[Naruto] Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son - 4
Title: Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son (or: a cage is a cage is a curse, dammit.)
Author: runespoor7
Rating: PG-13
Summary: series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. So far, drabbles include various flavours of implied Neji-Hina-Naru combinations , but it's really Hyuuga-centered gen with occasional cameos of other characters.
Notes: the bunnies seem to be running faster than I can dodge. Therefore, fics get written.
previous bunks of drabbles: 1 2 3
7. family - take 1
It's one of Hinata's tasks to bring the tea tray to the dojo where Hizashi watches over his son's training, for no other reason than because Hizashi feels it his duty to never forget about her, about the brother who sacrificed himself so Hizashi could live.
Neji himself hardly pays any attention to his cousin.
He focuses on his training, practising again and again until his performance looks taken straight from one of the family scrolls. His seals are always perfectly formed, his jutsus as precise and academic as a demonstration.
He's slow to learn new tricks and he rarely ever uses shortcuts, always favouring a beautiful flowing move over a sharp tug of the wrist, but once he adds something to his training routine he is only satisfied when he has reached formal perfection.
Hizashi occasionally sees Hinata training, and her style couldn't be more different from Neji's if she tried.
Which, after all, would only be fair.
He tends to believe that in an actual fight Hinata would be more effective; she has the viciousness and willingness to fight dirty that a clan heir can hardly be expected to possess.
It would only be fair if Hinata tried to take Neji's counterpoint whenever she could because their fathers were brothers, and Neji is the Heir and Hinata a scrambling Branch House member, and Hizashi sometimes regrets that he didn't think of taking her in as his daughter when Hiashi died.
Maybe that would have changed something, though Hizashi doubts it.
Hinata was two when her father died; he doesn't know if she has memories of him, but it doesn't matter. He can't begrudge her for hating him anyway - for depriving her of a father who doted on her.
When she meets his eyes as she straightens after she laid the tray down, Hizashi sees the hatred and the challenge in her eyes, and somehow, he knows it's about Neji - Neji who is training, unaware, not looking at either of them.
This one is mine, her eyes are saying.
Hiashi knows he should worry more about the claim Hinata makes on his son every time she acts as a servant in the house of her uncle, knows he should worry more about the depth of her loathing, knows he should do something to assure his son's safety from the one supposed to protect him, but he doesn't because he doesn't have the right.
Every time their eyes meet, Hizashi is reminded that he stole someone from her - and it would be justified, laws of the blood, more ancient and powerful than clan rules, when she reached out and plucks Neji's life like a daisy.
All Hizashi feels he's allowed to do is let Neji train, as long and as perfectly as he wants, knowing in his core than in a real fight Hinata would win.
7A. family - take 1 - continued
Hinata was two when her father died, and she doesn't remember him. She was too young.
He left nothing for her to find years after his death, no letters, no hidden trunks, no weapons she'd have received when she donned her Konoha hitae-ite for the first time, no "your father wanted you to have this".
She was too young to remember even glimpses of what had happened; she doesn't blame Hizashi or the Main House.
But her father - her father died without a thought of the daughter he was, for all intents and purposes, abandoning. (She's harsh, maybe needlessly, but she never knew the man and her heart is steel against Hizashi-sama's dead brother.)
So she doesn't trust Hizashi-sama even a little. She knows that the time will come when he will forsake his own son, without a thought.
This is why she always, always carries the tea tray into the dojo when the order comes, no matter the training she should be doing herself.
It is Hinata's duty to protect Neji-sama, whom no one needs to know she thinks about as Neji-niisama. (She had no memory of her father, her mother is a half-faded woman, and Hinata is an only child.) She has lost her father, and she must prepare to shield Neji from his father's ultimate betrayal - because he, too, will leave. (It's only more likely because they were twins, similar.)
This is why Hinata always confronts her uncle - discreetly, when Neji isn't looking, because the ease with which Hizashi seems to give makes Hinata even colder on Neji's behalf.
This one is mine, she promises.
When you go and die. I will be there.
The day Neji looks for her in the compound, under an excuse that has nothing to do with his father, she thinks that she's starting to win.
7B. family - take 1 - continued again
In spite of popular belief, Neji is neither blind nor clueless. How could he, when he possesses the strongest Byakugan the family has seen in generations?
He is, after all, the heir of the Hyuuga; and as such, he must see everything.
That's what Neji believes until he starts registering and analysing and even paying attention, and when he does he honestly berates himself for his simple-mindedness. He was nine when he started being aware of the odd atmosphere whenever Hinata brings tea to the dojo, and it took him much too long to try and make sense of it.
She's already a genin when Neji's become astute enough to keep up with what his Byakugan has been sharp enough to see plainly for several years now, i.e. the looks his father and his little cousin exchange. It used to leave him nonplussed; it's never been a huge secret among the Hyuuga that she hates his father, but why ever would the clan head tolerate such insolence in his presence?
Neji seems to have no place in these contests, so he always trains on, devoting a few degrees of his still-growing 330° vision to the strange scene until his father and his cousin break eye contact. Once upon a time he used to be slightly jealous, because he felt as if they wouldn't notice him even if he stopped and stared at them.
Then he starts noticing how they glance at him before and after they do. Hinata's swift, eyelid-lowered fleeting look when she enters the dojo stays with him, more than the vaguely wistful, faraway air on his father's face after she leaves.
It is then that he realises that maybe he isn't as accomplished a Byakugan - a Hyuuga heir - as he thought he was. Obviously he hasn't paid close enough attention to her - or to the rest of the Branch House. Yet the clan is composed of two houses; it would only make sense for a clan head to divide his attention somewhat between the two?
So he starts watching her and listening to anything that might relate to her, all the while staying as remote and dignified as a Hyuuga heir should be, especially concerning matters about a mere member of the Branch House. Except she's not only Branch House; she's also his cousin, and if his father already gives her a special treatment, it means it is more or less accepted, and if it isn't - and here Neji at first doubts his logic, but he finds he cannot flaw it - then it should. He somehow manages to convince himself it is his duty.
But he still doesn't understand her.
It gets so bad - Neji gets so bewildered - that he actually finds himself asking his teammates for their input. Telling them about her. Starting to talk out of the blue. Opening up.
Repeatedly.
He doesn't actually notice that last bit - which shows how much at a loss he is - until Lee points it out, in his usual obnoxious cheerful manner. (Neji's usually more patient with his teammate's aggressive enthusiasm, but this is the morning and Neji's in no way able to control any spontaneous snark when he hasn't had his tea yet.)
"Well yes, but you'd have to ask her if she wanted to share breakfast with you; you told us she brings the tea when you're in the dojo. Not in the mornings!"
Neji blinks. Lee is cheerfully smiling.
"Wha?" he tries.
"You're always telling us you only ever see her when she brings tea to the dojo," Lee continues reasonably. "It would make sense to assume she's not looking to spend more time with you. You should be the one to pursue her if you want to change her mind! And be extra nice!...
"And maybe you should propose to make breakfast for her," he says in a reflexive tone, before nodding brightly. "Yes! You should prepare breakfast just the way she likes and put it on a tray and bring it to her room and give it to her! -"
"Lee," Tenten interrupts, "I think you've lost him."
Tenten, Neji confusedly thinks, is a god-send. Even if her hair is already perfectly done up in two symmetrical buns and her gaze is clear and she's looking very amused. At least she doesn't launch in caps-filled speeches when she's just woken up - not that Neji's brain is in a state to note the caps in Lee's intervention, but he just knows they were there.
"But Neji needs all the help he can get! And we are his teammates, and he is always talking about her! We have to do something!"
Neji needs a moment before he starts frowning. Tenten looks like she's considering… something.
"What 're you talkin' about?" he manages to growl.
"Your Hinata," Lee happily answers, all innocence and shining bowl cut.
"What?" Neji demands after a pause. His Hinata?
Lee nods vigorously. Neji is too stunned to keep track of Tenten's reaction, and Gai-sensei, as always, has left to do - things. Laps around the whole forest. Something.
"Yes, the Hinata you are always speaking of! Since I never met her, I can't call her by her proper name, so I'm really looking forward for when you introduce us!"
Neji feels like he has accidentally stumbled into a parallel universe of some kind.
"What?" he can only repeat.
A growing part of his mind is wondering whether he's really talked so much about his cousin recently, and then wonders exactly what he can have found to say, because it's not as if they're close friends.
"I am not always talking about Hinata," his voice protests loudly. His mouth forms the words, but he cannot remember ordering it to speak up.
Beside, he is questioning the accuracy of this statement, and, more importantly, wondering whether he is condoning the intent behind it. After all, whether he is or is not 'always talking' about her, it still wouldn't be something to be embarrassed about - except in the capacity that he, one of the best ninjas of his year, has developed a habit without being aware of it - she wouldn't be something to be embarrassed of.
Lee stares at him with eyes even rounder than usual.
Tenten slowly shakes her head.
"Kami, you really are clueless." She looks at him with something akin to bemusement, and then she says, matter-of-fact, "Neji, you're obsessed."
The next day, Neji goes looking for Hinata across the Hyuuga compound.
Author: runespoor7
Rating: PG-13
Summary: series of unrelated drabbles/ficlets. So far, drabbles include various flavours of implied Neji-Hina-Naru combinations , but it's really Hyuuga-centered gen with occasional cameos of other characters.
Notes: the bunnies seem to be running faster than I can dodge. Therefore, fics get written.
previous bunks of drabbles: 1 2 3
7. family - take 1
It's one of Hinata's tasks to bring the tea tray to the dojo where Hizashi watches over his son's training, for no other reason than because Hizashi feels it his duty to never forget about her, about the brother who sacrificed himself so Hizashi could live.
Neji himself hardly pays any attention to his cousin.
He focuses on his training, practising again and again until his performance looks taken straight from one of the family scrolls. His seals are always perfectly formed, his jutsus as precise and academic as a demonstration.
He's slow to learn new tricks and he rarely ever uses shortcuts, always favouring a beautiful flowing move over a sharp tug of the wrist, but once he adds something to his training routine he is only satisfied when he has reached formal perfection.
Hizashi occasionally sees Hinata training, and her style couldn't be more different from Neji's if she tried.
Which, after all, would only be fair.
He tends to believe that in an actual fight Hinata would be more effective; she has the viciousness and willingness to fight dirty that a clan heir can hardly be expected to possess.
It would only be fair if Hinata tried to take Neji's counterpoint whenever she could because their fathers were brothers, and Neji is the Heir and Hinata a scrambling Branch House member, and Hizashi sometimes regrets that he didn't think of taking her in as his daughter when Hiashi died.
Maybe that would have changed something, though Hizashi doubts it.
Hinata was two when her father died; he doesn't know if she has memories of him, but it doesn't matter. He can't begrudge her for hating him anyway - for depriving her of a father who doted on her.
When she meets his eyes as she straightens after she laid the tray down, Hizashi sees the hatred and the challenge in her eyes, and somehow, he knows it's about Neji - Neji who is training, unaware, not looking at either of them.
This one is mine, her eyes are saying.
Hiashi knows he should worry more about the claim Hinata makes on his son every time she acts as a servant in the house of her uncle, knows he should worry more about the depth of her loathing, knows he should do something to assure his son's safety from the one supposed to protect him, but he doesn't because he doesn't have the right.
Every time their eyes meet, Hizashi is reminded that he stole someone from her - and it would be justified, laws of the blood, more ancient and powerful than clan rules, when she reached out and plucks Neji's life like a daisy.
All Hizashi feels he's allowed to do is let Neji train, as long and as perfectly as he wants, knowing in his core than in a real fight Hinata would win.
7A. family - take 1 - continued
Hinata was two when her father died, and she doesn't remember him. She was too young.
He left nothing for her to find years after his death, no letters, no hidden trunks, no weapons she'd have received when she donned her Konoha hitae-ite for the first time, no "your father wanted you to have this".
She was too young to remember even glimpses of what had happened; she doesn't blame Hizashi or the Main House.
But her father - her father died without a thought of the daughter he was, for all intents and purposes, abandoning. (She's harsh, maybe needlessly, but she never knew the man and her heart is steel against Hizashi-sama's dead brother.)
So she doesn't trust Hizashi-sama even a little. She knows that the time will come when he will forsake his own son, without a thought.
This is why she always, always carries the tea tray into the dojo when the order comes, no matter the training she should be doing herself.
It is Hinata's duty to protect Neji-sama, whom no one needs to know she thinks about as Neji-niisama. (She had no memory of her father, her mother is a half-faded woman, and Hinata is an only child.) She has lost her father, and she must prepare to shield Neji from his father's ultimate betrayal - because he, too, will leave. (It's only more likely because they were twins, similar.)
This is why Hinata always confronts her uncle - discreetly, when Neji isn't looking, because the ease with which Hizashi seems to give makes Hinata even colder on Neji's behalf.
This one is mine, she promises.
When you go and die. I will be there.
The day Neji looks for her in the compound, under an excuse that has nothing to do with his father, she thinks that she's starting to win.
7B. family - take 1 - continued again
In spite of popular belief, Neji is neither blind nor clueless. How could he, when he possesses the strongest Byakugan the family has seen in generations?
He is, after all, the heir of the Hyuuga; and as such, he must see everything.
That's what Neji believes until he starts registering and analysing and even paying attention, and when he does he honestly berates himself for his simple-mindedness. He was nine when he started being aware of the odd atmosphere whenever Hinata brings tea to the dojo, and it took him much too long to try and make sense of it.
She's already a genin when Neji's become astute enough to keep up with what his Byakugan has been sharp enough to see plainly for several years now, i.e. the looks his father and his little cousin exchange. It used to leave him nonplussed; it's never been a huge secret among the Hyuuga that she hates his father, but why ever would the clan head tolerate such insolence in his presence?
Neji seems to have no place in these contests, so he always trains on, devoting a few degrees of his still-growing 330° vision to the strange scene until his father and his cousin break eye contact. Once upon a time he used to be slightly jealous, because he felt as if they wouldn't notice him even if he stopped and stared at them.
Then he starts noticing how they glance at him before and after they do. Hinata's swift, eyelid-lowered fleeting look when she enters the dojo stays with him, more than the vaguely wistful, faraway air on his father's face after she leaves.
It is then that he realises that maybe he isn't as accomplished a Byakugan - a Hyuuga heir - as he thought he was. Obviously he hasn't paid close enough attention to her - or to the rest of the Branch House. Yet the clan is composed of two houses; it would only make sense for a clan head to divide his attention somewhat between the two?
So he starts watching her and listening to anything that might relate to her, all the while staying as remote and dignified as a Hyuuga heir should be, especially concerning matters about a mere member of the Branch House. Except she's not only Branch House; she's also his cousin, and if his father already gives her a special treatment, it means it is more or less accepted, and if it isn't - and here Neji at first doubts his logic, but he finds he cannot flaw it - then it should. He somehow manages to convince himself it is his duty.
But he still doesn't understand her.
It gets so bad - Neji gets so bewildered - that he actually finds himself asking his teammates for their input. Telling them about her. Starting to talk out of the blue. Opening up.
Repeatedly.
He doesn't actually notice that last bit - which shows how much at a loss he is - until Lee points it out, in his usual obnoxious cheerful manner. (Neji's usually more patient with his teammate's aggressive enthusiasm, but this is the morning and Neji's in no way able to control any spontaneous snark when he hasn't had his tea yet.)
"Well yes, but you'd have to ask her if she wanted to share breakfast with you; you told us she brings the tea when you're in the dojo. Not in the mornings!"
Neji blinks. Lee is cheerfully smiling.
"Wha?" he tries.
"You're always telling us you only ever see her when she brings tea to the dojo," Lee continues reasonably. "It would make sense to assume she's not looking to spend more time with you. You should be the one to pursue her if you want to change her mind! And be extra nice!...
"And maybe you should propose to make breakfast for her," he says in a reflexive tone, before nodding brightly. "Yes! You should prepare breakfast just the way she likes and put it on a tray and bring it to her room and give it to her! -"
"Lee," Tenten interrupts, "I think you've lost him."
Tenten, Neji confusedly thinks, is a god-send. Even if her hair is already perfectly done up in two symmetrical buns and her gaze is clear and she's looking very amused. At least she doesn't launch in caps-filled speeches when she's just woken up - not that Neji's brain is in a state to note the caps in Lee's intervention, but he just knows they were there.
"But Neji needs all the help he can get! And we are his teammates, and he is always talking about her! We have to do something!"
Neji needs a moment before he starts frowning. Tenten looks like she's considering… something.
"What 're you talkin' about?" he manages to growl.
"Your Hinata," Lee happily answers, all innocence and shining bowl cut.
"What?" Neji demands after a pause. His Hinata?
Lee nods vigorously. Neji is too stunned to keep track of Tenten's reaction, and Gai-sensei, as always, has left to do - things. Laps around the whole forest. Something.
"Yes, the Hinata you are always speaking of! Since I never met her, I can't call her by her proper name, so I'm really looking forward for when you introduce us!"
Neji feels like he has accidentally stumbled into a parallel universe of some kind.
"What?" he can only repeat.
A growing part of his mind is wondering whether he's really talked so much about his cousin recently, and then wonders exactly what he can have found to say, because it's not as if they're close friends.
"I am not always talking about Hinata," his voice protests loudly. His mouth forms the words, but he cannot remember ordering it to speak up.
Beside, he is questioning the accuracy of this statement, and, more importantly, wondering whether he is condoning the intent behind it. After all, whether he is or is not 'always talking' about her, it still wouldn't be something to be embarrassed about - except in the capacity that he, one of the best ninjas of his year, has developed a habit without being aware of it - she wouldn't be something to be embarrassed of.
Lee stares at him with eyes even rounder than usual.
Tenten slowly shakes her head.
"Kami, you really are clueless." She looks at him with something akin to bemusement, and then she says, matter-of-fact, "Neji, you're obsessed."
The next day, Neji goes looking for Hinata across the Hyuuga compound.