Desperation

Desperation

Chapter 10: Hiashi vs. Naruto

Hinata wandered aimlessly around the edges of her home. She had left Kurenai-sensei's house nearly two hours ago, and she had dreaded walking back into her own home to face her father. Kurenai had suggested that she get everything over and done with as soon as possible; tell everyone right away so that the weight of her guilt, of her secret, didn't weigh her down. Part of Hinata wondered if she should wait and get an official doctor's examination first before speaking to her father, while another part of her said that she should just go with the four, (or was it five now?) pregnancy tests that she had taken.

Of course, there was another method that she could use to see if she truly carried Naruto's child; checking for the child’s chakra with her byakugan.

Yet did she really want to know for sure?

Hinata finally gave in and activated her byakugan, searching for a different spike in her chakra. She was almost frustrated when she was unable to find it. It wasn't as though the child's chakra would be very noticeable at this early stage of development, and there was also the fact that the stronger the mother's chakra, the harder it would be for a byakugan user to detect an underlying new current of chakra. Even so, Hinata felt somewhat slated that she couldn't detect the fetus's chakra. She felt as though being Naruto's child, the baby ought to be strong – stronger than her at least: strong like Naruto.

She wasn’t sure if she was more frustrated that her byakugan abilities did not allow her to sense the child’s presence or that her chakra out-weighed that of the baby’s.

It was ironic, really. She hadn't wanted to believe that she was pregnant just a few hours ago, and now here she was, upset that she couldn't detect the chakra presence that she felt ought to be inside of her.

On the bright side it meant that her father would be unlikely to detect another chakra presence until much later on in her pregnancy. That meant that she could bide her time from telling him if she wanted to; and she truly did want to bide her time.

Yet Kurenai-sensei's voice rang in her head, telling her it would be best to tell him now. Kurenai had even offered to go with Hinata to tell her father, but Hinata had declined. Kurenai had given her that look that said, "You just don't want me to come with you because you're not going to do it."

That was part of it, but Hinata had also wanted to search for Naruto before speaking with her father. She felt that she needed to talk with him before she talked with her father.

Hinata feared her father's reaction. She wasn't quite sure what he would do, but whatever it was, she had a feeling that he would somehow make the situation between Naruto and herself even worse than it already was. She could imagine her father yelling at Naruto, telling him that he had to marry Hinata in order for the Hyuuga clan to save face, and Naruto yelling back that he hadn't known what was going on.

She doubted her father would believe Naruto, and she could practically see her father being so insulted that he would attack Naruto in his rage. She could see the headlines now:

Hiashi vs. Naruto – Konoha's duel of the century.

Hinata shook her head, hoping that she was being over-dramatic, but knowing that her father could be coldly impartial at best, and overly protective and too prideful at worst.

Even so, she didn't want to find out which end of the spectrum her father would be on when she happened to tell him the news. Letting him know that she was pregnant, that the baby’s father was Naruto, and that Naruto hadn't known what he was doing (as it was all Hinata's fault and therefore would most likely not marry her) would not go over well.

A little miserable sigh escaped her lips. She had tried to find Naruto unsuccessfully for over an hour. Now that she had returned home she didn’t want to go inside, and she continued to walk around the Hyuuga complex’s walls. Part of her wondered if her father would suddenly appear before her, that look in his eyes telling her that he already knew and was already overtly disappointed in her.

Yet her father never appeared outside to look for her, and she was finally reduced to heading inside to seek out her father and tell him the truth. She decided that she would try and tell him all in a rush as she had with Naruto. Of course she had a feeling that her words were less likely to manifest into a coherent statement in her father's presence. Not that she had been very coherent when speaking with Naruto, but she had at least managed to blurt it out.

Her feet carried her to her father's study, and she stood outside there nervously, her hand raised and prepared to knock.

"Come in," Hiashi's voice beckoned quietly but still firmly through the solid wooden door. Hinata felt her shoulders flinch a little; she hadn't even knocked yet.

When she was younger, she had always assumed that her father had activated his byakugan and that was how he had known that she was waiting outside of the door. When she got older he had finally told her that her chakra would spike when she was nervously debating on speaking with him or not; her nervousness gave her away.

Hesitantly she opened the door and walked inside. Hiashi didn't look at her when she entered. Instead he was sitting in the middle of the floor seated cross-legged in a meditative stance. Hinata glanced over to the desk off to the side of the room, remembering when she was little how she would hide underneath the desk. Right now she wanted to run over and hide under the desk again.

"What is it?" Hiashi asked calmly, his voice relaxed in his meditative stance. Hinata's chest constricted, feeling a cold weight settle inside of her. It was rare that her father seemed so relaxed, and she was extremely loath to have it vanish with the news she had for him.

On the other hand, perhaps now was the best time since he seemed so laid back? She prayed fervently that that was the case.

"I-I-" Hinata stuttered out. She went to speak again, but her words caught in her throat, and she made more of a squeaking noise than a recognizable statement.

"It is best for you to be able to speak when you need to address your father," Hiashi said, his voice sounding slightly annoyed.

Hinata swallowed, hoping her voice would work. Why couldn't now be like all the other times where he just figured it out, and she didn't actually have to say anything? She wouldn't have to speak, just stand frozen and listen to him rant. Right now, speaking seemed nearly impossible.

Hiashi didn't say anything more. He sat on the floor meditating. Taking a minute to compose herself, and trying to get her voice to work, Hinata finally managed out a whisper.

"Pregnant," she all but squeaked in her smallest voice. Hiashi's eyes shot open, and he looked at Hinata, shock on his face.

"What?" he gasped.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered out. Hiashi stood up, his face turning a strange sort of blotchy red.

"You're what?" he demanded as he stood up, coming closer to her, towering over her smaller form. Hinata's mouth formed words, but no sound came out. She backed up a step as her father stood looming ominously above her.

Her inability to say anything else made Hiashi turn away from her. He didn't speak, a quiet rage seeming to settle over him. Hinata watched as he walked toward the desk that she had wanted to crawl under before. Her father sat at the desk, and stared unseeing in front of him.

"Uzumaki is the father, isn't he?" Hiashi asked, his ability to just know returning back to him. At least Hinata hadn't had to try and tell him that piece of information as her voice still wasn't working properly. She merely nodded.

He paused before speaking again, his eyes still not looking at her, unfocused, unseeing.

"He should be here now to take responsibility for his actions, and to support you," Hiashi said, his voice cold and upset. The insult to Naruto finally jolted Hinata from her inability to speak.

"He didn't know," Hinata spoke in Naruto's defense. Finally Hiashi's eyes turned to look at Hinata.

"You didn't tell him you were pregnant?" Hiashi asked.

"No...I mean...I told him. H-he just d-didn't know about the p-process." She hoped she wouldn’t have to explain to her father that by process she meant having sex. In fact, she felt she’d rather die than talk to her father about having sex with Naruto. "He...thought...it was a genjutsu...I m-mean a dream," Hinata said, her face turning bright red as she couldn't bring herself to explain to her father the entire situation. If Hinata hadn't been so terrified of her father's reaction at the moment, she would have laughed at the comical disbelief on his face.

"You seduced Uzumaki using a genjutsu?" Hiashi asked incredulously. Hinata's face flamed red.

"No! No...I, I mean. I, well – Naruto-kun didn't know – it was – "

"I don't want to know," Hiashi cut her off harshly, firmly holding up his hands. "I understand that you have had feelings for Uzumaki for some time now, but to stoop so low as to break up his engagement using whatever methods you saw fit is despicable. You planned to get pregnant with his child so that he would be forced to be with you in the end if he planned to uphold his honor, didn't you?" Hiashi asked.

"No! No! It's not like that. I didn't m-mean to hurt Naruto-kun. It was an a-accident. I didn't want to hurt him like t-that. Or Ino-san! I love Naruto!" Hinata yelled out, tears streaming down her face. "I love him! I didn't want to b-be with him l-like this. I wanted him to l-love me back!" Hinata burst out, yelling at her father, her frustrations coming out in her yelling. The anger she felt toward herself for how selfish she was letting itself out as the tears streamed endlessly down her face.

"You love Uzumaki, but what about your family? You have duties here. You have honor to uphold and maintain as the heiress to the Hyuuga Head Branch. Have you thought about that? Uzumaki, if he does not want to be with you, has every right to disown you due to whatever trickery you used against him. How will the family handle your dishonorable actions?" Hiashi demanded, his voice cold and hard.

Hinata didn't answer. She hadn't thought about her family’s reaction to this outcome; she hadn't really had time to. She knew what type of trouble would come with her pregnancy, but she hadn't wanted to think about the deeper issues that would come with it.

Hiashi sighed deeply, as he put his hand to his forehead. Hinata watched in morbid fascination as a look of realization dawned on her father. When he spoke next, his tone seemed more at ease.

"On the other hand, perhaps this is for the best." He paused, and a light seemed to enter his eyes, a light that made Hinata very nervous. He seemed to come to a conclusion. "Yes, yes it is for the best. You may have come up with a brilliant solution after all," Hiashi said thoughtfully. Something in her chest twisted tightly, and Hinata didn't like the sound of that.

"What are you t-talking about?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"If you give birth without marrying Uzumaki, then he will not have any bearing into the family. He will still be an outsider. He is a strong shinobi which is good for the heritage of your child, but Uzumaki will not have to help raise the child. Outside influences from other shinobi and their families has always been a weak point in proper training for the Hyuuga clan. Having a strong child being the next in line for the Head Family, solely dedicated and loyal to the Hyuuga is best," Hiashi said.

Hinata felt mortified. Naruto not be a part of the child's life at all?

Hiashi stood up from the desk, and walked by her, placing a hand on her shoulder as though he were proud of her instead of disgusted as he had seemed earlier.

"I will begin the proper arrangements for full custody. If we begin the process now, there will be no time for Naruto to file at the child’s birth. Usually these custody battles do not occur till the actual birth of the child, but if we prepare now, we will win. If he makes an appeal, we will have more backed up to our claim due to how much more information we will have if we start now. Yes, it will be much harder for Naruto to appeal if he decides he wants the child."

"But Naruto-kun is the father! He has a r-right to our b-baby!" Hinata gasped out in total and utter horror. Hiashi squeezed Hinata's shoulder firmly.

"Think of Naruto-kun. You said yourself that he didn't know. Take the full responsibility as yours. Don't be a burden to him, and learn responsibility to your clan." Hiashi didn't say more as he left the room.

Hinata stood frozen in horror. She had never expected her father to react as he had. He was going to battle Naruto, but not in the physical sense as she had thought. He would battle Naruto in a legal sense for the custody of their child! The baby was hers. Her baby! Hers and Naruto's!

She wouldn't let that happen.

Hinata turned toward the door, intent on telling her father that she would not allow her child to live a life without seeing its father but a sobering thought left her immobile.

What if her father was right and Naruto didn't want to be around the baby? She had seduced him, and he hadn't exactly reacted very well to the news of her pregnancy.

She couldn't blame him for that.

Plus, she had been the cause that he had broken his engagement off with Ino. Maybe...maybe he would be okay with not wanting to see their child?

But no. Naruto had always wanted to belong to a family. He wouldn’t give up on his, even if he hadn’t meant for it to happen.

Hinata put a hand to her still flat stomach, wondering what the future would bring. She held her head up high.

She had to find Naruto, and ask him what he wanted. She needed to know what he wanted. If he didn't want her then she could understand that. But wouldn't Naruto want to be with his family?

Hinata ran out of her father's study, determined to find Naruto, hoping her new desperation to find out what Naruto wanted would help her actually be able to talk with him when she found him.


Next Chapter: Top of the Hokage Monument


For those of you who read the author’s note last time you realized that I had said I might be busy last weekend – which I was. But here is the latest chapter! I hope you liked it. ~ Jelp