There are some shifting POV in this chapter, but it's got obvious breaks. This is all cued off of the last chapter, so make sure you've gone back and read the first half of this double update. And feel free to give me all the critique these chapters need. (this one I've been beating on for a couple weeks.)
Warnings: some angsty thoughts. not much, yet.
Chapter 50
Neji is cycling back from a rotation around the perimeter of the main compound when someone flags him down. He stops long enough to hear Tsunade has shown up and is waiting for him. The young boy doesn’t know why, but points him toward one of the private tea houses that’s become frequently used for her visits. Neji thanks the kid and signals a passing Naruto clone to cover the rest of his shift, just in case.
“Tsunade- sama?”
She’s alone, and he’s not sure if he should be relieved or worried that she didn’t bring Takeshi back with her. Her letter had implied he would be helping her for a while, with no time frame or reasons why. Kimi has been tetchy, aggressive, and has refused to talk about anything regarding to the ermine. He hasn’t gotten any confirmed facts on that situation.
Tsunade gestures for him to sit. She looks exhausted, and Neji settles across from her without complaint.
“I have news.” A knock on the door interrupts her. Hinata slips inside and closes the door firmly behind her, bowing her respect and settling beside her cousin. “As I was telling Neji, I have news. But it cannot leave this room yet.” Her stern, tired eyes pierce both of them, and they nod in agreement. “Hiashi Hyuga has been found. He is alive, and currently in protective custody. He is well, healing some minor wounds, but will not be able to return to the public until the perpetrator has been captured and charged.”
The news is a relief, even with the conditions, and Neji wraps his arm around Hinata as she sags against his shoulder. “What about the clan elders? Do they know?”
Tsunade shakes her head. “No. I’ll tell them myself when the time is right. There is corruption within the council and I cannot risk one of the elders accidently warning off the target.” Even old people, no matter their loyalties and strength of will, were still subject to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. “It seems cruel to demand it, but I need you to refrain from telling Sasuke and Naruto. And the less Kimi knows about this, the better.”
Neji lifts his gaze, feeling an oddly unnerving quiet settle over him. “Is she a threat?”
“She has displayed certain signs of an unhealthy fixation on Takeshi. I am concerned about her priorities, although she has not done anything against Konoha or its stability.” She pauses, seeming to consider something before speaking again. “Takeshi regained his memories that day you all rescued Hanabi. Kimi allowed him time to sort things out before bringing him to me, but now she’s curious about things that are none of her business. I do not want her causing any problems for anything that is connected to the abduction or things that have happened since.”
“So he
did regain himself. Kimi has refused to confirm that.” Neji tips his head, considering the pieces he
does know now. ‘Takeshi’ regained his memories, but didn’t reveal himself, having chosen to let Kimi take him to Tsunade. Then he’d pretty much disappeared, and since then only a solitary note from Tsunade saying the ermine shifter had been ‘helping her for a few days’. “Is
Takeshi a threat, Hokage- sama?”
It takes her longer to answer this question, but she does. And it’s nothing quite like Neji is expecting. “Takeshi is not a threat, to you, to this clan, or to the village as a whole. But he’s been undercover as an enemy of Konoha for several years and needs time to sort out his new situation and adjust to living without the mask he’s been forced to wear. He will likely stay away for a while. Like your uncle, he is hiding until the situations can be resolved.”
Neji starts to say something, stops and closes his mouth. Little frown- lines form between his eyes but he nods at the assessment anyway. “Thank you for the update, Tsunade- sama. We will keep this in confidence.”
“Things will settle down. But I need you both to be patient and alert.” They nod and bow, and Tsunade departs a few minutes later.
It’s dusk when Neji escapes from duties and the guards still monitoring the estate. Tsunade has left them instated until things publicly change, in the mean time it’s extra security just in case something else happens. Although, he would swear a few ninja have been relieved and replaced by Naruto clones. There are too many singular blonds running around his compound for him not to notice.
Neji knows the lake is just outside the perimeter of the security sweeps, but he told Kimi and Hinata both where he would be and that he’d be back in an hour or so. It’s slightly annoying, but necessary, and he needs alone time. He strips at the edge of the water and shifts, welcoming the ache in his body as a distraction from his worries. The water is cool, not holding much of the day’s warmth but he can hardly feel that through the layer of feathers. His feet tell him, though, and he is quick to get off the water and into the air, eager to fly. So very eager to escape humanity and human worries, to lose himself to what he is.
He wishes he could fly until his wings burn and exhaustion forces him to land, but he doesn’t have that kind of time, and he makes do with several wide aerial laps of the lake. When he lands, he changes back and dresses, staying to stare out over the water. Points of light are shimmering there, the reflections of stars dancing on the water’s surface.
It’s utterly too peaceful of a night compared to his mind.
He had been housing one of Konoha’s apparent allies, but the face was apparently well known as an enemy. If Takeshi had ever shifted
here, had revealed himself to the clan and guards, the backlash could have been horrible. Aiding and abetting known criminals was a crime that would ruin one’s reputation, job, life… everything. And he’d fought for the man behind the fur, fought to help him and argued for the man’s right to put himself back together in peace.
It could have exploded in his face.
He couldn’t be certain who it was, either. Tsunade hadn’t said it was a Konoha ninja, just that he was undercover as one of Konoha’s enemies. Konoha has plenty of enemies, a lot of rival clans and villages, and any of them could have come seeking refuge and gone back out to trick everyone. It wasn’t an easy thing, but Neji knows that undercover missions go to the best suited for the job. Jounin. ANBU. ROOT. And apparently a shape- changer. There is no way of telling what the man’s rank was.
Whoever the man behind the fur is, he has had nerves of steel to be doing this for years.
Neji kind of wants to meet the man, to know who he has been helping. But also he worries. His own bingo book has a whole list of names, enemies and traitors and those who are being watched. Neji has made himself familiar with every face, and he can’t be sure he won’t want to slay the man on sight. It’s part of his training. Take out the threat before the threat destroys you. And whoever this is behind the fur, it will probably be someone he has trained himself to react to with violence- or extreme prejudiced caution- so he could evade and survive potential meetings with unfriendly forces.
He almost wishes Tsunade could have just said the man’s name and been done with it. That way he can adjust, with plenty of time to get over the fact he was hosting this person in his own room.
Neji heads back to the compound, mind whirling with worries and thoughts that refuse to be shoved away and ignored.
She’s curled up on her bed, staring at a blank section of wall when footsteps pause outside her door. She calls for entrance at the very quiet knock.
“Hinata?”
To her mild surprise it’s Sasuke, not Naruto, and she sits up as he opens the door. “Something going on?”
“Not really. Naruto said you were feeling wrong, something about the bond. He is wrapped up in perimeter checks but sent me over to make sure you were well.” He stands just inside the doorway but makes no move to close the door or walk across the room. “Are
you okay?”
“Yes, I am well.” He doesn’t buy it, she can still see the waiting tension through his shoulders. But a request from the Hokage is nothing to be treated lightly. “I suppose I have been thinking too much,” she finally concedes. “I have been worrying about Father.” It’s true, absolute truth and yet so not what she
wants to say; that she’s worried what has happened to him, scared that something will happen to him before she can see him again, nervous about his possible reaction when he finds out she’s been filling in at his place among the clan elders. All her little worries and she can’t speak a word about it yet. And she doesn’t have to look up to catch his features, a pooling frown of what seemed like strained sympathy.
“Hiashi- sama is a good man, and a skilled ninja. If he has any chance, he will return.” It sucks as reassurance, he realizes as the words leave his lips. But he is far too realistic to promise that her father will come back no matter what. Sasuke’s dealt with the loss of his whole clan; the burn of losing family is never an easy thing to deal with. But he can only imagine what not
knowing is doing to her. “I…” He pauses for a moment, then continues. “Do you want to sit and talk? Or, anything?”
He refrains from grimacing at how lame that sounds, and knows he can do better at an attempt to make her feel better. But he is not Naruto, he doesn’t know her needs and little preferences for how to feel better, and isn’t really sure asking will solve anything. He could sit and let her talk but he doubts that he would be able to actually offer anything to soothe her if she needs it. And he can tell she needs
something, but he hasn’t a clue how he can actually help. Not with this.
“No. No more talking.” If she starts talking she may say the wrong thing. Better to get her mind off this for a while than risk breaking direct orders. She misses the shiver chasing down his spine, may have not recognized it for the relief it is even if she had. But the moment’s gone, and she sits on the corner of her bed and sighs. “The elders have enough to say. You can stay, if you want.” She gestures at the chair in her room, but he doesn’t leave his spot by the door. She merely nods, accepting his nonverbal refusal. “Then good-night, Sasuke. I’ll see you and Naruto tomorrow.”
He offers a soft goodnight before retreating, nearly relieved at her dismissal. It is short and practically rude to how she’s treated him for a while now, but he can sympathize with her distraction. He was a mess long ago when he lost his family. At least Hinata has family and friends alive to help her carry on, should the worst happen. And he knows Naruto won’t let her break down in the ways he had, either. Hinata would be okay, in time.
Behind a closed door, Hinata curls around her pillow and lets stress- relieving tears lull her into oblivious dreams.
