Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Jyuuken ❯ Discharge ( Chapter 8 )

Author's Notes: Special thanks goes to dani's random fox for inspiring this chapter. Thanks again- and I definitely want to see your fanart! >:3

Disclaimer: I am not Japanese. Which means I don't have a Japanese name like Kishimoto Masashi. Which means I don't own Naruto. Killjoy.

 

The Hyuuga estate was quiet. Large houses sprawled across the grounds surrounded by walls, shutting out the rest of the village. A few branch family members stalked around, keeping the minimal amount of security needed to fend off such threats as could be reasonably posed by stray cats, insects, and troublemakers. Night time was when serious attention was paid to keeping out…unwanted guests.

The greater majority of both the Main and Branch family's attentions were directed to minding their own business. And definitely not trying to eavesdrop.

It was a rare day that a stranger visited the Hyuuga estate and stranger still when the visitor was an unknown shinobi from another country.

Hyuuga Hiashi was troubled. Had his daughter asked that Kimimaro be allowed to stay in their home for a while, he would have flatly refused. Such things were not done. The Hokage, on the other hand, was a little harder to say “no” to.

His eyes were firmly fixed on the boy called Kimimaro, and had been for the last ten minutes. Kimimaro himself had his eyes fixed firmly on the floor in front of him. A nice, well-maintained hardwood floor, polished to a brilliant shine. Apart from his apparent keen interest in the floor- his face held no discernable expression in an attempt to avoid conflict, his sitting position would have been a shining beacon of correct posture in the presence non-nobles, and his body language was indicative of his willingness to obey any rules Hiashi set for him. The fact he was trying to express all these things was evident before Hiashi's eyes but that, in itself, was nothing to fault him for. What he could fault him for was that, in those twenty minutes he was sitting there, admiring the floor, he had barely moved a muscle.

The ability to remain motionless was something a shinobi would find useful, most never managed to attain that level of self-control so young. That still wasn't really a bad thing, it just made him slightly uncomfortable. That, and his lack of personality. He represented many aspects shinobi aspire to, albeit at the expense of his humanity.

To his mild annoyance, his daughter was less able to contain herself in such a tense atmosphere. She had been fidgeting non-stop to his right for quite some time now, glancing from Kimimaro to her father every so often. His other daughter was waiting outside; trying to pry the door open a crack to see what was going on.

The Hokage had asked him a favour, and it was his duty to support her, as she theoretically represented the will of the village. Also, in a household with absolutely no blind spots, nothing untoward was likely to happen. He could probably trust the boy, since he was Hinata's friend.

Hiashi sighed and liberated Kimimaro from his unwavering glare. The boy didn't look up immediately.

`Hanabi.' There was an indistinct noise from one of the sliding doors in response to the name. After a few seconds of silent debate, a girl a few years younger than Hinata eased her way into the room. With a nod from Hiashi, she seated herself to his left.

`Hinata.' His first daughter promptly stopped fidgeting.

`Both of you; listen carefully. While Kimimaro is staying here, I want you to watch and learn from him,' he paused to let Hinata know that a show of elation was not seemly at this point. `He has learned to become as still and silent as a rock, and both of you could stand to learn at least a little of that skill.'

`Yes, father.'

`Y-yes, father…'

Kimimaro had raised his head a little, but was still looking at the floor, apparently unwilling to meet Hiashi's eye in case this caused a change of heart.

`Kaguya-kun,' he paused again, until Kimimaro looked at him. `You are free to come and go as you please, so long as you remember that this land belongs to the Hyuuga family, and respect it as such. Do you understand?'

`I understand, Hiashi-sama.' Hiashi nodded thoughtfully at this straightforward response.

`Hinata.'

`Yes?'

`Please show Kimimaro to his room.'

`Yes.'

 

-----

 

Kimimaro was grateful to see a bed, much to his ironic amusement. After getting grilled by both the hokage and the head of the Hyuuga main family, he was grateful for something to lie upon. Hinata had also evaporated into the household, giving him some time to recuperate.

The hokage had asked him questions about his association with Orochimaru, and had been unable to hide her surprise when he answered her truthfully. Initially, her reaction to his story was decidedly negative, but her expression had softened towards the end. She must have believed more than he expected her to, since instead of having him executed (which was what he expected) she had summoned Hyuuga Hiashi and instructed him to find Kimimaro a place to stay. On Hyuuga land.

The Hyuuga family fought in a particularly lethal way, which Kimimaro wasn't confident his bone armour would be able to fully defend him against, so having them watch him wasn't such a bad idea, he had to admit.

He had been allowed the use of a one-room building, which may have been a shed at some point, out of the way of everything else. Given that, it wasn't very far from a few other buildings, most of which housed Hyuuga Branch Family members.

He lay still on his bed. It was good to have a bed that didn't reek of antiseptics for once in a very long time. The world smelt better without chemicals.

Lying still, with nothing to do, his mind gradually meandered towards subjects of interest to ponder. Like the information that the Sound Four had been eliminated. Far be it from him to feel sorry for those incompetents, but Konohagakure was really starting to surprise him. True, they had many clans which honed particular skills over generations to perfect them, and had several strong bloodlines which carried unique abilities, like his own- but he had never really thought much of any of it.

In his time as one of Orochimaru's most coveted possessions, he had found it inconceivable that some clutter of shinobi families could devise a way of stopping his armies, and nearly killing him.

The wolf that keeps his fangs hidden bites the hardest, perhaps.

 

-----

 

`Byakugan!'

In a rush of chakra and increased sensory information, the wall blocking Neji's line of sight into the shed in which the visitor to the Hyuuga estate was staying faded away. He was then able to perceive a lone figure sitting motionless in the room.

Losing to Hinata in the preliminaries had been a major blow to his self-confidence. He had almost managed to trick himself into believing that he could exceed or escape his destiny. But it was not to be. A Branch family member cannot defy a Main family member. That was clear to him now.

Still, this stranger concerned him. His destiny was uncertain. His purpose was uncertain.

Neji deactivated his Byakugan and turned to leave. He made one more backwards glance at the shed before disappearing into the grounds of the Hyuuga Estate.

 

Author's Notes Again: …Yeah, I dunno either…What? I don't control this story- I just write it.

No Explanation Warranted.