Inbred

Angst: Most if not all of your questions should be answered in this chapter. If there's something I missed, let me know and I'll touched on it in a later chapter. I can't reveal all the plot in one go you know. ;)

The reason chapter 17 followed chapter 16 so closely was because I typed them up in one sitting so I posted Ch. 16 while I proof-read Ch. 17. And you may have a point there, It would be nice to post a whole story instead of having to punch out one chapter at a time.

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Chapter 18

Neji lay on his side on his cold bed and stared at the poster-covered wall just across from him. After he had stormed out of Kiba's room he returned to his and Sasuke had followed him there, apparently. He threw one of his tantrums and when he'd finally calmed down Sasuke spoke up.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked this even as he leaned against the door with his arms folded across his chest. His voice sounded disinterested in Neji's problem but he knew the Hyuga didn't really throw a fit like this unless he was really upset. He couldn't blame him though...

"She's a prostitue!" he screamed, incredulous that Sasuke hadn't seemed to notice when in fact he clearly had.

He shrugged one shoulder, "So?" Sasuke wasn't heartless, but he knew it was easier for Neji to talk when he was angry. The boy was always so composed and had it together that the only time he dropped his guard and really spoke from his heart was when he was enraged.

"What the FUCK do you mean 'so'?" He was reaching that boiling point.

"She's homeless, Hyuga. It's what lots of homeless people do." He was surprised that his voice remained so apathetic. He really felt sorry for the girl especially since she was a relative of Neji and he knew her situation was the result of more of the Hyuga family's twisted politics.

"But, prostitution...?" Neji shook his head and bit on his lower lip.

"Well what did you expect Hyuga?" his voice was harsh now. "That's she'd suddenly open a chain of restaurants or something? That she'd become CEO of a multi-national company? Dammit, Hyuga she was thrown out of her home at eleven years old with nothing but the clothes on her back. What the fuck did you expect was going to happen to her?"

"Not this. She didn't have to do this!" He was in denial and Sasuke didn't blame him. If he were in Hyuga's position he would have felt the same way but Neji just had to accept the fact that life on the streets was not a bed of roses. Naruto had related to him those hellish two days after he had run away from the orphanage and although Sasuke showed empathy towards his friend he was somewhat grateful that after his family had died he didn't have to share the same fate. He didn't think he could take it and Sasuke suddenly realized that in his own way Naruto was alot stronger than he was.

"Get off your high-horse, Hyuga," he had come off the wall now and was standing just a few feet away from the other man. "That girl did what she had to do to get by and if she had to sell her body to do that then so be it. It could have been worse Hyuga, ALOT worse." And it was true. She didn't look like some crack-alley whore, her clothes were clean and she didn't appear to have any bruises. She also had her wits about her so it didn't seem as if she was drugged or anything and besides, Kiba never paid for trash, he may be a pimp but he still had good taste.

Neji couldn't believe that Uchiha was taking her side. Didn't he have any idea how humiliating her situation probably was? He suddenly felt sick to his stomach when the thought of how many clients she had probably serviced all these years. "How could you say something like that?" he shook his head in disbelief and his voice was now a haggard whisper. Neji knew he was being difficult but he didn't want to believe that little Hinata, sweet, innocent Hinata was forced to do such things. He'd rather believe she was dead but there was no mistaking the large eyes, the dainty nose, small lips and round face. After all these years she had hardly changed.

"Pfft," Sasuke scoffed. "Don't be such a hypocrite, Hyuga," and when confusion wrapped itself around the pale face he continued. "She's a survivor just like you, she sold her body to protect her life, don't tell me you didn't do the same."

"IT'S NOT THE SAME THI-"

"IT'S THE EXACT SAME THING!"

Neji took a shaky breath and stared at him with wide, lavender eyes. In some convoluted way, the Uchiha was right. Hinata sold her body to avoid succumbing to the harsh life of the streets; Neji...Neji had denied his body its natural instincts to avoid the wrath of the main branch.

A strained sound came from deep within his throat and Sasuke knew he was on the verge of crying. He had pushed too hard and even though it was his fault and he wanted to stay and comfort him he knew this was something Hyuga had to come to grips with on his own.

"Goodnight, Hyuga." Sasuke muttered his good-bye before leaving the apartment.

Neji autonomously made his way to his bed after the Uchiha boy had left and curled up on his side. He'd wanted to cry, his eyes burned and his vision grew misty but the tears didn't fall and he quickly realized that he was trying to hold them back.

Hinata!

He remembered his little cousin well and he had thought about her constantly after she had been banished from the Hyuga estate. He remembered they were very close, so close in fact that he thought of them as sisters as opposed to just blood-relatives. She was the only one that cared for him even after his parents died and when the main branch suddenly decided he was to be raised as a male child, Hinata was the only one who still treated him like a girl. When they were alone she would do his hair, paint his nails and they would talk about boys. Hinata would also sneak in ribbons, fake jewelry and an assortment of little 'girly' things for her older cousin.

Because Hinata was the eldest daughter of the main branch she was the one that was expected to produce the heir and continue the family line and her future husband had already been decided for her by the time she reached eleven. Hinata didn't approve and because of her refusal they opted to get rid of her. They had Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister, to carry on the line so they didn't really need Hinata anyway, but instead of killing her they stripped her of her Hyuga title and cast her into the streets, presuming that she wouldn't last very long. They had wanted her to suffer for her insubordination.

After the girl left, things became relatively worse for Neji, without her sisterly love he slowly became consumed by his loneliness and he felt his femininity slipping away. He had hated Hinata for leaving him and wondered why she had stubbornly refused the arranged marriage in the first place. It wasn't uncommon for these kinds of things in a family like theirs and he wondered if the girl was just being spiteful. It wasn't until many years later that he found out the true reason.

Her arranged fiancee, the one that was now promised to Hanabi, was one of their first cousins.

Neji's body became cold when he learned this truth but he wanted to die when he overheard the rest of the conversation. One of the maids had said that if Neji had indeed been a boy then HE would have been the one betrothed to Hinata to produce the heir but because he was 'useless' they chose someone else. The other servant spoke up then and said she was surprised that 'they' allowed Neji to remain alive if he served no purpose to the Hyuga family but her co-worker quickly assured her that if it hadn't been for Neji's parents the boy would have been disposed of just like all the other 'useless pieces'. The boy was just lucky.

Her acquaintance wondered why they gave Neji's parents this liberty if they were just lowly 'branch members'. The other woman told her that while they allowed it at first, as the boy got older and it became harder to hide the fact that he was a 'freak' they had arranged to eliminate him but his parents leaked his existence to the media so they couldn't touch him after that. His parents, however, were immediately 'taken care of' for the little stunt they pulled.

Nejis didn't stay around to hear the rest of the conversation. He broke down that night, all the tears that he had for his parents, all the tears that he had for Hinata and all the tears that he had for himself that he was forced to hold back finally came in a torrent. Everyone wondered if he was sick because he cried through the whole night.

By the next morning Neji had become a shell of what was once a human being and if he was cold before he was frigid now. He did everything the main branch ordered him to without quarrel, he had lost the ability to think for himself and had become, as the maid had said, just a 'piece' for them to control as they saw fit. The only time he spoke up for himself was when he asked to further his education by going to college and they agreed on the terms that Neji would not let anyone know about his 'disorder' and he was to continue behaving like a male at ALL times.

Uchiha was right, he had 'sold' his 'body'.

At least Hinata had the courage to confront her family, she knew what they were doing was wrong. Neji knew it was wrong too but he allowed them to use him, and while he had felt Hinata had betrayed his perfect memory of her he couldn't hold it against his cousin anymore.

Hinata was alive!

The tears came then and Neji sobbed as he pulled a pillow close to his chest, the fabric muting his heart-wrenched cries. "Hinata, I'm sorry!"

***

Sasuke had stood outside Neji's door long after he had exited the apartment. He kept debating whether he should go back inside. He didn't have to worry about the boy, he wasn't the type to slit his wrists or anything but still...

No! Sasuke gave his head a firm shake. This was something he had to sort out himself. Neji hadn't told him much about his little cousin but whenever he spoke of her he referred to her in the past tense as if she were no longer alive and Sasuke believed so too, but from his descriptions and the photographs he showed of her he recognized the girl almost immediately.

He sighed and made his way into his apartment. The lights were on and he assumed Uzumaki had returned. He called out to him but when he didn't get a response he assumed the boy had gone to bed. Shutting off the lights he headed to his room but stopped when he saw the sliver of light beneath Naruto's bedroom door. Apparently the dobe was still awake. He was hoping to take this opportunity to ask for advice on his relationship with Neji when he heard the boy moaning.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Well fuck, it sounded as if Naruto had finally scored and here he was still as celibate as ever. Sasuke swore again then headed into his room to try and capture the sleep that was evading him.

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This chapter was supposed to be before the previous one but everyone kept clamouring for Naru/Hina so I switched them around but I had to change them up slightly.

Also, I don't like to talk about my personal life on the Internet but something came up in my family and right now we're trying to be there for one another and someday next week I won't be home at all so the updates may come a little slower than usual. Just to let you know.