The Tournament

Shikamaru smirked as he watched Kiba gently, but firmly, grab Hinata by the shoulders, lift her up and carry her over to where he was standing.

“Please excuse us for a moment,” he called graciously over his shoulder to the still naked man.

Hinata remained calm, although she was an interesting color of red. Shikamaru idly wondered what life was like on Team 8 if she could remain that calm while being manhandled like that. ‘Ino would be having a fit if Chouji or I tried that.’ “You wanted to speak with me Kiba?” Shikamaru could hear the barely suppressed giggle in her tone.

“What are you thinkin’?!?” Kiba hissed, not realizing that this made him sound louder, and possibly carried over to Mousse.

“What do you mean?” she asked prettily, keeping her voice down.

“You can’t invite that pervert to come with us!”

“Why not?”

“He’ll take advantage of you!” This was a shout, not a hiss. Hinata’s face turned bright red. Shikamaru heard the subject of this conversation protest incomprehensively.

“K-Kiba,” she stuttered, loosing whatever composure she had had before. “According to you e-every­one is out to t-take advantage of me. E-even Neji, my cousin!” This was said in a quiet squeak of indignation. She stood there quivering in either rage or embarrassment, Shikamaru couldn’t tell which.

“That’s because he is,” hissed the incredibly paranoid Kiba, “You’re too trusting, and that’s going to get you in trouble one of these days.” Obviously this was an argument that they had gone over many times before because Hinata just took a deep breath and shook her head.

“Is the purpose of this talk about how he may or may not take advantage of Hinata?” Shikamaru finally asked.

“N-no,” Kiba stuttered, “There’s more to it then that.”

“Oh?” Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

“W-we don’t know this guy,” spluttered the dog-nin.

“True,” Shikamaru nodded.

“But we should keep him where we can keep an eye on him,” Hinata pointed out, “After all he is one of the people that Tsunade-sama warned us about.”

Shikamaru nodded again, and shut his eyes to think. Oddly enough, even though Hinata and Kiba didn’t know his personal habits, they quieted instantly and let him think. Even though he couldn’t see their faces, he imagined they were looking at him expectantly. ‘Definitely a good look for Hinata,’ he thought to himself as he pictured her pale eyes gazing at him adoringly, ‘Possibly a hint of lust in the quirk of her lips…’ He mentally shook his head so that he could concentrate on the issue at hand.

“We keep him with us,” Shikamaru said finally, opening his eyes. Kiba groaned audibly while Hinata just beamed at him. “Make sure we know his location at all times.”

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Hinata left the group huddle with a smile on her face. She kept it on as she untied Mousse. “So, have you considered my offer?” she asked quietly as she turned away to give the man some privacy.

“I have,” he responded heavily, “And I would be honored if you allowed me to become one of your traveling companions.” She could hear him putting on some clothes that Kiba had lent him.

“You may turn around now.” Hinata did so, and placed a hand over her mouth. Clothes that were baggy on Kiba, ended up being far too small on him, leaving a strip of stomach between the tops of pants that were baggy around his waist, but ended just below his knees and a hoody that looked tight under the armpits. He kind of looked like an ill-dressed chimpanzee. “So they look as ridiculous as I thought.” Hinata nodded helplessly.

“I had my spare clothes in my clothing,” he explained, “Otherwise I’d be dressed properly.”

“I could go back and fetch them if you like,” Hinata offered helpfully.

“I wouldn’t want to put you out of your way, Miss Hyuuga,” he protested politely.

“It’s no problem at all,” Hinata dismissed his protests, “And please, call me Hinata.”

“Thank you for that honor, but I know my place,” Mousse said cryptically.

“Oh?” a sardonic voice questioned, “What does that mean?” Shikamaru stepped out of shadows that weren’t there before. Hinata glanced over at him, admiring the way his features looked when he was suspicious. ‘Not many people can make that look work for them,’ Hinata thought idly.

“My father was an outsider,” Mousse started, apparently ignoring Shikamaru’s questioned. “The Amazons have a tradition, that if an outsider defeats an Amazon warrior, one of two things will happen. If the outsider is that same gender as the warrior, the warrior will hunt them down to kill them. If they are different genders, the warrior will hunt them down to marry them and add them to the village.” The story sounded familiar to Hinata.

“Was your father’s name Fuma?” Hinata interrupted.

Mousse nodded. “Yes, when my mother met him he went by the name of Fuma Hyuuga. The story goes that Mother was very attracted to him, and after a while, she set up an ambush. She had to use every bit of her skills to escape with her life and as soon as she recuperated, she tracked him down to his village, where she declared that they were married, as tradition demands.”

“At my naming ceremony, obviously I don’t remember it being two weeks old at the time, but I’ve read about it in the family scrolls,” Hinata giggled. Mousse raised an eyebrow at her. “Apparently your mother tracked Uncle Fuma down, and in front of everyone, tackled him, kissed him on the cheek, and said “Wo ai ni, Airen.” Later it was discovered that she had said, “I love you husband.” It’s written that she stalked him for months, declaring her love for him and attacking any woman who showed more then a passing interest in him. Eventually he got her to calm down, and soon they fell in love.”

“Yes,” Mousse agreed, “Mother has had one of only 20 successful courtings in two thousand years of Amazon history,” he bragged. “All the others have run out of time or had to resort to potions.” Hinata opened her mouth to ask him about that statement.

“That’s great and all,” Shikamaru interrupted, “Everyone loves a story of love at first assault. But what does this have to do with you knowing your place?” Hinata mildly glared at him for his rude behavior.

“Fuma Hyuuga was disowned from the Hyuuga clan shortly after his marriage to Conditioner because he had to leave the village. There is no way that someone can be a Hyuuga if they aren’t living in Konoha, it’s in the original agreement from when they were declared an official clan of Konoha,” Hinata explained. “As such the ceremony that initiates the byakugan in a Hyuuga can never be done, because it takes at least three Hyuuga’s to perform. It’s the fail safe that keeps our bloodline in the village.”

“Again,” Shikamaru was sounding annoyed, “What does this have to do with knowing your place?”

“Lady Hyuuga is obviously from the head branch of the family. That means even though I’m not officially a Hyuuga that I need to honor her as such,” Mousse said, looking Hinata in the eyes.

“But you really don’t,” protested Hinata, “I don’t like being elevated like that over my family. Your father was my mothers sister!”

“Father always told me about his family, and how proud he was that his sister married into the head family, because that meant that her curse seal was removed,” he said in a wondering voice.

“Mother always told me about how happy she was that her brother got to escape,” Hinata nodded, “She said that even though she loved my father, she recognized how unfair it was that she was no longer under the thumb of the curse seal while her brother, and father’s brother still had it.”

“What’s the big deal about the curse seal?” Shikamaru asked.

“A curse seal means that the wearer is under the complete control of the person who put it there,” Hinata explained, “Or in the case of the Hyuuga clan. The person related to them that doesn’t have it. I could basically do anything I like with someone who has the seal.”

“So, why didn’t you use it on Neji?” Shikamaru asked.

Hinata’s eyes widened at the implication that he was making, “That would be unfair,” she said honestly, “That would be cheating in the worst possible way! It’s not like any old cheating, that anyone could do. That’s practically fair. It would be cheating in a way that no one else could do, then everyone would be even more angry with me, because I didn’t earn my victory!” She finished her speech slightly out of breath with a sore throat.

“How would anyone know?”

“They would know,” she muttered darkly, “But most of all, I would know. That’s just not something that I could live with.”

“Hmm,” he responded. There was a tense silence. “Why don’t you go back and get Mousse’s clothes,” he said finally, “you can catch up to us.”


Hinata was grateful for the change of subject. There are just some things that she couldn’t talk about, even if it was with her long lost cousin. She smiled and started making her way back to where she remembered the fight being.

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Mousse was very confused about what was going on. First, he meets family that he never even knew existed. Well, he knew that his father had a family before he had married his mother, and that there was a possibility that there was a cousin out there that he would never meet. It had never really bothered him until today, when he actually met a family member. Now, all of a sudden, he felt like there was something missing from his life.

His personal quandary aside, the second thing that was confusing him was the way Dog-Boy was acting. ‘I suppose I should call him Kiba. After all he did lend me his clothes,’ Mousse thought darkly. He acted as though Lady Hyuuga, ‘No she wants me to call her Hinata,’ was completely defenseless and naïve.

“I can’t believe you would do something like that!” spat Kiba, “Who knows what could happen to her while I’m not there to protect her!”

“Hinata can take care of herself,” this was the third time this morning that the two of them had had this conversation. Ponytail boy, also known as Shikamaru, was clearly annoyed with his friend.

“Oh yeah?” Kiba demanded, sounding just a little insane, “And what happens if an S-class ninja attacks her while she’s away?”

‘Why would they be worrying about ninjas?’ Mousse asked himself. Most of the ninjas he had met were just delusional men wearing pajamas, except for Konatsu, and even he was pretty weird. ‘What does S-class mean?’ Mousse decided that he would just stay quiet and ask later, he didn’t want to get his head bitten off.

“What would you do if you were there?” Shikamaru demanded. “I’ll tell you what you would do. You would end up running, which is exactly what Hinata would end up doing, with or with out you.”

“I wouldn’t run! I’m not a coward like you!”

“Good,” Shikamaru said glaring, “You could distract him by bleeding on him while Hinata escapes. Good thinking.” Mousse was most impressed with his control. If anyone had said that to any of Mousse’s friends, they would have a major fight on their hands.

“You’re such a prick!” Kiba shouted, “Hinata could be hurt really badly right now! She could have broken bones or bleeding or even raped and you act like there’s nothing wrong at all! You only care about yourself!”

“I’m sorry that I trust Hinata and her abilities,” Shikamaru said mildly, “I’m sorry that I feel as though she’s strong enough to handle something simple like retrieving clothes. I guess I really am a prick, because I know that Hinata is capable of doing anything she sets her mind to.”

“Are you out of your fuckin’ mind!?!” Kiba shouted, clearly enraged by the calmness of his traveling companion. “Hinata needs protection! She can’t handle stuff on her own, she needs someone there to hold her hand or else she’ll do something stupid!”

“Like what Kiba?” a quiet voice came from behind them. Mousse jumped slightly and whirled around. There, melting out from behind a tree stood Hinata. She was holding what looked like a bag full of something. “I’m sorry Mousse,” Hinata said, ignoring her friend, “When I picked up your clothes, everything just kind of fell out. I gathered it all up, but it’s not very well organized.”

“Oh that’s not a problem Miss… uh I mean Hinata,” Mousse said quickly, he could feel the tension and he wanted to be as far away from the blow up as possible when it happened. “I can organize it myself as soon as I change.” He beat a hasty retreat behind a tree and with the ease of long practice changed into his robes and put away all his things. He felt much better after getting back into his own clothing, wearing Kiba’s clothes made him feel naked.

“Hinata I can explain!” Kiba was saying when Mousse returned.

“Good,” she said serenely, “I’m very glad that you can explain, but I’m not interested right now.”

“But you gotta let me explain,” he whined.

“No I don’t.”

“But…But…”

“You’re my friend Kiba,” she said with sudden venom, “Or at least I thought you were. Do you know how much it hurts me to have you doubting me?” Hinata sounded like she wanted to cry.

“But…but…”

“I don’t want to hear it right now. Lets just get to Honey country okay?” She turned around and started marching forcefully in the direction they were headed.

“S-sure,” Kiba agreed, following the young girl.

Mousse and Shikamaru ended up brining up the rear. At first they watched the two silently, but when nothing happened, they began talking.

“Does this sort of thing happen often?” mousse asked quietly so as not to be overheard by the two combatants.

“I wouldn’t know,” Shikamaru shrugged, “We don’t hang out that often.”

“You don’t hang out but you’re still going on this trip together?”

“They’re the only ones who wanted to go with me to Honey Country,” again he shrugged. It was an annoying habit that he had.

‘New tactic,’ he thought, “Why are you three going to Honey Country?” Mousse wanted information about his traveling companions, but they were all tight lipped about what they were doing.

“There’s a shougi tournament there. It’s a really big deal apparently, and I wanted to give it a shot.”

“Oh?” Mousse said, kind of getting bored, ‘Shougi’s so boring, why would you want to watch it for the hours that a tournament would take. “What’s the big deal about it?”

“It’s the biggest shougi tournament around. People from all over the world will be there.” Shikamaru sounded a little excited by the prospect.

“What do you get if you win?” Mousse asked, ‘Maybe the prize would be more interesting then the competition.’

“Her,” Shikamaru said as he pulled a flyer out of his pocket and handed it to Mousse. The flyer showed a picture of Akane Tendo wearing a sweater and drinking a soda. It was the same picture that Ryouga bought from Nabiki before they left for Jusenkyo to save Shampoo.

“I know this girl,” Mousse said, staring at the picture. What was going on here?

“Really? Is that that Shampoo chick that you were talking about?” Shikamaru seemed to go back to being bored.

“No, this is Akane Tendo.” ‘What’s she doing being a prize for a tournament?’