Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mokushita Hyuuga ❯ Chapter 10
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Moghedian 
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.02.2006 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 761 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.02.2006 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 761 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 10
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Hinata was on her way to her job at the barbeque restaurant. She had found out two weeks into the job that Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and their respective families regularily attended it.
She enjoyed the job, big tips, lots of gossip. Her manager found her enjoyable and gave her a few raises. For the last 2 and half years, Hinata lived in relative comfort.
She visited Neji every week or so, but when Tenten invited her to dinner once, she nearly had a breakdown. She didn't know why, but she knew Kouden noticed. He didn't have to say anything.
Hinata watched Kouden and Sasami spar occasionaly, she thought she might have been seen once, but she couldnt be sure. Hinata pondered all of this, as she was walking down the street to her job, one sunny afternoon in November, when she walked into a squishy wall. Or what seemed a wall.
Looking up, as she had fallen on the ground, she saw a blonde boy who was holding his head.
"Kouden-kun?" Hinata said. She figured that 'chan' was too little for him now. He was nearly up to her mouth. Kouden looked up and gaped.
"Ahh! Kasumi-san! Gomen ne! I wasn't watching where I was going, I was in a hurry to tell Ka-chan that I passed my genin exam! Oh yea, Kasumi-san, I passed my test! See?" Kouden said, pointing at his forehead.
Hinata reached over and poked it.
"I see, I see, that's so cool. Here, want me to walk you to Tenten-san's store? It's...almost on the way to my work." Kouden thought for a second, but agreed and pulled Kasumi to Tenten's store by the hand.
Opening the door, a few shuriken that were tied to a string at the doortop jingled. Tenten came out from the back, and her face visably lifted when she saw her step-son.
"You're a genin! Oh my! That's wonderful news!" She said, before Kouden could say anything.
"When I get home from work, we can celebrate, so make sure you are there." Tenten said, and kissed Kouden's hiteate.
"Hai, Ka-chan! I just came to tell you I passed, I should probably go home and tell Aiko-chan."
Kouden waved and left the store. Tenten looked up at Kasumi.
"He's grown since he came here, hasn't he?" She said, watching his receeding figure.
"He has. I'm sure you're proud of him." Tenten smiled and nodded.
"Ah, I have to get going. I'll see you later this week, maybe for tea?" Tenten nodded and waved as Hinata left the shop.
Walking down the road, she passed a small tea shop, and was reminded of the real Kasumi. The last she saw of them was year ago. Yamato told her they found what they were looking for, and left Konoha. Hinata wasn't quite sure what, but she had promised not to medle in their affairs, however weird they were, if they promised not to ask why she kept a henge up all the time.
Actually, she started suffering from constant chakra exhaustion after a few weeks of using henge, and started to buy black hair dye, and green contacts. It wasn't quite as good as henge, but it was less tiring, and no one seemed to notice any different.
"Ah, kuso." Hinata said, as she walked into the restaurant and waved at regulars who recognized her. "I forgot to ask what team Kouden made." She made a face and went behind the counter. Putting on a white apron, Hinata nudged her friend, Hitomi, who said,
"Yo, you're orders are over there." She pointed to a small stack of papers. "The top three are done and ready to be served." Hinata nodded and did so.
A big plate of some kind of meat that smelled really good, and two smaller plates of pasta were to go to table 8. With over two years of expeiriance, Hinata picked up all three plates with ease and made her way to the table.
"Good evening, Ino-san, Asuma-san, Choji-san. Here are your orders." She said, bowing her head.
"Ahh, arigato, Kasumi-san." Ino said, rubbing her hands together. Choji said something, but his mouth was already full, and Asuma just grunted.
As she walked away, she caught part of their conversation.
"So, as I was saying, I saw the new team 7 today. Kakashi looked about to murder. He had that dark kid that broods alot, the blonde kid that everyone says looks like Naruto-kun, and that pink haired girl that's related to Sakura. Imagine that! He's got team 7 lookalikes! I laughed at them today, on the way to drop Inoshi-chan off at Sai's work. Man..." Hinata had paused when she heard Kakashi's name, but continued on to the next table as soon as they got off topic.
She smiled. Team 7 again. She'd have to see this.
The rest of her night went along without a hitch. She didn't get any other good gossip, but the partial team 10 group left her a big tip, as usual. Ino hugged her before they left, which was usual as well.
Walking home, her pockets jingled with a few loose ryo from her tips.
Walking by the Hyuuga Manor, as she did sometimes, she daydreamed about being 'alive'. It was hard to watch your friends grow up around you. She often walked by here, it took an extra ten minutes to get back to her apartment, but the veiw was nicer.
"Kasumi-san, may I ask a question?" a voice from the manor said.
"Hnn?" Kasumi said, looking for the voice. A dark blue head stuck out from the entrance and Hanabi walked over to her, and past her to the bench in front of the manor. Patting the seat, she invited Hinata to sit.
"Ok, ask." Hinata said. She missed Hanabi too. Even though Hanabi had just started to warm up to her before she left Konoha. Hanabi paused though, as if she was picking the right words.
"Can...can I ask you why you look so much like her?" Hinata blinked.
"...what?" She said, sounding a little blunt.
"Aneue. You look like her, did you know that? You have the same nose as her, the same chin...just, just a few years older, that's all." Hanabi said, slowly moving her head so she could see Hinata's profile better.
"I..I dont know. I suppose there is that theory that everyone has a twin that they aren't related to. Maybe your Aneue-san was my twin? I mean, I hear every where that there is a boy that looks like the village hero." Hanabi smiled and sat back up straight.
"No, that boy was born after after said hero died. He would be a reincarnation." Hinata sighed and agreed. Hanabi studied her for a bit longer.
"Do you want to come in for tea? I daresay that I see you pass by a few times a week. Do you visit the cenograph that often?" Hinata smirked, but not at Hanabi.
"Yea, every morning I visit him. But I only walk by here to and from work. It's prettier." Hanabi nodded.
"So. Did you want to come in? I've got all sorts of tea." Hinata hesitated, but agreed.
Hanabi smiled warmly and stood up. Hinata followed her into the receiving room, and took a seat at the small table that was placed in the middle of the room.
"What kind of tea would you like, Kasumi-san?" Hanabi said.
"What kinds do you have?" Hinata said, as Hanabi rifled through the drawer that held tea.
"Uhn, oops. It seems we only have mint and orange. I rather dislike orange, do you mind if we have mint?" Hinata smiled.
"Mint is my favorite, Hanabi-sama." The younger girl smiled and started to make tea. When the pot whistled, she poured Hinata a cup, and Hinata poured Hanabi a cup.
A few minutes of sipping tea, and not talking followed as Hinata drank in the sights of how her old home had changed.
"It's very beautiful here." Hinata said, looking at the various photos and paintings. Hanabi nodded and continued to drink her tea.
"What was she like?" Hinata said, and Hanabi paused.
"Aneue?" Hinata nodded, still looking at a photo. Hanabi followed her gaze to the family photo that had been taken just before Hinata's mother died. It was the only photo that had her whole family in it.
Hinata smiled and Hanabi sighed.
"I hated her." Hinata's head whipped around to face her younger sister.
"I know, horrible right? But I didn't even realize that it wasn't hate, it was jealousy. I didn't even realize how much I loved her, but I know how much I miss her. She died when I was 12." Hanabi paused, staring at Hinata with white eyes.
"I was five years younger than her, and always won our spars. I thought she was weak, and was insanely jealous that she was the clan heir and not me. I thought that maybe if I made her life hell, it would compensate for my lack of authority.
I taunted her relentlessly, made sneer and snide remarks, stole our father's love, and did everything I could to lower her confidence and make her give up being clan heir.
Hinata stareed at Hanabi's face. Hanabi held a look of disgust, but Hinata wasn't sure who it was directed at.
"It was so long ago...When she was 12 herself, she took her first chuunin exam. Where as she lost in the prelim fight against our elder cousin, her words shook him up so bad that another boy, one that she so happened to like, beat the crap out of him. Not that this was an easy feat either. Neji-ni-san was the number one genin of that time, and Naruto-san, the boy, was the 'dead last' as people liked to call him. I watched the fight myself and was amazed. I suppose that words can hurt more than sticks and stones."
Hinata remember the first part herself. But she passed out due to injuries from her fight with Neji.
"Naruto-san, and coincidally our future village hero, then left on an apprenticeship with a legendary sannin for almost three years. Aneue trained everyday in an attempt to get Naruto-san to notice her when she came back. Even I noticed the effect. She started to stutter less and less, she started to stick up for herself, and once she finally beat me in a spar, I can't recall ever winning one again." Hanabi paused to sip her tea, and Hinata snapping out of memories, did the same.
"What happened next? After Naruto-san came back?" Hanabi laughed.
"Well I don't know the explicit details, but after a few months, He and Aneue and a few other shinobi were sent on a mission. Naruto-san had recently been raised chuunin by the hokage, instead of the normal test.
Their mission was to once and for all bring back Uchiha Sasuke. Aneue told me that after she and one of the other nin there killed Orochimaru's right hand man, she herself had fought with Sasuke-san, but in a short while, he ended up knocking her out.
When she woke up, she told me that Naruto-san had slung her over his shoulder, along side the unconcious Uchiha, who in turn had all four limbs broken." Hanabi paused to sip her tea, and even though Hinata knew the events, he had never heard it told back to her. She twitched from anxiety as Hanabi stopped talking.
"Aneue told me that she dreamt of him sometimes, which usually led to her talking in her sleep. She said that her genin team informed her of this once. But back to the point, she told me that she picked that time, slung over Naruto-san's shoulder, to mumble her true feelings for him. Which eventually led to them dating." Hanabi smiled, she always enjoyed having Hinata retell that part. She was a sucker for romance stories.
"Of course, as my sister was the heir to the entire Hyuuga clan, her dating this boy was unthinkable. For some reason that nearly everyone noticed, but never mentioned, all of the older generation, my father included, hated this boy. Shot him spiteful looks, called him names, threw rocks...I even heard that he was banned from stores. Apparently, I also hear that this young Naruto-san look-alike as been subject to some hate, if in a minor form." Hinata narrowed her eyes. She had noticed too. She had also threatened those people that she found.
"But their happiness ended shortly after a little more than a year together. I had heard rumours of marriage, and such, and I secretly hoped that Aneue would make me, what the westerner's call the 'flower girl'." Hanabi smiled softly.
"I was awoken one day by a shout from my Aneue's room, and made my way to her door. Peeking in, I said to her, 'please, i'm trying to sleep.' quite rudely, if I remember right. Aneue apologized with a large smile. I remember rolling my eyes, and trudging back to my bed." Hanabi paused, her white eyes were shining.
"The next time I was awoken, it was again by shouts, but this time of ANBU and other Hyuuga members. 'That damn demon is dead! Finally, the village and our princesses are safe!' I didn't know what they meant at the time, but I had found out the next day, that Naruto-san had been murdered, and Aneue was the one who did it. I remember the news made me sit down. I wanted to throw up. How could she have done that? I was supposed to be at her wedding! Later that day, I saw Neji-ni-san come back from a mission in his ANBU uniform. He was covered in blood, and tried to avoid my eyes. I overheard what he said to Otou-sama. He said that Aneue was dead. That he had buried her as well. I dont remember much more, I think I might have fainted."
Hanabi was now silently tearing. One or two falling down her cheeks.
"I got my position as heir the next day, and soon after leader of the clan, as my father had been removed personally by the Hokage-sama. At the price of my own flesh and blood, I got my wish. I got it."
Now near sobbing, Hinata wanted to reach out and comfort her younger sibling. She hated it when Hanabi cried. She started to reach her hand out to Hanabi, when a deep voice broke the moment.
"What's this about my dear Hinata?"
"Is that the target?" A man in a black cloak asked, pointing to his left. His red headed partner leaned in closer, frowning with concentration as she looked over the crowds from the rooftop they sat upon. She then saw the tell tale yellow flash, that was followed by a pink one.
"That's the target." She paused, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. "When is Leader going to put the plan into definite motion?" She asked. Her partner gazed upon her with the tan eyes she adored.
"Apparently, Leader is still only halfway through making this jutsu. Leader told us at the last meeting that it has to be tested, fixed, tested, and fixed again. Tedious work, which you would have known, had you not been spacing out." The red head gave a nervous laugh, and leaned over to give a snuggle.
"I don't have to listen if I have you to give me a recap, do I?" The tan haired man rolled his eyes, and turned to the direction of the two youngsters. The red head turned as well, and brought a finger to her mouth.
"Nn. He looks familiar, doesn't he?" She said, pointing at the blonde, as he tugged the pink haired girl towards a ramen shop called Ichiraku Ramen.
The tan haired man tightened his lips, and said,
"Maybe, but not really." His partner scrunched her nose up and sat down, raking her brain for the answer as to where she had seen him, or a likeness.
Opening the white door to his small house, Shikamaru hung his ANBU mask on the wall, and took off his sand coloured vest.
"Welcome home." Temari said, fixing their nearly three year old daughter's dark hair, so it resembled Temari's style. When she finished, the little girl ran through another door to her room to play with the dolls that her uncle had so generously bought.
"What did my brother want?" Temari said, putting her hands on her hips, as she watched her daughter run away.
"The Kazekage wanted nothing more to inform me that the last Akatsuki member is dead, and that he has another present for Shikazai." Shikamaru said, pulling out a small yellow package. Temari smiled and sighed.
Gaara liked to spoil his only neice any time he could. Shikamaru figured that he was trying to make up for the six years of abuse against his older siblings. Temari forgave him immediatly, but Gaara never thought that was enough.
Looking around his sandstone dwelling, he nearly laughed. He hadn't convinced his long-time girlfriend to move to Konoha after their daughter had been born, but neither had she convinced him to join Suna.
They comprimised, 6 months in Konoha, 6 months in Suna.
Gone were Shikamaru's dreams of marrying an average girl, having an average job with an average pay. Instead he married the Kazekage's sister, was a special jounin in two countries, and got double wages as proof. He did have a girl first. Much to his liking. Now he just needed a son. The thought almost made him roll his eyes.
"Your brother dearest, needs to stop spoiling her so much, ne? Tell Kankuro that he needs a girlfriend so Gaara can spoil his kids. Better yet, tell Gaara he needs a girlfriend so that he can spoil his kids, and he will see how rotten they will be." Temari rolled her green eyes. Shikamaru then slipped his hand around Temari's waist and said,
"You know, if she had a brother, she wouldn't grow up to be rotten, would she?" and with a raising of his brow, and a slight squeeze to Temari's side, she blushed and squeaked and Shikamaru kissed her.
(Much to Shikazai's dismay as she walked in on her parent's making out on the table)
End Chapter 10
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Hinata was on her way to her job at the barbeque restaurant. She had found out two weeks into the job that Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and their respective families regularily attended it.
She enjoyed the job, big tips, lots of gossip. Her manager found her enjoyable and gave her a few raises. For the last 2 and half years, Hinata lived in relative comfort.
She visited Neji every week or so, but when Tenten invited her to dinner once, she nearly had a breakdown. She didn't know why, but she knew Kouden noticed. He didn't have to say anything.
Hinata watched Kouden and Sasami spar occasionaly, she thought she might have been seen once, but she couldnt be sure. Hinata pondered all of this, as she was walking down the street to her job, one sunny afternoon in November, when she walked into a squishy wall. Or what seemed a wall.
Looking up, as she had fallen on the ground, she saw a blonde boy who was holding his head.
"Kouden-kun?" Hinata said. She figured that 'chan' was too little for him now. He was nearly up to her mouth. Kouden looked up and gaped.
"Ahh! Kasumi-san! Gomen ne! I wasn't watching where I was going, I was in a hurry to tell Ka-chan that I passed my genin exam! Oh yea, Kasumi-san, I passed my test! See?" Kouden said, pointing at his forehead.
Hinata reached over and poked it.
"I see, I see, that's so cool. Here, want me to walk you to Tenten-san's store? It's...almost on the way to my work." Kouden thought for a second, but agreed and pulled Kasumi to Tenten's store by the hand.
Opening the door, a few shuriken that were tied to a string at the doortop jingled. Tenten came out from the back, and her face visably lifted when she saw her step-son.
"You're a genin! Oh my! That's wonderful news!" She said, before Kouden could say anything.
"When I get home from work, we can celebrate, so make sure you are there." Tenten said, and kissed Kouden's hiteate.
"Hai, Ka-chan! I just came to tell you I passed, I should probably go home and tell Aiko-chan."
Kouden waved and left the store. Tenten looked up at Kasumi.
"He's grown since he came here, hasn't he?" She said, watching his receeding figure.
"He has. I'm sure you're proud of him." Tenten smiled and nodded.
"Ah, I have to get going. I'll see you later this week, maybe for tea?" Tenten nodded and waved as Hinata left the shop.
Walking down the road, she passed a small tea shop, and was reminded of the real Kasumi. The last she saw of them was year ago. Yamato told her they found what they were looking for, and left Konoha. Hinata wasn't quite sure what, but she had promised not to medle in their affairs, however weird they were, if they promised not to ask why she kept a henge up all the time.
Actually, she started suffering from constant chakra exhaustion after a few weeks of using henge, and started to buy black hair dye, and green contacts. It wasn't quite as good as henge, but it was less tiring, and no one seemed to notice any different.
"Ah, kuso." Hinata said, as she walked into the restaurant and waved at regulars who recognized her. "I forgot to ask what team Kouden made." She made a face and went behind the counter. Putting on a white apron, Hinata nudged her friend, Hitomi, who said,
"Yo, you're orders are over there." She pointed to a small stack of papers. "The top three are done and ready to be served." Hinata nodded and did so.
A big plate of some kind of meat that smelled really good, and two smaller plates of pasta were to go to table 8. With over two years of expeiriance, Hinata picked up all three plates with ease and made her way to the table.
"Good evening, Ino-san, Asuma-san, Choji-san. Here are your orders." She said, bowing her head.
"Ahh, arigato, Kasumi-san." Ino said, rubbing her hands together. Choji said something, but his mouth was already full, and Asuma just grunted.
As she walked away, she caught part of their conversation.
"So, as I was saying, I saw the new team 7 today. Kakashi looked about to murder. He had that dark kid that broods alot, the blonde kid that everyone says looks like Naruto-kun, and that pink haired girl that's related to Sakura. Imagine that! He's got team 7 lookalikes! I laughed at them today, on the way to drop Inoshi-chan off at Sai's work. Man..." Hinata had paused when she heard Kakashi's name, but continued on to the next table as soon as they got off topic.
She smiled. Team 7 again. She'd have to see this.
The rest of her night went along without a hitch. She didn't get any other good gossip, but the partial team 10 group left her a big tip, as usual. Ino hugged her before they left, which was usual as well.
Walking home, her pockets jingled with a few loose ryo from her tips.
Walking by the Hyuuga Manor, as she did sometimes, she daydreamed about being 'alive'. It was hard to watch your friends grow up around you. She often walked by here, it took an extra ten minutes to get back to her apartment, but the veiw was nicer.
"Kasumi-san, may I ask a question?" a voice from the manor said.
"Hnn?" Kasumi said, looking for the voice. A dark blue head stuck out from the entrance and Hanabi walked over to her, and past her to the bench in front of the manor. Patting the seat, she invited Hinata to sit.
"Ok, ask." Hinata said. She missed Hanabi too. Even though Hanabi had just started to warm up to her before she left Konoha. Hanabi paused though, as if she was picking the right words.
"Can...can I ask you why you look so much like her?" Hinata blinked.
"...what?" She said, sounding a little blunt.
"Aneue. You look like her, did you know that? You have the same nose as her, the same chin...just, just a few years older, that's all." Hanabi said, slowly moving her head so she could see Hinata's profile better.
"I..I dont know. I suppose there is that theory that everyone has a twin that they aren't related to. Maybe your Aneue-san was my twin? I mean, I hear every where that there is a boy that looks like the village hero." Hanabi smiled and sat back up straight.
"No, that boy was born after after said hero died. He would be a reincarnation." Hinata sighed and agreed. Hanabi studied her for a bit longer.
"Do you want to come in for tea? I daresay that I see you pass by a few times a week. Do you visit the cenograph that often?" Hinata smirked, but not at Hanabi.
"Yea, every morning I visit him. But I only walk by here to and from work. It's prettier." Hanabi nodded.
"So. Did you want to come in? I've got all sorts of tea." Hinata hesitated, but agreed.
Hanabi smiled warmly and stood up. Hinata followed her into the receiving room, and took a seat at the small table that was placed in the middle of the room.
"What kind of tea would you like, Kasumi-san?" Hanabi said.
"What kinds do you have?" Hinata said, as Hanabi rifled through the drawer that held tea.
"Uhn, oops. It seems we only have mint and orange. I rather dislike orange, do you mind if we have mint?" Hinata smiled.
"Mint is my favorite, Hanabi-sama." The younger girl smiled and started to make tea. When the pot whistled, she poured Hinata a cup, and Hinata poured Hanabi a cup.
A few minutes of sipping tea, and not talking followed as Hinata drank in the sights of how her old home had changed.
"It's very beautiful here." Hinata said, looking at the various photos and paintings. Hanabi nodded and continued to drink her tea.
"What was she like?" Hinata said, and Hanabi paused.
"Aneue?" Hinata nodded, still looking at a photo. Hanabi followed her gaze to the family photo that had been taken just before Hinata's mother died. It was the only photo that had her whole family in it.
Hinata smiled and Hanabi sighed.
"I hated her." Hinata's head whipped around to face her younger sister.
"I know, horrible right? But I didn't even realize that it wasn't hate, it was jealousy. I didn't even realize how much I loved her, but I know how much I miss her. She died when I was 12." Hanabi paused, staring at Hinata with white eyes.
"I was five years younger than her, and always won our spars. I thought she was weak, and was insanely jealous that she was the clan heir and not me. I thought that maybe if I made her life hell, it would compensate for my lack of authority.
I taunted her relentlessly, made sneer and snide remarks, stole our father's love, and did everything I could to lower her confidence and make her give up being clan heir.
Hinata stareed at Hanabi's face. Hanabi held a look of disgust, but Hinata wasn't sure who it was directed at.
"It was so long ago...When she was 12 herself, she took her first chuunin exam. Where as she lost in the prelim fight against our elder cousin, her words shook him up so bad that another boy, one that she so happened to like, beat the crap out of him. Not that this was an easy feat either. Neji-ni-san was the number one genin of that time, and Naruto-san, the boy, was the 'dead last' as people liked to call him. I watched the fight myself and was amazed. I suppose that words can hurt more than sticks and stones."
Hinata remember the first part herself. But she passed out due to injuries from her fight with Neji.
"Naruto-san, and coincidally our future village hero, then left on an apprenticeship with a legendary sannin for almost three years. Aneue trained everyday in an attempt to get Naruto-san to notice her when she came back. Even I noticed the effect. She started to stutter less and less, she started to stick up for herself, and once she finally beat me in a spar, I can't recall ever winning one again." Hanabi paused to sip her tea, and Hinata snapping out of memories, did the same.
"What happened next? After Naruto-san came back?" Hanabi laughed.
"Well I don't know the explicit details, but after a few months, He and Aneue and a few other shinobi were sent on a mission. Naruto-san had recently been raised chuunin by the hokage, instead of the normal test.
Their mission was to once and for all bring back Uchiha Sasuke. Aneue told me that after she and one of the other nin there killed Orochimaru's right hand man, she herself had fought with Sasuke-san, but in a short while, he ended up knocking her out.
When she woke up, she told me that Naruto-san had slung her over his shoulder, along side the unconcious Uchiha, who in turn had all four limbs broken." Hanabi paused to sip her tea, and even though Hinata knew the events, he had never heard it told back to her. She twitched from anxiety as Hanabi stopped talking.
"Aneue told me that she dreamt of him sometimes, which usually led to her talking in her sleep. She said that her genin team informed her of this once. But back to the point, she told me that she picked that time, slung over Naruto-san's shoulder, to mumble her true feelings for him. Which eventually led to them dating." Hanabi smiled, she always enjoyed having Hinata retell that part. She was a sucker for romance stories.
"Of course, as my sister was the heir to the entire Hyuuga clan, her dating this boy was unthinkable. For some reason that nearly everyone noticed, but never mentioned, all of the older generation, my father included, hated this boy. Shot him spiteful looks, called him names, threw rocks...I even heard that he was banned from stores. Apparently, I also hear that this young Naruto-san look-alike as been subject to some hate, if in a minor form." Hinata narrowed her eyes. She had noticed too. She had also threatened those people that she found.
"But their happiness ended shortly after a little more than a year together. I had heard rumours of marriage, and such, and I secretly hoped that Aneue would make me, what the westerner's call the 'flower girl'." Hanabi smiled softly.
"I was awoken one day by a shout from my Aneue's room, and made my way to her door. Peeking in, I said to her, 'please, i'm trying to sleep.' quite rudely, if I remember right. Aneue apologized with a large smile. I remember rolling my eyes, and trudging back to my bed." Hanabi paused, her white eyes were shining.
"The next time I was awoken, it was again by shouts, but this time of ANBU and other Hyuuga members. 'That damn demon is dead! Finally, the village and our princesses are safe!' I didn't know what they meant at the time, but I had found out the next day, that Naruto-san had been murdered, and Aneue was the one who did it. I remember the news made me sit down. I wanted to throw up. How could she have done that? I was supposed to be at her wedding! Later that day, I saw Neji-ni-san come back from a mission in his ANBU uniform. He was covered in blood, and tried to avoid my eyes. I overheard what he said to Otou-sama. He said that Aneue was dead. That he had buried her as well. I dont remember much more, I think I might have fainted."
Hanabi was now silently tearing. One or two falling down her cheeks.
"I got my position as heir the next day, and soon after leader of the clan, as my father had been removed personally by the Hokage-sama. At the price of my own flesh and blood, I got my wish. I got it."
Now near sobbing, Hinata wanted to reach out and comfort her younger sibling. She hated it when Hanabi cried. She started to reach her hand out to Hanabi, when a deep voice broke the moment.
"What's this about my dear Hinata?"
"Is that the target?" A man in a black cloak asked, pointing to his left. His red headed partner leaned in closer, frowning with concentration as she looked over the crowds from the rooftop they sat upon. She then saw the tell tale yellow flash, that was followed by a pink one.
"That's the target." She paused, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. "When is Leader going to put the plan into definite motion?" She asked. Her partner gazed upon her with the tan eyes she adored.
"Apparently, Leader is still only halfway through making this jutsu. Leader told us at the last meeting that it has to be tested, fixed, tested, and fixed again. Tedious work, which you would have known, had you not been spacing out." The red head gave a nervous laugh, and leaned over to give a snuggle.
"I don't have to listen if I have you to give me a recap, do I?" The tan haired man rolled his eyes, and turned to the direction of the two youngsters. The red head turned as well, and brought a finger to her mouth.
"Nn. He looks familiar, doesn't he?" She said, pointing at the blonde, as he tugged the pink haired girl towards a ramen shop called Ichiraku Ramen.
The tan haired man tightened his lips, and said,
"Maybe, but not really." His partner scrunched her nose up and sat down, raking her brain for the answer as to where she had seen him, or a likeness.
Opening the white door to his small house, Shikamaru hung his ANBU mask on the wall, and took off his sand coloured vest.
"Welcome home." Temari said, fixing their nearly three year old daughter's dark hair, so it resembled Temari's style. When she finished, the little girl ran through another door to her room to play with the dolls that her uncle had so generously bought.
"What did my brother want?" Temari said, putting her hands on her hips, as she watched her daughter run away.
"The Kazekage wanted nothing more to inform me that the last Akatsuki member is dead, and that he has another present for Shikazai." Shikamaru said, pulling out a small yellow package. Temari smiled and sighed.
Gaara liked to spoil his only neice any time he could. Shikamaru figured that he was trying to make up for the six years of abuse against his older siblings. Temari forgave him immediatly, but Gaara never thought that was enough.
Looking around his sandstone dwelling, he nearly laughed. He hadn't convinced his long-time girlfriend to move to Konoha after their daughter had been born, but neither had she convinced him to join Suna.
They comprimised, 6 months in Konoha, 6 months in Suna.
Gone were Shikamaru's dreams of marrying an average girl, having an average job with an average pay. Instead he married the Kazekage's sister, was a special jounin in two countries, and got double wages as proof. He did have a girl first. Much to his liking. Now he just needed a son. The thought almost made him roll his eyes.
"Your brother dearest, needs to stop spoiling her so much, ne? Tell Kankuro that he needs a girlfriend so Gaara can spoil his kids. Better yet, tell Gaara he needs a girlfriend so that he can spoil his kids, and he will see how rotten they will be." Temari rolled her green eyes. Shikamaru then slipped his hand around Temari's waist and said,
"You know, if she had a brother, she wouldn't grow up to be rotten, would she?" and with a raising of his brow, and a slight squeeze to Temari's side, she blushed and squeaked and Shikamaru kissed her.
(Much to Shikazai's dismay as she walked in on her parent's making out on the table)
End Chapter 10