(no subject)

[runaway_heir]

Characters: Hinata, Neji, Chouji
Setting: Blue Butterfly and surrounding areas
Rating: G
Warnings: Hyuuga Angst!
Summary: Hinata finally finds Neji at the Blue Butterfly and the two meet for the first time in over a decade.

Hinata waited at her usual table, a small gift from the inn boy, Chouji, she figured since it always seemed to be open for her in the evening. That or she was just lucky. In the shadow of the corner, and with her cloak closed in the front, Hinata could easily pass as a boy that night. She chopped her hair off shortly after leaving Konoha years earlier and never saw a reason to let it grow again, especially since if anyone was still looking for her, being mistaken for a boy would keep them off her trail.

Of all the customers she had been watching over the past few days, a few might have been with the rebellion. Unfortunately, a few promising ones had left just as she was returning from the stables to check on her horse and she hadn’t gotten a chance to have Eki eavesdrop on them. She would just have to keep waiting. It was better than wandering the forests aimlessly. The food’s not bad either, she considered as she finished up her meal.

The possibility of the dark-haired stranger returning to the tavern again was not likely, but Neji found himself walking toward the Inn once again. It was rather aggravating being this drawn to somebody he did not know, but the air of mystery that hung around the stranger’s head was… intoxicating to say the least. Neji did not like not knowing things and he wanted to know the truth to this male before he lost his chance.

With the winter air second nature to him, the Inn almost felt stifling as he stepped inside. He did a quick glance around the room to see if he was there before heading over to the bar. He wasn’t. There was nothing to be done about it, though. The trip here was probably a huge waste of time-he hated to waste time, and it was all of that damn kid’s fault that he was-but he sat down anyway. Maybe he would show up. Or maybe something would happen.

Maybe.

A drink was set in front of him the moment he sat down. He was not a newcomer to the tavern, and he ordered the same thing every time he came. Neji had very few things that remained constant in his life, so as foolish as it seemed, this simple thing was his constant. The simple fact that he could get the same drink from the same place every time he showed up. It was a silly sentiment, and it was one he kept for himself.

The sound of the door opening was hardly anything new, but still she looked up expecting to see another of the regular travelers she had gotten used to. The man that entered was hardly what she was expecting. It was more than the fact he was a Hyuuga, but from the glimpse she saw, he looked so like her father (and therefore her uncle too) that Hinata almost choked on her drink.

“Hinata... What’s wrong? Are you all right?” Eki questioned worriedly.

“Eki,” she whispered, barely loud enough to hear it herself, “I need to see that man’s face. The one who just came in.”

“Wait, do you know him? Is that the one you are looking for?” For once Eki found this more than disconcerting. He had never seen Hinata’s cousin, so he could only guess as to who it could be.

“I need to see his face again... Please...” It seemed too good to be true. Neji couldn’t simply walk right in like that. That was too easy, too simple. And it was all Hinata hoped had actually happened as she looked into her mug, watching an image appear as Eki found a place to look at the man at the bar.

After a moment’s silence, Eki asked, “Is it him, Hinata?”

“I think so...” Hinata was almost in tears, but she held it back. She had to meet him still, and that was not going to be an easy thing to do. Looking around, Hinata found Chouji serving drinks to a table near her and waved him over.

Bustling over, Chouji gave the girl a big smile. "Hi again, can I get you anything? How're you doing on that search of yours?" he added that last in a conspiratorial whisper, happy he was "in" on her mission.

“It’s still going,” she said, smiling back at him with a warmer expression than she’d had since arriving at the inn. “Do you have a scrap of paper and something to write with?”

"Um." he said. "Yeah, sure. I've got a feather pen around here somewhere..." he went back to the bar and rummaged around for a moment underneath it. He came up holding a quill in triumph. He handed it to her with a flourish. "Here y'are. Er, will a napkin do for paper?"

“That will be fine. Thanks.” She took the pen and napkin gratefully and quickly scribbled down a message sure to attract her cousin’s attention. Folding the napkin in half, Hinata grabbed a few coins and handed both to Chouji. “Will you do me a favor? Deliver this to the man at the bar, and tell him his drink is on me.”

"Er, y'mean that guy over... there..." Chouji's voice trailed off as he realized that it was the very same man he'd thought had looked similar to this girl. Neji. Rebellion Neji. Giving the small girl a slightly suspicious look, he took the proffered coins and letter, and said "Uh... yeah. Sure."

While Chouji went to deliver her message, Hinata dropped the money for her meal on the table and hastened out of the inn. It wouldn’t do well to meet in such a public place, since there was no telling how he would react to her. She kept her cloak closed to keep out the winter winds and headed into the forest next to the inn. If it was Neji, there was no doubt he would find her.

Walking to Neji, Chouji leaned down and placed the napkin neatly in front of him. "This is from the pretty girl over there," he said, jerking his thumb toward where Hinata had been. "Um, she told me to say your drink's on her."

So lost in his thoughts, Neji had not noticed Chouji’s approach until he was right there. He took the napkin from the other boy with an odd look-who sent secret messages across the room anyway?- before glancing in the direction to see exactly who this “pretty girl” was. Except… there was nobody there. By this time, Neji knew something weird was going on, so when he read the message on the napkin, he was only partially surprised and more than little disturbed. I know who you are. “Thanks.” Then, without another word, he stood from his seat and hurried out of the Inn.

Chouji stood by the bar for a second, wrinkling his brow in confusion. Neji was gone. The girl (Chouji REALLY had to ask her name) was gone. What was going on? "Hey..." he said after a moment "What, no tip?"

Hinata waited in an area with few trees and rubbed the last of Eki’s water from her eyes. “Now listen, Eki, I don’t want you to reveal yourself unless I say so. No matter what.”

“But Hinata, what if he threatens you? Who knows what he is going to do.”

She sighed and tried to shake out her nervousness. “I don’t know what he’ll do, but I don’t want anyone to know about you unless I have to. Please, Eki, I want to trust him. I need to.”

If he could have Eki would have pouted at Hinata. “Fine, but I won’t let him hurt you....”

“Thanks, Eki,” she whispered back. Now Hinata waited.

She did not have to wait long.

A sword pressed against her neck, the cold steal shining just slightly against the moon’s light for a second before even that light disappeared behind the overshadowing clouds. Neji was a master at silence; he had perfected it throughout the years and it was second nature to him now. It had only taken a flash of the old family spell-just a moment of tension on his already sore eyes-before he knew where the girl was. He had never seen her before, just as he had predicted, or at the very least, he did not recognize her in the least.

“You know who I am,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. “Now, who are you?”

Neji was tired of all of these games that people were playing with his mind. He was tired of not knowing things, and that was something that had been happening far too often nowadays. He was just plain tired of it all, and he wanted it to end here.

Hinata could feel Eki struggling not to react to the very obvious threat now skimming his master’s throat. Slowly she turned, the feel of the cold metal actually calming her from her previous fear. The open danger laid Neji’s intentions out, keeping the scene well understood between both people and letting her focus on him alone.

“You know, you look like your father,” she answered, not really registering the words till she said them. Just looking at him made her feel like she had finally found a piece of home after nearly a decade lost. Now that Eki had left her eyes, it was easy to see her Hyuuga heritage and her connection to him.

The blade’s edge followed the girl as she turned, the tip pressing threateningly against her jugular with each movement. It was a warning not to try anything stupid; he was not in the mood. But whatever he was expecting when she turned to face him was not what he got… His father… he looked like… his father… Breathing suddenly did not seem so easy as he stared at the girl and even then, it took moments for his own eyes to focus on the identical ones in front of him. White. Like two moons staring up at him.

A Hyuuga trait.

Breathing was impossible. His blood ran cold. And for a full minute, Neji did nothing but stare, so sure he was either going to pass out or scream from the insanity of it all. When it was clear that he was going to do neither, his face contorted into a glare, his jaw tightening and clenching with sudden anger. His free hand flew up to grip the girl’s upper arm in a tight grip (he could feel the girl’s blood trying to force its way past his tourniquet-like hold) and pushed her back against the closest tree, sword pushing forward to press up against her neck roughly, skin threatening to break.

“Who are you?” he growled.

Even though the blade was the real threat, Hinata’s entire attention remained on the hand gripping her arm. She hadn’t expected him to come near her so suddenly, not until he knew who she was, and terror pushed her back as if she could sink into the tree to get away.

“Let go!” she screamed, her free hand clawing at his grip on her arm. She wanted to talk to him, to tell him who she was, but the fear consumed her. Her heartbeat pounded in her head life a spike being hammered in to intensify the awareness of his touch. “I’m your cousin! Please let go!! Please.... let go...”

To have the girl react so violently to his hand on her arm was not Neji’s first expectation, but that was the least of his worries. His blood was boiling, anger and adrenaline running through his veins as he stared down at the girl, stared into her eyes that mirrored his so perfectly. He had not seen eyes like that on another person in years. Beyond years. It was frightening, and Neji realized that he did not know how to react. So he reacted in anger.

“Last I checked, you would be a little too old to be my cousin,” he growled out, his grip not relenting in the slightest as he stared down at her. He could practically hear his heart pounding in his ears, his whole body going into a state of shock and anger at the whole deal. His hands were shaking and his breath coming in at quick uneven pants, but all he could focus on was the person in front of them and this lie. This lie that was being spat up at him. “Now stop playing around and tell me who you are!”

Hinata panicked through all her fear and the unrelenting desire to remove Neji’s hand from her arm. All she could think was to rip at his hand to get it off and give her the space she needed to feel safe again, calm.

“Not Hanabi!” she near shrieked. Without letting up her attack on Neji’s grasp, Hinata turned to her cousin, looking him directly in the eye and praying he would believe her. “I’m Hinata! Now, let go... Please!”

An expression of deep loathing fell across his face and, disgusted, he pushed the girl away (as though she had anywhere to go except back against the tree) and stepped back, outstretching his sword so that the tip grazed against her chin. Had Neji been calmer, had he taken a moment to look, he would have seen the sincerity in the girl’s eyes. The Hyuuga had always been a master at reading expressions, but now, with his mind as crazy as it was, he only saw what could only be a lie.

“Next time you want to disguise yourself as somebody, do your research,” Neji spat, swallowing hard against any emotion that threatened to spill its way past his lips. “Hyuuga Hinata is dead. Has been for two years. Now get out of my sight. You are not worth my time.” Anybody who was as pathetic as that-anybody who tried to trick Neji with a lie like that-was beneath his notice. He did not have to deal with that. He would not. “You’re lucky I’m letting you live.”

A wave of relief crashed against Hinata as the space between the cousins increased. Beneath the pounding of her heart, she could hear Eki’s voice comforting her, calming her frantic mind. The blade at her face was a comfort. It gave her space, and a little time to think. She had planned the meeting out in her head long ago, but now that he was standing right there in front of her, her mind was blank.

“I was scared,” she squeaked out, her breath and voice shaking still from the dispersing fear. “As a child, I was scared of everyone. I only stayed with mother and would hide behind stairs or banisters whenever people came over.” She wasn’t sure where this would go, but it was all she could think of to just keep him there. There may not ever be another chance like this. “When I met you the first time, I didn’t look out from behind the staircase even once.”

Her speech started out almost as mere babble and Neji let the words wash over him without meaning. But then he caught words, and those words created images, and those images brought back memories. Memories that he had locked away and buried, keeping them hidden and forgotten, because it was always safer that way. As long as he did not think too much, he would be okay. He would always be okay. Except he wasn’t, and suddenly he could remember perfectly his little cousin, white-eyed and tiny, so much smaller than him and so much shier, too. Far too shy.

He remembered her then.

But she was dead now.

“Shut up,” he warned, his sword shaking ever so slightly in his hand as he stood there, a glare planted on his face toward this woman. “Everybody knew that Hinata-sama was shy; everybody. That was no secret. It was no secret that she would look at nobody upon meeting them; she was far too timid to do that. Her father was no fan of it; it’s not a surprise that you would know such a thing.” He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He felt like he had run a mile, though he had done no such thing. “Now, I’m not going to tell you again. Leave.”

“We played together,” she continued rambling, her fingers shaking as she desperately tried to remember what it was she had wanted to tell him. That one thing that only the two of them knew, that would make him listen to her. “Not often.... but sometimes. Mother, she... uh... she insisted we play. I... I stopped hiding from you. A little. When Mother stayed near...”

Hinata cradled her head in her hands, not caring that Neji’s blade still remained dangerously close to her face. Why couldn’t she remember now that he was here? Would all her effort be wasted? She looked up at him to see eyes so cold staring back that tears ran down her cheeks. Why couldn’t she remember?

“Just stop it,” he snapped. The sword in his hand shook with his arm, and it took several deep breaths to calm the shaking. He tried to drone her words out; they were so familiar, he remembered the truth behind them, but he was not foolish. He knew that any old commoner could know these stories had they known the Hyuuga at all. Or even if they had simply seen the shy girl on the street one day, they could have inferred this whole tale from it. It was uncommon; it was not some miracle. It was just simple truth that this… imposter had figured out.

He remembered every moment of his childhood. (“Neji, don’t play so rough! You’ll get hurt!” “It’s not playing, Mommy! I’m trainin’!”) He remembered his father’s death. (“Neji… now this is going to come as quite a shock…” “What’s going on?” “Your father… he… he was found dead last night-” “NO!”) He remembered those two months of staying with his uncle. (“What do you think you’re doing?” “I was… I was just training, Uncle-” “Those are the spells of the Main House! I never want to see you practicing those spells again!” “But--” “No. Never again. You are restricted to your room for the next two days. Go.”) He remembered his cousin. (“Come on, Hinata-chan… don’t be so shy! Neji-kun’s waiting for you, you know. He wants to play with you! Don’t you, Neji-kun?” “…N-” “Neji!” “Fine. Sure.”) He remembered it all.

And it was gone.

It was not coming back.

And no imposter was going to change that.

He still wouldn’t believe her. The whistle of the wind whipping through the trees and the soft, unsteady ringing coming from Neji’s shaking sword sounded deafening in her ears. It was over. Here he stood, and yet she couldn’t help but watch him slip through her fingers.

“Hinata!,” Eki cried out to her. “Your uncle’s death! Tell him about then.”

It was as if he had turned off all her fear and nervousness with the push of a button. Her hands stilled and the worry in her eyes faded into an eerie calmness. Of course, how could she forget? That’s what she had been planning on telling him. The whole scene felt so simple and certain now.

“The day after your father’s death you moved into our house,” she began, her voice calm, but so quiet the winds nearly drowned her out. “I was... young. Very young. I didn’t understand what had happened. But you were there. I thought since... since I couldn’t find Mother, I would see you. You must have known. I didn’t understand.

“So, I couldn’t figure out why you were crying in your room. Mother, she would... Mother would always hold me when I was scared or crying, so I thought-since no one was there-you needed someone to hold you.” Hinata paused to wipe the pain of the memory from her face. “I had never been that close to you before, and I never was again. But... but that is something no one else knows.”

It was as though somebody had taken away everything around the two white-eyed teenagers. Neji could hear nothing, except the rhythmic rise and fall of the girl’s soft voice. He saw nothing except her and the way her face remained calm and open and honest before him. He could feel nothing nor taste nothing. He could smell… nothing. It was all gone, lost somewhere with whatever value of sanity he had left. It was frightening, and Neji found that he could not even breathe.

Slowly, his arm fell to his side, limp, and uncaring. The sword dropped from his hand, plopping onto the ground with its heavyweight. His mind was spinning, everything was spinning, and he almost felt a little lightheaded. It was like a dream-he had to be in a dream-a nightmare-a terrible lie-there was no way this could be real, but then Neji blinked, and everything came back, and the girl was still standing there, and he knew it was real. It was very much real. Very… very real. And it frightened him.

“Somebody could have seen.” It came out, almost like a breath, and just barely a whisper, just barely enough for even Neji himself to hear it and he wondered if Hinata could hear it at all. But he did not repeat himself. It was all too surreal, all too wrong, all too… too… too much. He felt like he was going to pass out or scream and this time he knew he was going go do one or the other. And soon. “Somebody could have seen.”

“Someone just the right age, who looks correct, and is weak in family magic.” No longer constrained by his sword, Hinata slumped against the tree and rather ungracefully slid to the ground. Her fingers were wet from the tears still streaming down her cheeks, tears she couldn’t stop now that her body had given up. All her strength and willpower were exhausted from fear, panic, and worry. But now that he had stopped-now that he was willing to listen-her body and mind demanded rest.

“I was never strong in family magic, that is well-known, and since I was the heir, nothing but family magic mattered. No one even considered anything else, or suspected it. But, with Mother dead, and no one seeming to care about me, all I wanted was to leave there and find you.” Hinata looked up to her cousin, and gave a weak smile. “We really weren’t that close, but- but I was closer to you than anyone left in that house. And, I thought, anything has to be better. I wasn’t strong enough though, and it nearly killed me.”

She held out her hand, palm up, and gave a nod for Eki to appear. As she continued to talk, the small puddles of melted snow still left on the ground rose up like snakes curling together over her hand. The muddy water shifted and spun before settling on the form of a kitten. “Eki is a water spirit. He saved my life, and then stayed with me in that house until I was stronger. He helped me escape and taught me water magic. I’m pretty good at it, too,” she laughed tiredly.

“I don’t know why the king declared me dead, but I swear to you, I am telling the truth.” Hinata lowered her hand and Eki flittered up to her shoulders as a small bird, now perched and watching Neji. Now, it was all up to him.

It was all far too farfetched, too unbelievable. There were too many loose-ends, and yet it all made sense. Where things connected and went array, Neji was unsure with the way his thoughts were flying. It was all too much too soon and he was unsure as to how to react. He never thought he would be in this situation. In a situation where he could not think or respond correctly; Neji thought he had prepared himself for all surprises. This was one that he had never considered, though.

He should have.

But he didn’t.

He opened his mouth, perhaps to say something-what, he did not know-before closing it again. No words would come to mind. The girl-Hinata, an imposter, whatever-was sitting on the ground, looking defenseless and harmless and Neji still had no idea what to do. It angered him. There was nothing stopping him from asking the right questions, from getting the right answers, from any of that… and yet, he could not think of what to say or do to get to that spot. His mind was blank.

White eyes narrowed, frustration building in his veins as he stared down at her. He swooped down quickly, his sword back in its sheath in one fluid movement before he was standing over the smaller form once again. She looked so weak and uninteresting now, the fear she had been holding earlier causing the strength in her to dissipate. It was almost familiar to see the difference so easily and so quickly, but Neji pushed that idea out of his head without a second thought.

“Stand up,” he ordered, his tone clip and firm. “I don’t believe you. I don’t trust you. But I can’t leave you here now. We’re heading back to the Inn. Don’t cause any trouble.”

There was no room for argument.

Neji was too tired to argue.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t exactly a heartwarming family reunion, but at least he wasn’t leaving her without any intention of hearing her out. Neither of them were prepared to handle much more tonight, anyway. Slowly, she pushed herself back up, Eki spinning out and returning the color tint to her eyes. “I won’t. All I want is for you to hear me out... when you believe me.”

She was about to start walking, but hesitated in front of Neji. “And, please, don’t have anyone touch me.” Even if it made her look suspicious, she couldn’t help it. Being touched would only make it harder for her to make them believe she wasn’t a threat.

The request was an odd one to say the least, but the white-eyed boy said nothing. He waited until the girl had taken a few steps forward before following in behind her. There was nothing left to say, but the silence was almost deafening. It surrounded the two of them like a blanket and Neji tried to swallow through it only to find out that it was almost impossible. Still, he said nothing, only walked.

Had he been any other person in the world, it would have been almost impossible to navigate his way through the pitch black of the forest. As it were, every root and low-hanging branch was easily avoided. It was natural, navigating his way through this brush; he had done it all his life and it was no different. It was never different. Unlike now… unlike this random girl who had shown up and suddenly changed his life… this girl who had suddenly brought back things that he had never wanted to face again…

He hated her.

The Inn came into view and Neji could tell that it was closed for the night, but he knew that the workers of the Inn understood last minute situations like these. It happened. It was the way things worked… it was random and these people took it. The tavern almost looked like a sanctuary, and he let the girl lead him inside, because he knew she knew where they were going and he knew-even if only subconsciously-that she was not going to be running away.

It was painful, to say the least, the way he stared at her with such anger and hate. Even in the dark, she was still a Hyuuga and the intent she felt from him was suffocating. But he still had an interest in her, and he had not attempted to touch her so for now she would do whatever he asked her to. She had to keep trying until he helped her, or until there was nothing left to be done.

As they neared the inn, Hinata turned back to look at her cousin. “Shall we go to my room? We can talk there.”

“No.” It was a short and clipped answer that left no room for argument, a lot like everything else he had been saying that night. The idea, though, of being stuck in a room-in a confined space- with somebody who was saying that they were his cousin and had done all of these things to come find him was suffocating enough just thinking about. Perhaps it was due partly to the fact that he had spent most of his life living out in the wilderness that made the idea so confining, but he did not care. He could not do it, and he would not. “I cannot talk to you. Not right now. For tonight…”

White eyes scanned the tavern quickly as they stepped inside, and he saw the single male that often made pleasant chat with the Rebels (much to the disdain to some of them like Shino and Neji himself) working. It was not often that Neji would stop to actually ask for help from someone, but the idea of not doing so was even less appealing and he put any ‘pride’ aside for that simple reason.

“For tonight, you’ll stay in your room. I’ll be close by. I’ll have somebody watch over you for me.” Either to make sure that she would be okay or would not run away, he did not elaborate. He simply walked toward the chubby fellow expecting the girl to follow without any instruction. He was tired of this. It was becoming kind of hard to think. All he wanted was some space, some air, and some quiet.

Chouji was wiping down the tables as Neji and Hinata came back inside. It was getting late now, and most of the customers had left to either return to their own homes, or retired upstairs to their rooms. He'd just about figured that the mystery girl and that Neji guy wouldn't be coming back, when back in they walked through the front door. Except.. now they looked like they'd gone through hell. The girl especially.

"Oh, you're back!" Chouji said. He turned to Hinata, "You were here one second and then you were gone. And you too!" he said this to Neji, stalking towards him. He and Neji had never particularly gotten along, but Chouji was fairly certain the man had never given him a look like -that- before. "Uh, is everything okay? You both look kinda... tired."

A small sigh fell from his lips at the statement, and almost unconsciously he glanced over his shoulder toward the girl. She did look tired. Very tired. She looked about as tired as Neji felt, but he would hold no sympathy for her. He turned away, looking back toward Chouji with a blank expression. He was tired, but it was not a habit of his to show off every little emotion he possessed to every person that happened to glance in his direction. “Chouji, I need you to watch over… this girl…”

The fact that he almost-almost-said ‘Hinata’ instead made him cringe inwardly. “Take her to her room and make sure that she does not leave. Please.” The idea of elaborating made him sick to his stomach, so he left it at that. Hopefully, his stance as a Rebel member would be enough for Chouji to listen to him. The one time he needed somebody happened to be the only time he didn’t think somebody would listen to him. Sometimes, life was far too ironic to his liking.

Chouji blinked. Neji was actually... asking for his help? Had he suddenly gone up in his estimation or something? The thought filled him with a certain measure of pride, but at the same time he didn't really like what he was hearing. "Doesn't leave? Huh? Neji... what's going on?" he said.

Taking her to her room? Sure. Chouji had done it plenty of times for people, if they were crippled, or too drunk to make it up themselves, or whatever. But keeping them there? Chouji was no prison guard. He looked towards the girl with those strange blue eyes, and back to Neji. Something was up here, and Chouji felt like he was completely out of his element.

Hinata could see the conflict in Chouji’s eyes, and felt sorry for the inn boy who just seemed to keep getting caught in the middle of this. It wasn’t as if she was against being watched, not if that is what Neji needed to trust her. “It’s all right, Chouji. I’ve agreed to this already.”

Besides, after everything that happened, it might not be that bad to have someone to talk to. And no matter who was with her, Eki would always be there to keep her safe.

Brow furrowing, Chouji continued looking between them. Neji was as expressionless as he always was, but Hinata looked... oddly complacent. "Um, you're sure?" he asked her, and she was. So, his mind still buzzing with questions, Chouji proceeded to lead her up the stairs. He shot Neji a questioning look over his shoulder as he went.

Chouji hated the Not Knowing, even though it often felt like it was his default condition. Shikamaru was the one who knew things, and Chouji wished for a moment that his friend was there, for surely he'd know exactly what to do, what to say. But he wasn't, so Chouji had to fend for himself. He'd keep her company in her room, he decided. He'd try and find out what was going on. But if she wanted to leave of her own free will? He wasn't gonna stop her.