Hinata stared at herself brushing her hair in the vanity mirror’s reflection. She watched as the brush left her long midnight blue hair shiny and gave it more volume. She didn’t think, barley blinked, only watched herself. Her mind was trying to cope with what she had recently learned. Of course, she knew it was coming, that this day was always looming on her horizon, forbidding and ominous. Yet, somewhere along the lines she put it to the back of her mind. Tonight was just a cruel reminder that it was unavoidable. Like death, Hinata thought setting the brush down and staring into her reflection.
She soaked it all in, the pale skin, the full pouty lips and the one thing that truly defined her for what she was, the white pupil-less eyes; the byakugan. Eyes that could make grown men turn their heads in fear of what she could do. Eyes that not only were apart of the young woman, but became her burden as well, for those eyes were the mark of a Hyuga. Descendant of the bloodline that allowed one to see tenketsus or chakra holes in a person and able to use the “Gentle Fist” fighting style to control the chakra flow by closing tenketsus.
Ordinarily, being a Hyuga wouldn’t give a person as much stress as it gave Hinata. That’s because there is only one heir to the Hyuga clan and Hinata happened to be the heir. If she could, Hinata would give up her title to her little sister any day because she didn’t like what the title brought with it. It restricted everything one could do and the heir to the clan had to make their sole purpose in life the protection of the clan, by any means necessary. It wasn’t something Hinata could do; she was just too gentle hearted. She didn’t have it in her to run a clan, much less kill someone if the time asked for it.
However, it would be unfair to say that Hinata wasn’t capable of using her byakugan. After a few years of training with her older cousin Neji, Hinata was almost an expert at reading people. The only thing Hinata thought the byakugan had to offer was its strong powers of insight. With the byakugan, a Hyuga can read a person’s thoughts by paying attention to their body language and by just reading their eyes. Hinata has used this to her advantage many times to know what a person was thinking or what someone wanted, but never had the confidence or strength to do something about it.
A quick rap on her door brought Hinata out of her reverie. She got up in her flowing dark blue nightgown and stood in front of her door, already recognizing the chakra signature on the other side. She took in a deep breath before opening the door to Neji.
Neji stood at the door looking painfully handsome with his long hair pulled back casually at the base of his back and in nothing but flannel pajama bottoms. Hinata looked up into his perfect face, trying hard not to look and blush at his sculpted chest. She moved away from the door, allowing him entrance into her room. He walked in with an elegance of kings and waited until Hinata shut the door and sat down on her bed.
“Hinata,” Neji started in an apologetic voice, “we knew this day was coming.”
Hinata nodded her head, unable to form words at the moment.
“Hiashi-sama even told us that when you turned eighteen, there was nothing stopping this marriage any more.”
Hinata stared up into Neji’s face and wished that she could stop time. She didn’t want to hear him say anything anymore; she didn’t want to be who she was. All she wanted to do was to run away. Run to a place where her family and her marriage could disappear; out of sight and out of mind. But Hinata was eighteen years old, no longer a child, but a woman. She couldn’t run away to some distance place and hope for the best. She had to deal with her problems no matter how badly she didn’t want to.
“Neji,” she said, voice barely above a whisper, “you used to always speak of destiny and how things can’t be changed. How before we were born, everything we did was preordained. Do you still believe that now?”
Neji stared intently at Hinata’s face, carefully assessing her peculiar, though understandable, mood. He sat down next to her on Hinata’s pure white bed and held her hand gently.
“What I do believe, Hinata, is that a person has the power to change themselves and some things that involve them. Other things are just out of our power.”
Translation, Hinata thought in her mind grimly, some things can change, but I don’t think that this is something we can change.
Hinata stared at Neji and realized that he wasn’t looking at her anymore. She followed his gaze to his hand holding hers on the white sheets. Hinata frowned at this for a second; Neji has never tried touching her unless it was training. Then it hit Hinata like a smack on the back of her head. It was almost painfully obvious to realize that Neji was trying to adjust to their new predicaments by getting used to…touching her. If they were getting married, touching would be a necessity.
This was too much for Hinata to bear. It was basically an official surrender flag on Neji’s part. Hinata couldn’t believe that he was giving into this marriage so easily, Neji, the person that refuses to give up on anything. Actually, Hinata thought miserably, she could. Neji was getting the best part out of this deal; not only was he going to become the heir of the clan since he was going to gain that from the marriage, but he was also going to leave the branch house, something he has been wishing for for years.
Hinata didn’t know what to feel. She was so used to him protecting her, such was the branch house’s duty to the main house; she wondered what it would be like when they were married. Hinata’s face flushed and tears slipped down her cheeks as she realized that she was succumbing to this marriage business faster than she could ever dream. She never wanted this to happen, all she wanted was to live with the person she fell in love with. All she wanted was to live with N-
Hinata’s head shot up and she leaped off her bed like a frightened doe. She completely forgot about Naruto! A fresh wave of tears burst from her Hinata’s eyes and Hinata couldn’t hold back the sobs that were ripping past her throat. Neji, who was watching Hinata ever since she bolted from her seat, realized where her thoughts led. Truly, Neji was wondering when she would finally think of this.
“Hinata,” Neji said getting up and walking slowly to her, “I’m so sorry.”
Hinata couldn’t be comforted by Neji. She felt like right now it was all of his fault. If he wasn’t a genius at everything he did, if he was only insignificant, if…if only she was born a branch member and he a main house member. Then Neji wouldn’t have to marry her to become the next heir and Hinata could live her life the way she wanted to.
Neji extended his arm to Hinata in a reassuring way, but Hinata backed away until her back was pressed up against her door. When she realized that she couldn’t go any farther, she turned and grabbed the door and flung it open. Hinata ran down the hall not even noticing her father, Hiashi, talking to her sister, Hanabi, quietly in the dining area she excused herself from hours before.
Neji was running right after her, glossy brown hair leaving a streak in his path. He almost reached the door when he heard Hiashi bellow his name. He stopped and carefully put on a blank face to meet his uncle.
“Yes, Hiashi-sama?” he said bowing first.
Hiashi stared at his nephew and soon to be son-in-law. He always disliked him for being stronger than his own daughters and for always having an arrogant air about him. But then, Hiashi thought, that was to be expected considering that Neji is a man and he only fathered women. Even though he didn’t like the boy, he understood that Neji was a strong fighter, better than most of his guards and certainly better than his current heir. He also has come to realize that Neji is a leader and Hinata, sadly, is a timid little girl despite her being eighteen years old. Sacrifices must be made for the clan, Hiashi thought firmly.
“Let her go,” Hiashi said staring down the boy who looked so much like him. “That girl needs time to herself, so be it.”
Neji frowned for only a second before asking, “What if she gets attacked? She is your heir.”
Hiashi gave a disapproving look to Neji. “I know she’s weak, but she can handle one person attacking her. I have at least that much faith in her. Besides,” Hiashi said turning back to Hanabi who sat quietly, listening to the exchange, “she, for some reason, has people that want to protect her. She can holler out for one of them if it gets too bad.”
Neji sometimes found it hard to obey his uncle, like now for example. All he really wanted to do is drag Hinata back home before someone took advantage of her. However, an order from Hiashi is something to be followed, especially if one was about to become the next clan leader. So, all Neji did was bow and return to his room without any complaints.
When Neji reached the sliding door to his room, he walked past his oak desk and king sized bed to his window and concentrated his chakra to his eyes. Almost instantaneously, veins popped out around Neji’s eyes showing that his byakugan was activated. He searched for Hinata throughout the town and found her running down a crowded street. He watched her, only hoping that she would be okay out there.
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