckoned that the least likely but most effective person to make him question himself or even falter was this seemingly-helpless cousin.

"Get up!" He said, too shocked to phrase anything politely. It was always in moments like these that he forgot to be formal, even if Hinata herself never addressed him in any other manner.

No matter how he'd once raged and resented what he'd deemed as Fate's hand, Neji had been brought up to live by a strict hierarchy that wasn't so visible as to allow him to take it down. It had taken plenty of time before he'd understood finally that he did not know how to move away completely from this structure and the rules in practice, even if he longed to and arguably managed to at least in principle.

It remained that no matter what his wishes and anger had been directed at, the thirteen year old Neji had still found it unthinkable that the Head had gotten down on his knees.

And for that simple reason, he was horrified that Hinata, heir of the Hyuga Clan, was bowing to him.

"Get up!" He whispered again, mouth dry.

"Please, Neji-nii." She clung to the ground, hair loosening entirely and falling in a dark sheet over one shoulder. "You must have already heard from Father, and surely, your opinion will be called upon soon. Please listen t-to me—,"

"I am but your subordinate, Hinata-sama, and you should not be bowing to me."

It didn't matter that her hands were tight with the force of her words and the boldness that she'd uttered those with. Neji did not wait to argue with her, but moved up and away from the table too. He went to her, sinking onto his knees as she had and trying to pull her up. "Get up. Please, Hinata-sama."

Still, she bowed her head even lower, the shawl slipping off her shoulders in her desperation. He had long realized that her willingness to lower herself did not mean that she was any less determined or inherently proud as a Hyuga woman. To him, she had as good as proclaimed this in the way that she pressed on, fighting silently and in futility as she had all those years ago. Still, some things were not vested in their powers to change.

Perhaps, this was her own way of trying to change her fate.

"No!" She said determinedly, although her voice was muffled by embarrassment. "Not until you agree."

He had to wait a few moments before he trusted himself to speak. By then, he was confident of using his mask and falling behind all that was established and safe once more.

"I don't wish to conspire against the Head and the Elders' plans." Neji said. He had never been good at emoting in certain situations, and his voice sounded hollow, flat and cold even in his own ears.

To him, it was better that way.

Distractedly, she looked at the floor mats, not wanting to meet his eyes. "I— I'm not asking that you c-conspire. I j-just hoped that you would—," Her voice diminished even more, and they both knew that she was ashamed that she had even dared to knock on her cousin's door like this. "I just hoped that you would help me. Tell them that you don't agree to the plans—sway their minds against those."

"I am your subordinate, Hinata-sama, and I have no power to do what you cannot," He said quietly.

"No!" Her voice was a cry. "You aren't my subordinate, Neji-nii! Unlike me, you have Father's absolute confidence. You can persuade them to put the betrothal off for a few more years at the very least—"

"You think too highly of me." She did not quite deserve his coldness, but he didn't know how to tell her of all that he knew. "I have no such standing, Hinata-sama."

"But you're the only person whom I dare to confide in within this Clan—not even Hanabi." Hinata whispered. "I'm not your equal, but you're m-my—" Her eyes met his timidly. "My friend."

Some part of him had never been able to forget hurt, longing, betrayal or wild joy and even the kind of anger that could drive him mad. For all his silent promises, experience and the years that he'd accumulated, he must have been unable to forget what all those emotions were like.

He was nearly forced to look away from her.

But because it seemed right for him to try anyhow, Neji tried to tug her into a less subordinate position. She remained rooted there stubbornly, face turned towards the ground.

He considered asking her to leave. But beyond the protocol associated with their various positions in the Hyuga hierarchy, Neji knew that he would not be able to do so.

For all his talents and superior skills, let alone what she thought of him, he was her subordinate. The world around them could change and warp but the principles of the Hyuga Clan were the unshakeable bedrock for as long as he chose to see the good in them.

Fortunately or otherwise, he did. He had, ever since he'd watched her father kneel before him.

So until the day that the Clan no longer existed and the rules that their lives were governed by were left to crumble, Neji knew what he had to do.

Daring to dream of a different fate had been for boys. The wars and Neji's accumulated years, however, had showed him that real fight had never been against establishments of rules—the real fight was in having the ability to rewrite the rules.

Until then, Neji understood Hinata's role as the Hyuga heir. Truth be told, he was closer to her now than he had ever been in his life except that fight in their first Chuunin exam. He would know—he understood the inexplicable bond that one formed with the person whom one tried to kill.

And after all, as the Head had so persuasively convinced the concerned Clan members, Neji was Hinata's protector.

III.

"I won't—"

Those were the first words that cracked their paths from his parched lips. Those were frantic, slightly delirious words, and in his mind and dreams, he had shouted the words.

He had been flushed with the last of his vigour. It was frowned upon for a Hyuga, let alone a shinobi, to be passionate. But if he had once mocked Lee and Naruto for being brash, immature and grotesquely energetic in all the wrong ways, here was defiance coursing through his blood. This was his life, pounding against his throat, determination built solely on his desire to live for a purpose.

"—lose."

Unfortunately, Neji had just woken up to the croaking, disused sound of his voice.

"No," His cousin agreed softly, and with a shock that jolted horribly through him, Neji realised that his hand was between both of her own. "You won't."

"H-Hina—,"

He was the one stammering for once, and he told himself that it was the drugs and the pain that was beginning to shoot through him again.

On hindsight, Neji should have let himself slip back into the drug-induced, dreamless sleep. The ache in his body seemed to radiate even to his marrow, and he groaned quietly, feeling the soreness of recently-closed wounds. There were tears gathering at the corners of his eyes and he blinked those back as much as he could.

"Alive." He said, realising that he had spoken quite thickly and stupidly only after he had.

The puncture of a golden, crystallised sting into and through his chest had been more than he could bear, and Neji shuddered inwardly now, not daring to look at the bandages on his body.

In his mind, he could still imagine Kidomaru's webs and the awful pain that bordered on making him completely numb or completely on fire. Shizune's voice, authoritative and yet distant as she directed the operation, was still lingering his head.

Overall, Neji wasn't sure that he was really alive.

There was a delicate floral scent that filled the air, and he briefly wondered if it came from Hinata or the flowers that someone else had brought.

One vase had dramatic roses and the other held small, pretty daisies. The individual choice of flowers were quite telling of who had brought them.

"Tenten-san and Lee-kun were here." She whispered, as if he couldn't tell even in his drug-addled state. "And K-Kiba-kun too."

"Mm." It hurt, even making that syllable. Needless to say, the mission had been a failure, and he had barely escaped with his life.

It wouldn't have been a bad death though, he thought distractedly, peering around as much as he could without moving his head. To have others regret his death been one of those things that Neji had found himself privately wishing for as he had laid on the forest floor and stared into the growing darkness of the pure skies above.

In the deepest of hearts, he'd had his regrets even as he waited to die. He had wished for a chance to really make up for the lost time, to truly earn his teammates' and his Uncle's approval, to make as many friends as he could, and for many other things as well—

Ah well.

The hospital bed that he lay in seemed far too familiar for the thought to be a comforting one. In fact, Neji wondered if Hinata had laid in this same bunk for a period, or if Hanabi had sat exactly where he now lay, glaring hatefully at him.

He glanced at Hinata, who appeared as a haze of white, midnight and possibly lavender. She may or may not have been wearing that ill-fitting tan jacket— it was impossible to tell with how unfocused his vision was.

His hearing however, was unfortunately accurate still. He could hear her breathing and he could tell how unsteady it was. Inwardly, he prayed that when he woke up, he would forget all this and forget the feeling of his hand, numb but warm between her hands.

"Neji-nii." Hinata whispered. Her voice was shaking. "I- I thought that you—,"

And as she sat in the chair by his bed, she began to cry. Quietly but childishly; selfishly.

Stunned, he stared at her, because he could not ever remember seeing her cry like this before him. And uncomfortably, he wheezed, "I'm fine."

"I'm s-so glad." She managed. Neji had always thought that she was unsuitable for this particular trade, but as she spoke, he found himself unable to focus on anything but her voice. "I was thinking of you before you left with the o-others, and I wanted to take a walk and t-train with you and then I heard about it and I thought you'd—"

She interrupted herself with a deep, shuddering gulp.

"Of course not, Hinata-sama." Neji managed to speak, even if his voice shook too. He couldn't even hear himself—not when his head was buzzing with pain. "I am sorry to have troubled you."

She was still sniffling, but he was positive that she was smiling.

He blinked a few times, trying to breathe normally as he steadied his breathing.

"I'm the Branch member who's been assigned to protect you— I don't lose so easily."

IV.

Having been the boy's teacher in the early years, Higurashi was not surprised to find his former student already up so early in the morning and training in the West Compound's halls.

Back then, Higurashi still had a fairly good chance of defending or predicting this student's onslaught of palms. The boy had been intelligent and hard-working, but Higurashi had not trained and trained others for years to amount to a simple opponent.

While he had never admitted it to anyone, Higurashi counted it a personal triumph to have taught Hyuga Neji in the early days and beaten the nuances of taijutsu into that once small, insignificant body. Each sparring session had left his student with bruises and later, the bandages that Neji had eventually taken to wearing out of convenience and habit.

That of course, was nearly impossible for Higurashi to achieve now.

Watching from where he was, Higurashi marvelled at the technique displayed and at the relentless way that the boy stopped himself to try and perfect even the minutest of details. Hyuga Neji was his best pupil, and Higurashi had often wondered about Hiashi and Hizashi's role in all of this.

This pupil had been about about nineteen when it became fairly clear to Higurashi that the Hyuga Head had chosen his elder daughter to be the next leader of the Clan.

Some had worried about Neji's role within the Clan for a long time. A few had whispered to themselves that he was the favoured one in his generation and that Hiashi had never been closer to his twin's son in the recent years.

Some even bet that the Head would rewrite years of rules and Clan laws to designate Neji as the new Head, and the others had argued and bet against it. One Elder, scandalized and upset by these rumours, had personally warned Neji not to overstep the boundaries, subject of his uncle's favour or not.

Higurashi though, understood the meaninglessness of such speculation. It was precisely because Neji was so trusted by his uncle that Higurashi could see what all their roles were to be.

And that was the funny thing about all of this. No matter what he really wanted or had tried to live against, Neji was truly a Hyuga and there was no denying his talent at living as one. Certainly, Neji must have cursed the Hyuga at least once, but it took an objective observer like Higurashi to see that Neji enjoyed and honed the gift of his eyes.

There was that blood that flowed through Neji's veins, even if he had probably loathed the order that had deprived him of his father and eventually, mother. And as a matter of fact, Neji had upheld the Clan's foundations in bid to save his Hyuga brethren and the rest of the village. He had done that more than once.

The difference however, was that Neji had wanted to.

Whether by conscious design or coincidence, Higurashi's best pupil had always been a deviant within the Clan, despite how he seemed to fit in so perfectly. Granted, like most of the others in the Clan, there was too much ice and snow in his character—he was aloof, sophisticated and slightly standoffish by his very nature. The Hyuga just tended to be.

But unlike the earlier generations of Hyuga, Neji had plenty of good friends beyond the Clan and he cherished them as much as those who bore the Hyuga name. Unlike the generations of Hyuga before him, he didn't see protecting the village as an indirect way of ensuring the Hyuga's survival. Without Neji ever saying it, Higurashi understood that his pupil had never made such distinctions in choosing to protect all those who mattered to him.

The question therefore, was who mattered.

Even now, his former student's eyes were focused on the space before him as he practised his forms and regulated his breathing. Those were eyes that saw things that Higurashi or the other Clan members couldn't—not even when they too, were Hyuga.

Perhaps, those eyes had seen beyond the danger of the Head's elder daughter being taken by the Cloud ninja. Perhaps, those eyes had seen the value in mending the relations between the Clan's factions and had prompted Neji to set off on the mission that Higurashi had been too old and frail to complete by then.

Certainly, that Inuzuka boy and Neji's former teammate had helped him go after the Cloud ninja in the midst of the confusion and chaos of Orochimaru's attack. Still, Higurashi had seen Neji spearhead the entire mission himself.

It was one of those desperate ironies, Higurashi supposed. It was one of those things that old men, tired and bitter without the answers to the questions they'd sought, could appreciate. Surely, the boy's anger had not prevented him from living within that very environment that he'd claimed to hate and desire to change. Perhaps, Higurashi reflected, watching Neji strike and hit with frightening accuracy, his student had learnt the most important lesson of all.

The successful rebels were always those that worked within the existing systems

Privately, Higurashi thought that if he could live to see the path that Hyuga Neji would pave, he would die a perfectly satisfied old man. For now though, there was much to complete.

So Higurashi coughed once, making his presence known to his former student.

Neji of course, had to stop pretending that he hadn't sensed Higurashi and thus stopped his practice.

"This is supposed to be an important day." Higurashi admonished him. "You were instructed to have a good night's rest and to take everything into full consideration to facilitate this morning's meeting."

"Yes, Elder." Neji bowed slightly. He did not, however, begin to remove the training bandages that he wore with his fluid black gear. "I have rested well."

"You were informed to report to the Elder Houji this morning, yes?" Higurashi rapped his walking cane against the floorboards, moving to the student that he'd once towered over.

"Yes, Elder, but in an hour's time." Neji was always stiff and mostly polite.

He was more like his uncle than his father when he was trying to hide his annoyance, Higurashi thought with amusement. There always had to be just a little more irony to the grand scheme of things.

"And what do you think of Hinata as the future Head?"

Usually, Hyuga insisted on subtlety. But if Neji used that as a defence and would not be forthcoming, then Higurashi would be the one to confront the issue quite simply by throwing Neji direct questions.

"She will make a fine Head." Neji said after a moment's consideration. It was clear that he didn't want to say anymore, and it was difficult to see what he really thought.

Now, Higurashi noted with satisfaction that Neji was becoming a first-rate politician like the current Head. Certainly, Konohagakure had and still required diplomatic assistance in securing materials and resources to reconstruct the decimated places and develop other areas. Madara's spate of attacks had taken mere minutes in some instances, but the damage would be far less easy to undo. Even with other countries pitching in to help, it was quite clear that there was a great deal of work to be stretched over the years.

Incidentally, Higurashi ad realised, the Hyuga head had found new ways to utilise the resources and people within the Clan. In Higurashi's opinion, Neji was one such person—efficient, pragmatic, and the best enforcer that would not usurp any particular position. Hinata, of course, was one that remained untapped for now.

As one of those at the Hokage's office had remarked, a pretty face never hurt at a diplomatic dinner. The village's young men, along with shy Academy boys, sophisticated lords, wealthy businessmen and even jaded diplomats had whispered and looked with wondering eyes upon Hyuga Hinata.

And yet her eyes were mostly turned to her father's as she searched for his approval each time. Apart from her father, she clung onto the next Hokage's every word—his silly jokes, his childish mannerisms, his careless utterances and sunny smiles to her and the world at large.

It had gone on for sufficiently long. Plenty of Elders had alluded to the fear of the Head's elder daughter forgetting where her priorities lay, and Hyuga Ko had admitted certain things to the Hyuga Council when questioned about his charge with regard to Uzumaki Naruto.

It wasn't Ko's fault. Hinata had been advised, increasingly over the years, to stay focused on her training. For now, however, she had been kept busy with her new involvement of the Clan and her father's work.

Increasingly, Hiashi had begun to bring his elder daughter to meetings and diplomatic sessions and placed her on his left while Neji had sat at his right. As if to restate what had been previously doubted, Hinata had been introduced as the heir during diplomatic meetings held in the Hyuga Estate and thus inducted into her father's confidence quite suddenly.

During those times, Higurashi had noticed the way that Hiashi had pressed Hinata to give her view on various issues at times. Her sincerity and empathy had more than made up for her lack of experience at such meetings, and seated by her father's side in the right settings, Hinata wielded a power that the more confrontational, highly aggressive and often close-minded Hanabi could not hope to achieve just yet.

On his side, Higurashi had seen the entire process as a silent reinstatement of a position that most had doubted her hold on. Hanabi after all, had been the more prominent sister for many years within the Clan. Of course, it took more than the shinobi arts to establish true power these days, whereby deterrence was no more important than diplomacy. At the same time, keeping Hinata busy subtly prevented opportunities for her to cross paths with Uzumaki Naruto.

Even the most abundant of resources had to be tapped in the right way. At the risk of Hiashi's displeasure, one Elder had remarked at a certain meeting that there had been plenty and far too many incidents of heirs meandering along the way.

Such incidents, as that Elder had commented, were too dangerous, and those were to be avoided at all costs to prevent repetition. Higurashi of course, had fully understood the Head's tightened jaw and how his eyes narrowed without him saying anything— he saw traces of it in Neji even now.

Mostly though, Higurashi still relished the way that the Elder took his seat hurriedly, eyes nervous as he realised that he'd spoken too much. Everybody had their place. It was not advisable to leave it.

All factors considered, Higurashi was fairly certain that Hinata could be managed quite sufficiently. He wasn't quite so sure about Neji, however.

"Have you made your decision?" Higurashi pressed on. He was well aware of the meeting that had transpired between the Head and Neji, although they all pretended that they had no inkling of such an event. For now, anyway.

Neji paused. His eyes moved once—a strange movement for a man with such a steady gaze. "I have."

And that was the thing about this particular former student. As a boy, Hyuga Neji had been frighteningly driven and so very determined. He had been a boy with a mannerisms and a mind that his body had yet to catch up with. Even now when he was arguably a man at twenty, Higurashi wasn't sure that this particular former student's body had caught up to that complex, unfathomable mind.

And that was why Higurashi wasn't all that sure that he could predict this pupil's actions entirely.

V.

There had been no thunderstorm the night before and Hanabi was no longer a child of three.

As she blinked, adjusting her eyesight to the semi-darkness of her sister's room, she considered that she had no legitimate grounds to be in this futon and curled up against Hinata. There had been no lightning, no frightening sounds in the sky and simply no room for a childish appeal to an older sibling.

It had been a cool, fairly normal night and she was already fifteen and experienced in many ways. She knew how to slit a throat without the person even being able to scream, how to silence a full-grown man with a few palms, and she knew how to make boys and girls wilt or bloom with a single word.

That said, all those were not required for Hanabi to come here. Hinata always received her enthusiastically and stayed up trying to make conversation regarding her younger sister's day. It had confused Hanabi in the earlier years, and because she didn't like uncertainty, she had pushed away. In the later years, her sister's patient, if completely illogical love had amused Hanabi.

In these quieter, more lucid moments however, Hanabi always wondered what kind of pain Hinata went through to look at her and smile and be encouraging. The crux of the matter was that Hinata's nature did not enable her to turn Hanabi away, and Hanabi had always counted on that in any situation.

Having arrived home just an evening ago, Hanabi should have been pleased to count and realize that she had already completed the same number of mid-level missions successfully as Hinata had to date. But if her footsteps had quickened as she'd hurried to Hinata's quarters, her mind already phrasing how she would trumpet this latest success, she had seen her cousin Neji.

Her cousin had been moving out from her father's study, and Hanabi had seen his eyes cast towards the ground even in the dark. He was walking fast and briskly, as he usually did, and if he had sensed her, he ignored her as he mostly did on a normal day.

In the recent years, most would have found him more approachable and plenty had praised him as being mature and courteous enough. But Hanabi bought none of these recommendations— he was trustable in most areas, that was true, but she had never trusted anyone much in the first place.

In the last of the evening's light, those blank, empty eyes had made strange tunnels in his pale face, and his expression generally revealed nothing. Of course though, her father and Neji weren't the only people who knew how to read body language to make fairly intelligent guesses.

From the role that he played in the Clan, the direction he'd headed out from, his hurried footsteps and the tightened fists, she'd guessed that he had been given orders that he wasn't particularly keen to carry out.

More than that though, Hanabi liked certainty.

As Hinata stirred slightly, murmuring something, Hanabi was all too aware that there were plenty of others that cared for her elder sister as much as she cared for them. If the quintessential Hyuga was aloof and kept at the fringe of most village activities, Hinata was the sort of person whom others grew protective of.

Naturally, the children whom she taught took to her, as did the most jaded and experienced colleagues who looked after her as her teammates had. When she had been younger, Hanabi had told herself that Hinata would never be an outstanding kunoichi because her nature was at odds with the trade's essence. She had gloated over that when her father had praised her and cast his eyes over Hanabi's older sister without really looking at her.

Hanabi though, was intelligent enough to understand that the one person that she could not hurt without first feeling anything was Hinata. Even if Hanabi was no fool and certainly lucid enough at any time of the day, it felt better to have her sister's soft form cuddling hers than not, and it was slightly easier not to think about both their unmarked foreheads.

When she had finally admitted to caring enough to think about it, Hanabi had realized that she was just one of the many that her sister cared for, and because she had always known that, her stomach felt shriveled and tiny—bitter and pinched.

Now, she tried not to think of when Neji had first decided that he was more than willing to defend Hinata if at the cost of his life. It was a difficult question, and she began settling back, cuddling in the warmth that she had never admitted to craving.

But it simply wasn't her nature to stop questioning or putting things from her mind. Until she found the answer, she would never be able to stop thinking of the way that Neji had walked beyond her in the gathering darkness. For now, she could put it away, but as all of these things tended to do, it would surface and haunt her again at some point.

Still, it was fine for now. It was fine that Hinata would eventually have to wake soon and report at a meeting in the Ceremonial hall and that Hanabi would have to watch the game of chess and the sacrifice of pawns start.

For Hanabi, these few moments could be spent without the rules of the game mattering, and because Hanabi was the only one who was awake in this moment, it was fine to admit that she could almost remember their mother in these precise times.

After all, the person who Hanabi sought out on certain evenings—the same person who was holding her— was Hanabi's closest link to a mother.

A little later, as Hinata washed up and got ready to leave her quarters, Hanabi rolled onto her side and watched her sister brush her hair. The sun had not really risen yet, but the briskness that Hinata moved with was undeniable. Nor could the way that Hinata quietly chose her white robes over her training clothes be ignored, or how she deposited some spare shuriken on the vanity but pressed some lavender to her wrists.

For now, however, Hanabi chose to ignore it. She watched her sister lie hastily about where she would be going so early in the morning, and in turn, continued with the pretence.

"When do you have your training?" Hinata inquired, hands busy with pulling her hair into a knot.

"It's a free day for me." Hanabi told her sister. "I'll just sleep a little more."

She pretended to yawn, sinking back and looking with deliberately unfocused eyes at Hinata, knowing that if she acted a little bleary, Hinata would not be jumpy around her at all. Even now, Hinata's occasional stammer was tellingly absent.

"Umm, will you be fine here by yourself?" Hinata asked, hand on the door but eyes trained worriedly upon her. "I won't be long, I promise, but I'll request the maids to stay around."

"There's no need." Hanabi told her directly and brusquely, forgetting her pretence for a moment. Hinata might have been nearly kidnapped in the past, but Hanabi was quite sure that such a thing would never occur to herself.

But Hinata looked even more concerned. "N-No, I think they better be around. I'll ask them to bring breakfast for you."

"Do as you please." Hanabi said dismissively, short of shrugging. She turned over and buried her face in the pillow, more comfortable with the dark than the light.

To her, it was laughable for Hinata to think of herself as Hanabi's protector. Really, Hanabi was more likely to rip an unarmed enemy's throat out than Hinata was likely to hurt a helpless creature.

But because this was an integral part of the pretence that Hanabi herself liked to play a part in, she went along with everything. After all, it had taken some years for Hanabi to discover the loss of her childhood and crave something that she'd never really had.

While it was too late that she'd decided that she wanted to have that little bit of indulgence, it wasn't too late to pretend that she could still have it.

Inwardly however, Hanabi knew what her role was. Mark or no mark, younger daughter or not, she was her sister's flesh and blood, and their father was going to become part of the past. Whether by anybody's own doing or not, it was an inevitable aspect of a system that her father had helped to implement and perpetuate. Time of course, was never on anybody's side, let alone her father's.

The day would come, Hanabi thought blithely, sitting up now as the maids arrived. And what a fine day it would be—she would relish the moment when her father looked at Hinata and wondered if he and the Heads before him had been wrong to deprive all their lives of something simple and pure.

"Hanabi-sama," One of the maids greeted her. The maid was already nervous in her presence.

Because she had cultivated this habit upon learning as to why the Hyuga Clan had servants whereas plenty of other clans struggled to keep alive, Hanabi noted automatically that this maid had dark hair and pale skin. They were just two of many servants who bore the Hyuga name, thanks to past generations of folly.

The other maid hung behind the first one and said meekly, "We've brought you a change of clothes."

Hanabi gazed at her momentarily, ticking off the usual items on her mental list. This maid however, only had a hint of Hyuga blood with that slender form of hers. Her hair was a distressing honey colour, and Hanabi's lip curled. As distant relatives to the main and branch family members, their Hyuga blood was much-weakened to the point that their eyes came in all colours but the pearl tones. In fact, few of these distant relatives retained a significant amount of the Hyuga's trademark looks.

"Leave the clothes there." Hanabi said simply, pointing to the edge of the door that the maids knelt at without crossing into room. She would not allow any of them in here, and she would spare them no further word.

While those that were born with the all-seeing eyes were automatically included as part of the Hyuga clan, it remained that a servant who gave birth to a child with the all-seeing eyes experienced no elevation of status. A child without the Hyuga eyes too, would either live in the other areas of the village or end up like these maids.

And just as it was accepted that most Hyuga children were usually branded by the age of five, there was so much decorum that was never truly formalised but nonetheless ingrained into every Hyuga's sub-consciousness. It was understood then, that these unwritten rules, along with the division of the Clan and the marital arrangements, had to be upheld for the Clan's good— whatever that was.

Sometimes, Hanabi thought, it was better to be branded than not.

The finger marks had faded quickly enough but Hanabi didn't see it as much as feel it—the first time her father hit her. If she had been looking for proof that he even cared about his first daughter, she found it in provoking him.

And as the maids slid the shoji shut, Hanabi understood that they were exchanging a glance as if to note the differences between the younger and older mistresses.

Smiling in approval at how she'd conditioned the maids to be wary around her, Hanabi stretched out in her sister's bed and got ready to go back to sleep.

VI.

In this hall, the atmosphere was just as menacing as when she'd stepped in here as a child. The familiar incense that was lit every morning was still faint in the air, and the wood of the floor and the walls had soaked it up over the years even as the number of ceremonial tablets had accumulated.

At some point, Hinata saw her cousin's eyes flit to a particular one amidst those, and she swallowed with some difficulty. No doubt, it was his father's.

She had met Neji along the path to this main ceremonial hall, where one of the key elders had arranged to meet the both of them. It had been inevitable, seeing that this was the only path to the hall, and they'd walked the circumference of lotus ponds in a somewhat awkward silence.

Mostly, Hinata reflected, it had been her doing.

For plenty of previous occasions, Neji had proved to be quite capable of making conversation or of even smiling at jokes. If it had been surprising, it had still been pleasant, and she'd learned that he owned a rather dry sense of humour as opposed to Kiba or Naruto's rambunctious personalities. It had probably been her obvious tenseness that had made him clam up as well, and they'd had little to say to each other, if at all.

Now that they were before one of the Elders, Hinata did not dare to remind Neji of the promise that he'd made her last night. Besides, Neji seemed unafraid of Houji, and his steadiness was something that Hinata envied—particularly in situations like these.

Hinata had been too nervous rehearsing what she'd planned with Neji the evening before, and she had not eaten anything for breakfast. Presently, however, she tried to swallow to lessen her throat's dryness and realized that she would have preferred to have had some tea at hand.

It was exceedingly obvious to Hinata that Hyuga Houji had never been fond of Neji. Even before she and Neji took their seats, Houji indicated that the servant should leave, and there was a distaste that lingered in his expression when he looked at Neji. Clearly, the serving of tea or general courteousness to Hinata and Neji was probably trivial in the scheme of things that Houji was concerned with.

Without being able to serve them tea, Houji's manservant nervously retreated, apparently quite eager to leave them all there. Also, the servant cast Neji a more nervous look than what he accorded to Houji, and Hinata was quite sure that nobody in this room was as comfortable or trusting with Neji as she was.

For a long time, Hinata had preferred to avoid Neji at all costs. He had somehow been distant as far as her memory could serve her, and she'd heard plenty of those in and outside the Clan call him arrogant.

But really, nobody could fault the faint remnants of cool self-assuredness and Hyuga Neji's previous claims of prescience. Hyuga Neji's eyes were the best in many generations, and what was substantially left to the imagination with all-seeing eyes? To most of the Hyuga, he was the ultimate autodidact who'd required no formal training to have reached the true pinnacle of the Clan's arts. To the others, they were either plainly jealous or wary of him.

That was apparently fine with Neji, although it bothered Hinata to no end. As a result, she sat fidgeting, inexplicably wilting under the unfriendly gaze that Houji shot not at her, but at Neji.

"You must have no doubt as to why your presence has been requested here this morning." Houji said. He cut his words thinly, slicing each syllable from the next with minimal movement of his hands or eyes. It reminded Hinata-sama of the kunai-throwing practices that every shinobi went through.

"Yes, Elder." She said dutifully. Neji, next to her, did not speak, and Houji's eyes became slits.

As an Elder who was her father's key advisor and uncle, Houji generally fit into the mould of a Hyuga male. He had once been a beautiful youth, as rumors had suggested, and he had ascended the ranks within the Clan and in the greater part of Konoha rapidly.

His hair however, had thinned greatly and his pale, wrinked skin resembled crumpled paper—surely nothing could last forever. But Hyuga Houji was used to speaking with great authority and an enunciation, and Hinata immediately understood why he had been an invaluable counselor to Hinata's grandfather and now Hyuga Hiashi.

Perhaps Houji and so many others were afraid of Neji. Hinata could see that Neji was different from the rest of them, and that he threatened their conceptions of the Clan and what its basic principles were. Neji was both a branch member but a trusted council member; an insider but one who always chose to be slightly distanced from all the politicking, and Hinata would have to rely on him more than ever now.

Wanting to emulate her cousin's impeccable control, Hinata sat a little straighter, hoping to look half as convincing as Neji.

"Last night, Hinata-sama's betrothal to a worthy husband was arranged for. Several candidates were considered." Houji said, his gaze sill piercing and focused on Neji.

"I have only recently turned nineteen," Hinata murmured, her throat distressingly dry still.

Even as she spoke, she knew it was a weak argument and lowered her gaze when Houji stared at her.

"Most of the Hyuga clan members were initiated into betrothals at even younger ages." Houji said bitingly. Neji had told her just as much yesterday evening, and now Hinata's cheeks burned.

"May I ask—," She ventured timidly, somehow daring to ask the questions here. "Who are those that the Elders and my father have considered?"

"The Elders did consider betrothing the Hyuga heir to the last member of the Uchiha Clan." Houji told them.

Hinata flinched, feeling rather as if Houji had referred to another person entirely. Indeed, he seemed to be looking through her, rather than at her. At least however, Houji was honest. He would not indulge her or humour her, and he treated her as no more and no less than what she had long become used to in the Clan.

Seated next to her, Neji spoke up, as Hinata had requested. "I find it difficult to believe that Lord Hiashi would approve of the Uchiha."

A little relieved that Neji had stuck to what she'd asked of him and begun intercepting, Hinata began to nod. So long as Neji said what she had asked him to say, Houji would convince the other Elders that she was not prepared for this betrothal yet.

But Houji's pale eyes flitted to Neji's, and the disapproval was very clear in them.

"I hardly think that this is for you to judge." Houji looked at Neji diffidently and pursed his lips. It was clear that he felt that Neji had spoken out of turn. Likewise, when Hinata ventured to speak, Houji looked rather displeased.

"As Neji-nii says, I think that my father would not approve." She trailed off, wondering what to say. Her father had never mentioned Uchiha Sasuke in any particular context, let alone in this one, but of what she recalled, he'd been rather skeptical of the person that Konoha had received once more.

"That one is more trouble than he is worth," Her father had said coldly, when someone had informed him that Uchiha Sasuke had come back to the village. At that time, Hinata had wondered what her father would have said about Uzumaki Naruto, had his opinion been required.

"As Hinata-sama says," Neji echoed, "It is unlikely that Hyuga-sama will approve."

Hinata gave him another grateful glance.

"Then you'd be surprised." Houji said, picking up his brush once more. His calligraphy was neat and precise, rather like the tone he used currently. "At our last meeting, Hyuga-sama did concede and admit to the merits of incorporating the last member of a related clan. The Sharingan is highly related to the Byakugan, as you would both know."

"So are plenty of other shinobi arts." Hinata said, daring to even speak at all.

"But none as strongly as the Sharingan," Houji said sharply, his brush paused above the paper. "Some Plenty of Hyuga lords and ladies were betrothed to their distant relatives from that separate clan—it is almost a tradition in itself."

"Some traditions," Neji said softly, eyes laser-white and unblinking "Should be left behind."

Hinata would have nodded, except that Houji's glare was too apparent to ignore. The Elder looked from Neji to her, and his gaze was harsh enough for her to look down at her hands.

"If you must know," Houji said testily, "Uchiha Itachi was considered to be a candidate for betrothal at some point—until the tragedy occurred, of course. The arrangement still stands in many ways, and I think it would interest you to know that the Head was rather willing to consider Uchiha Sasuke."

Personally, Hinata could remember very little about the original arrangement, especially since nobody in the Clan had spoken of the way that it had fallen through after Uchiha Itachi had become a missing nin. Besides, the proposition of having a Hyuga servant entering the woods that Uchiha Sasuke often meditated in and thus requesting that he take time off to visit the Hyuga Estate and get hitched along the way was awkward, if not pathetic.

Neji however, met Houji's glance with a cool, measured gaze, and she felt a little relieved. Surely, Neji would do as she'd begged of him the evening before.

"If I may go so far as to speak for Hinata-sama," Neji said swiftly, "I think that she would find Uchiha Sasuke a difficult person. With all due respect to Uchiha Sasuke and the Elders, he is still assimilating to Konoha, and lives in the segregated area. As you and Hinata-sama would know, he is still receiving medical aid and in the lengthy process of recovering from his—" Neji paused delicately. "Experiences."

While Hinata wasn't sure that it was as drastic as Neji had made it sound, Hinata was certainly thankful that her cousin had spoken up.

"I agree entirely with Neji-nii." Hinata said hastily and very thankfully.

Sitting by her side, Neji never even looked at her. Hence, she waited for Houji to speak, and he might have, had Neji not continued on quite abruptly.

"And thus, if it is the Elders and Lord Hiashi's wishes, I will most gratefully serve to the best of my abilites."

Confused, Hinata looked at Neji. His eyes were still focused ahead, and she watched in horror as he continued.

"It would be of the utmost honour to be Hinata-sama's bethrothed."

"Ah." Houji said, as if anything made sense at all.

It took her more willpower than she'd realized to prevent her cry of alarm. Frantically, Hinata looked at Neji, willing him to take his eyes away from Houji's and to face her. A strange, muffled sound pressed between her lips, but when Houji looked at her, she found herself silent with nothing that she could possibly manage to say.

Since she had begged him to, Neji had promised to help her delay the betrothal. But surely, this was not what she had wanted or what he had assured her of. Yet, she could not say it here. Not now—she could not possibly when Houji was before them, and not when Neji had just said what he had.

"It will be an honour." Neji repeated again. There was stoniness to his face, and she could infer no particular emotion from his voice.

Above them, the portraits of the deceased Hyuga watched them all.

"Of course." Houji said. There was something a little abrasive in his tone as he appraised Neji. "As it has always been for a member of the Branch Family."

Neji said nothing, even if Hinata sensed his hands tightening in his lap. Had he already known the futility of her arguments?

Surely, he'd already made the same ones and been rejected by the Elders? Why then, Hinata thought desperately, had he led her into thinking that she could argue against this with his help?

"Must there be a betrothal at all?" She whispered, her voice breaking and shifting into a whisper. The blood was rushing from her face and her hands were cold. At this point, she could not bring herself to look at Neji.

"If it is both your duties." Houji said bluntly. "It is being arranged even as we speak now." He brought out some rice-paper, then dipped a brush into freshly mixed ink and prepared to write. "Hyuga-sama has given his approval. In fact, he was the one who suggested it and spoke to Neji yesterday evening."

"I don't understand," She tried to calm her breathing. "Must the betrothal be so soon?"

Neji only frowned a little more. He did not look at her. Instead, he said nothing, but sat a little straighter, his brow furrowed.

Desperately, she twisted her hands in her lap, trying a final tactic. "Neji-nii has his duties as a jounin and the leader of an elite team and surely, there will not be any time for him to settle down and—,"

"Younger members of the clan have served their duties within and beyond the Hyuga clan equally competently." Houji cut in, his gaze harsh and very critical upon her.

Now, the words he wrote on the paper, it seemed to Hinata, were blurring. She blinked rapidly, trying to control herself.

"Neither of us fail to understand the duties involved." Neji acknowledged. His hands were perfectly poised even in his stationary position, but it seemed that he was not truly at ease. He reminded her of a sparrow waiting to spring from the ground at any hint of an attack. "I fully comprehend the scope of my duties, Elder. On my part, I assure you of my utmost compliance."

Stricken, Hinata snuck a glance at him, expecting him not to look at her. But she was mistaken this time, for his eyes focused on hers. Even when she uneasily slid them back to Houji, Neji continued to look at her. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to cover her mouth from how uncomfortable she felt.

"I understand that you will have no problems deferring your erstwhile duties within the Clan for the specified period?" Houji's tone left no room for argument, and he was writing at an even quicker pace. "There are plenty of preparations for this betrothal that must be made."

But this was where Neji hesitated. His gaze slid a little. When he spoke once more, she sensed that he was looking directly at her.

"It will always my responsibility to continue serving the Head family." Neji offered finally.

With that headband of his, it was easy to forget what lay imprinted on the skin beneath the steel and cloth. Hinata had. She had willed and expected him to, but he knew better.

They all knew better.

Houji seemed just as or even more inscrutable than Neji himself, and suddenly, a silent understanding seemed to pass between them both. It seemed to run in the whole family, Hinata despaired as she looked at the two men, save for herself.

Neji's voice revealed nothing of what he was thinking. "I will make the necessary preparations on my part."

He would, wouldn't he? She clenched her fists in her lap.

"As will Hinata-sama," Houji said pointedly, when she did not respond. "Who has far less onerous duties than Neji does."

Stricken, Hinata lowered her eyes. She stood up, a little unstable. She tried to imitate Neji's stoic manner. Her voice shook still. "I understand. As I will."

For most of it, she thought she did fairly well. Granted, her voice had shaken, but it was such a tiny tremor that she told herself that none of them would have heard it.

"You may be excused, Hinata-sama." Houji began printing characters fast on the paper. "I understand that you have your training to return to."

"Yes, Elder." She managed a slight bow that he barely acknowledged. It was just as well.

She did not look at either of them as she left. Her tears and anger did not come until much later and only after she began to walk and then break into a run.

That, she found, was the only consolation.

VII.

It was only when he had turned eighteen recently that Neji finally felt ready to clear out some of the old boxes. Those were stacked and piled high, put into storerooms adjoined to his father's empty quarters, and it seemed that they loomed higher and higher each year.

It just so happened that Neji had been given a few days off, and it was on this one afternoon when he wanted to take a break from training. At the same time, he felt a need to sort things out beyond his general preference to keep things neat, and those cupboards had been neglected in the vacant quarters for far too long.

Some manservant passed by, noticed what he was doing and begged him not to concern himself with spring-cleaning during this hot summer period. Certainly, the servants could do it if he wished, and he did not need to concern himself with these mundane things.

But Neji waved him away, increasingly intent on clearing the things out. "It's time that I did it myself."

In the wardrobes, he found plenty of things. Some of the wooden chests were beautifully preserved because wood of that quality simply did not rot or warp. But some were less well-kept even when they'd been wrapped in cloth and had uneven wood shards that Neji took care to avoid. One box had a number of rusty locks that he only managed to snap open after exerting a little more force than he had expected, and he pondered about his father's old books for a minute before leaving them intact.

It was dizzying and strange, this exercise of emptying the contents of all these boxes. He felt as if he had been distinctively related to each item at some point, but the memories and years between the past and the present had eroded and he was mostly puzzled by the knick-knacks that he pulled out.

Then Hinata visited at some point, if only to tell him that she was off for a mission.

As he heard her soft voice and got up, weaving past all the things carefully to slide open the paper doors, she looked around and her lips parted in surprise. "Neji-nii?"

"Just clearing out some old things." Neji explained, noting that she had packed for an apparently long mission.

"I-I see." A small smile touched her lips hesitantly.

She seemed afraid to step past the threshold, for she was considerate enough to view herself as an intruder even whilst Neji did not. Likewise, he stood respectfully at a distance while the waste of the past lay all around him, far too aware of his own position to drop the honorifics despite her repeated insistence.

"Will you t-throw all those away?" Her eyes flickered worriedly at an increasingly tall heap.

"Maybe." Neji admitted. But as he looked at her, seeing as her eyes wandered over the now-faded cloths and once-treasured items, he understood instinctively that the contents of the boxes were not more valuable than the memories that those were associated with.

In some way as he gazed at her, Neji had reached that conclusion himself.

"I wish I c-could help," She said, eyes wide as she glanced around. "It seems like an awful lot to go through, Neji-nii."

"But I can manage, "He told her, and then decided to say whatever was on his mind because they'd been through enough for that amount of honesty at the very least. "Just come back safely, Hinata-sama."

Her eyes flew from the to-be-discarded heap to his, and then she nodded once, returning his smile rather bashfully. And when Hinata finally left, sliding the doors close very quietly, it took him a while before he could get on with his task.

After she left, he continued to struggle to open many of the boxes, for the keys to most had been lost.

He found old robes that his father had worn. Those were mostly all dark-coloured in grays and dark blues. There were the even more formal black ones, although Neji noted that none of them had the motif of the Hyuga crests, save the discreet ones in the lining of the sleeves. His mother's kimonos, of course, had been taken with her and there were few of her possessions left, but Neji doubted that many of those would have been bright-coloured.

In another chest, he found letters that had been exchanged by his father and the Hyuga head when they'd been much younger. Apparently, separate missions hadn't prevented their communication at that point, although many things in the later years probably had.

There were also some old weapons and some sandals that had probably seen better days. A dented, rusty hitate-ate was in one, and after some careful consideration, Neji put his father's first forehead protector in the pile to be labeled as waste later.

He threw everything away, saving only a few of his father's wearable clothes if out of a grudging sentimentality. Everything else was impractical to keep—the Academy graduation certificates, the faded paintings that someone had given his father, and the lovingly-folded clothes that Neji had worn as a child. For Neji, so much of the past had been misunderstood that keeping the ghosts in their boxes felt like a rather wasteful pursuit.

In one small box, however, Neji found some old calligraphy exercises and a few spare scrolls with nothing written in them. Shifting through those, he smiled at his father's beautiful penmanship, and then Neji's own efforts to emulate the strokes as a child. At the very least, his mother had encouraged and preserved the obviously laborious efforts that he'd once undertaken to complete every stroke properly.

There was a particular ripped scroll that made him stare, for it featured a miniature drawing with queer shapes. Some parts of the drawing were oblong and shaded grey with marks and tiny labels that he must have once made. His curiosity piqued, he looked at it but could not understand, and he inadvertently puzzled over it for the next few days.

When Neji passed the North gardens some mornings after, a thought struck and he activated the Byakugan.

That, he realized, was the thing about the Hyuga Estate. Like its inhabitants, the structures within the Hyuga Estate was pre-determined and followed strictly. Even over a decade, little change had been made to the shapes of the manicured trees, lawns and flowerbeds and the pagoda. What had always been would always be.

The Byakugan that he'd activated as a child had once warped the shapes and made everything seem large and far and near all at once. But the Hyuga eyes were all-seeing, unchanging eyes, and as a child, what he had seen of the garden with these eyes was similar to all that he now saw as an adult.

Realizing that the structures in the distance matched what he could remember of the scribbled map, Neji hurried to his quarters and fetched the ragged piece of paper. And following the childish although somewhat cryptic labels, he had a wild thought and began trying to retrace the steps that he must have taken as a boy.

So Neji measured half-steps around the place, all the while looking out for others in case he was caught doing something as silly and embarrassing as taking mincing steps while constantly referring to a crumpled scroll.

Thankfully, nobody was around this early in the morning. As much as possible, Neji followed the map meticulously, stopping only when he needed to decipher what were probably errors in writing and strange, hastily-scribbled words.

Eventually, he came to rest at the third tree at the edge of the pagoda. It was well-pruned and a graceful twisting system of branches. Overall, it seemed to fit with the uniform row of others. However, the map illuminated nothing else, and he was left staring blankly at the tree.

He might have left, and perhaps on hindsight, he should have.

But Neji thought of the perpetually if obsessively neat penmanship that he'd been forced to practice as a child until it became second nature to write legibly and beautifully. And he thought of the crumpled, hurriedly drawn shapes and the ink splotches and found himself wondering about the child that he had once been.

Standing there, he would have seemed to be admiring a particularly fine specimen of a spruce tree to any passing person. But inside, Neji was confused and fixated on the steps that he had possibly taken as a child, and now as an adult.

Frankly, he could have stood there all day long, obstinate and unmoving, refusing to let go of a clue that had probably been a kind of key to a boxed memory. He probably wouldn't have, since there was a limit to his stubbornness and the time he could spend in increasingly futile efforts to remember anything particular about this tree.

Then one of the aunts passed by, thanking him for the old but sturdy child's pail and spade that he'd found in the old chests and passed on to a her toddler the other day. A few of the Hyuga children had been given his old clothes, and a few had received the even fewer toys that he'd retained in possession.

"I'm glad those are still usable." He told her. "Although I'm afraid those are a bit old."

"Oh no, Naoki was thrilled," She told Neji and then excused herself because the morning market was starting beyond the Compound's gates.

Had she turned back after Neji had waved aside her thanks graciously and with uncharacteristic absent-mindedness, that particular aunt would have seen Neji bend down.

Had she suspected that he was doing more than taking a morning walk and continued watching Neji, she would have seen him dig more and more feverishly until he suddenly paused and sat back, caring little that the earth would soil his clean robes.

In the earth and well-buried for plenty of years, Neji had found yet another wooden box.

Its smooth, sandy tones had been stained by the dirt, and he stared at it, wiping the sweat from his cheek with a careless, impatient hand. Lifting it from its grave, he wondered what had inspired him to keep a time capsule as a child.

Frankly, Neji even doubted that it was even his. To the best of his memory, he could not recall much aside from the years of training, the falling and getting up again, and the anger that had kept him awake on plenty of nights.

But surely, he thought as he glanced at the map, he had bothered writing instructions for a reason. Surely, those instructions had been his and something had been important for him when he had been a child.

And thus Neji made his decision and snapped open its loosened hinges.

Opening it, he found nothing but a small cat doll.

A/N: Well it's been a long time folks! Thank you to all who read and reviewed, and I have to say that I've been so greatly encouraged by so many out there! I hope you liked this chapter and continue to read and review! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to see next!