DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. XP
Author's notes: This idea suddenly popped out of my mind while I was trying to finish a chapter of a NejiHina fic I was planning. And what was supposed to be a one-shot extended itself into a multi-chapter fic. But I enjoyed writing this. My comeback fic after some time.
Vocabulary:
Imouto – younger sister
Sensei – teacher
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Exiled to Paradise
Chapter I: A Year After
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Hanabi's wrist was bent as her fist was poised to knock on the door; however, it remained stilled in that position. She took a deep breath and prepared to apply force to her fist, but found that she still could not. Why was she hesitating now, when she had orchestrated this ingenious ploy just to be able to get a mission that would enable her team to stop for a short while in Sunagakure.
Her free hand grasped the side of her pants. Her palms were sweaty from the combination of the village's heat and her nervousness. The emotional maelstrom her thoughts were drowning in was so uncharacteristic of her that she felt lost, just when she accomplished what she had set out for. So she gathered her guts once more and her arm contracted to follow through with knocking when—
"Hanabi-chan?"
The familiarity of the voice and the nostalgia Hanabi felt after not hearing it for a long time left her frozen to the spot that she thought she might just break down and cry. Hanabi turned her head to the side and her eyes widened as she took her sister's features in. And the brunt of a year of separation weighed down on Hanabi as her eyes trailed down to the lump on her sister's stomach. Her mouth opened, but she could not make a sound after a second so she closed it instead.
Hinata's face still couldn't shake off the shock at seeing her imouto at the suite's door. But her eyes widened before her lips stretched into a smile. "Hanabi-chan!" She approached her befuddled sister, plastic bags of grocery in each hand. By this time, Hanabi had her whole body facing Hinata, but she still hadn't brought down her hand. Hinata attempted a tight hug, but her condition and the groceries would not permit it.
"I can't believe… I'm so glad you're here! Come on in," Hinata set down the plastic bags on the ground before pulling out a key and opening the door. Hinata was about to bend down to retrieve the groceries but Hanabi snapped back to her senses and beat her to it.
"Let me," Hanabi whispered and Hinata, though surprised, just smiled and entered her home, stepping behind the door in a gesture of welcome. Hanabi awkwardly took one step inside before following through with a few more steps, entering enough to let Hinata close the door and the Hyuuga heir knowing that it was the point of no return. Hinata took off her cloak and set it on a coat hanger by the side before going to the kitchen, Hanabi following.
"Uh…" Hanabi's eyes wandered around the modest room as she followed her sister to the kitchen. "Where do I put these…?"
"Just set it down there," Hinata pointed out to the small table at the center of the kitchen. Hanabi followed as instructed and took out the contents of the plastic bag as Hinata took a tea tray and prepared snacks and tea. It did not take Hinata a while to return to Hanabi's side.
"Thank you, Hanabi-chan. I'll just put the groceries where they should be and we'll have tea, alright? We'll have it at the living room." Hinata had already started going about the kitchen and stocking the cupboards.
"I'll help. Just tell me where I should put stuff." Hinata smiled and nodded, directing Hanabi on what and where it should be placed. Afterwards, Hinata, carrying the tea tray, headed to the sofa, Hanabi following behind.
"So, how did you convince Otousan to grant you permission to come to Suna?" Hanabi knew it may have been the first question to surface in her sister's thoughts when she saw her by the door.
"I didn't. I got the Rokudaime to help me."
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata chuckled, the brim of her tea cup close to her lips. "I'll have to thank him then."
If it wasn't for the blond Hokage, Hanabi would not have been able to set her elaborate plan into motion. She dared to sneak into the Hokage's office during lunch, making sure to lose the Branch House guarding her. Though surprised (as HIashi definitely restricted all communication Hanabi could with him), Naruto let her speak and listened intently. She already had everything planned; all he had to do was assign the mission to her genin team. A C-ranked mission in some small village that would enable them to pass through Sunagakure for some rest before heading back to Konoha. Nonetheless, Naruto laughed aloud and with a thumbs up and a wink, told her to leave it to him and shooed her out. The very next day, her Jounin instructor announced that they had a mission, which Hanabi made sure to finish quickly. However, her sensei beat her to the punch of suggesting Suna as a resting stop, where their sensei announced her intention to stay a few days to visit an old teammate residing there.
"I'm sure Naruto let Tenten in on your little scheme," Hinata said after giggling.
"I'm taking the chuunin exam this year," Hanabi said after a moment of sipping tea. "I was… thinking of inviting you to come." Hanabi lifted the tea cup in an effort to conceal the pink blush barely perceptible on her cheeks.
"It's three months from now right?"
Hanabi nodded. Hinata looked apologetic, her eyebrows rising at the middle of her forehead. "I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan. I'm not sure I'll be able to travel; the baby would be due around that time."
Hanabi lowered her cup to her lap as her eyes looked down. She was hoping Hinata could come and watch her, just like the time she came during her graduation ceremony from the ninja academy.
"And I don't think Otousan would allow you to participate if he were to hear of our presence in Konoha. He'd prevent any chance of encounter you might have with us." Hinata lowered her gaze.
Hanabi knew Hinata spoke the truth, as any member of the Hyuuga clan were forbidden any sort of communication with the exiled lovers, especially Hanabi, being the heiress.
Hinata had been seventeen when she and Neji eloped, around the time Naruto was newly appointed as Hokage, the youngest in the history of Konoha, after Akatsuki perished. Hiashi had been furious when he discovered the romantic relationship between his eldest daughter and his nephew. He forbade it, and when Hinata resisted her father's demand to break her ties with Neji, he spoke all sorts of threats to the point of taking away her title as the heiress. When none could faze the two, Hiashi banished them both and decided to mark Hinata with the cursed seal, if Hanabi had not threatened to abdicate her status as successor if her older sister was branded. And everyone knew that Hanabi was the spoilt one of the two sisters; she would get her way no matter what. Thus, Hinata was spared, and Naruto, upon learning the homeless circumstance of the two, gave Neji the position as Konoha's ambassador in Sunagakure, but not before stating a marriage certificate as a prerequisite.
"So…" Hanabi coughed to dispel the hesitation blocking her curiosity, "h-h-how how…" Hanabi grimaced at her stutter, "how far along are you?"
Hinata's face brightened as she shifted giddily in her seat while setting down her tea cup. "About six months," Hinata took Hanabi's hand and placed it on her swollen belly. "Here, feel the baby—"
"Whoa!" Hanabi retracted her hand immediately as she felt a bump. Hinata looked shocked and hurt.
"What the heck?! That was so freaky!" And Hanabi instantly regretted her careless comments as she saw her older sister's furrowed eyebrows and eyes which held hurt, as if she had been insulted, which Hanabi did not intend. "Don't get me wrong! I was just… so unprepared for it."
Hanabi shyly glanced at her sister's face. "Can I… try again?" Hinata's face softened and she nodded. Hanabi gently placed her palm on her sister's belly once more. And she felt it, the motion of the unborn child within Hinata's womb.
"Wow." Hanabi said after taking back her hand. "I've never… experienced that before."
Hinata giggled. "It wasn't so bad now, was it?" Hanabi shook her head. "Okaasan used to let me feel you when she was carrying you. I would even lean my ears against Okaasan's belly to listen to you."
Hanabi blinked several times. "Really?"
Hinata giggled before nodding, sliding lower on the couch to rest in a more comfortable position. "During afternoons, I would sit next to Okaasan, my head on her belly, listening to her sing lullabies."
Hanabi averted her gaze to the floor blinking dissipate the tears that were threatening to form. In her mind, she could imagine her elder sister doing the same.
"Ah, I'll show you a picture of the baby. I had a scan a month ago when Sakura came. She gave us the image afterwards. Come," Hinata stood and walked to a door, which lead to the nursery. In a shelf containing a few children's books, she took out a baby album and showed her little sister the gray picture.
Hinata shrugged with a smile. "We decided for a surprise," she set the photo back in its place. "But if you ask me, I think we have a boy." The expectant mother whispered conspiratorially with a smirk.
Hanabi could not help but offer a smile in response, though it was small and tinted with sadness.
"The nursery's nice."
"Thank you. But we're not quite done yet. We moved here three months ago and we just got around to decorating last month—"
The sound of the door opening and closing interrupted their talk.
"Tadaima! Hinata?" a male voice called out which Hanabi could not help but purse her lips, trying to hold back a grimace of annoyance.
"I'm here!" Hinata called out. The sound of approaching footsteps and the door creaked to reveal the same set of eyes the sisters had, which shifted from Hinata to the guest and back to his wife.
"Okaerinasai, Neji!" Approaching her husband, Hinata kissed him briefly on the lips, much to Neji's dismay (he was expecting something more intimate).
"Neji." Hanabi acknowledged him with an eyebrow raised and her arms crossed.
"Hanabi," Neji took note of her cocky stance and knew she still harbored bitter feelings, "I thought you might be here. Tenten visited me earlier at the Kazekage's office and told me she came with her genin team."
Hanabi just shrugged. She hadn't quite found it in her to forgive the one who took away her beloved sister. And there was always a small part of her that blamed Neji's damnable existence for all the "unfortunate" events surrounding the Hyuuga, especially with regards to her oneesan.
"OH!" Hinata cried out, tensing the two in the room.
"What's wrong?" Neji looked truly concerned and Hanabi straightened, focusing her attention on her sister should she need any assistance.
"I forgot to make dinner!" Hinata said, eyes closed in exasperation with a hand to her forehead.
"Don't worry; I bought some on the way home." Neji reassured as he ran his hands up and down his wife's upper arms to soothe her.
"But I bought groceries," She whined.
"You went out? Didn't I tell you not to do anything strenuous? And you shouldn't go out alone."
Hinata just sighed at her husband's worry, but perked up again as she turned to Hanabi. "Stay for dinner?"
Hanabi hesitated for a moment before nodding.
As the three went to the kitchen, Hanabi was made to sit as Hinata and Neji prepared their takeout meal. The thirteen-year-old noticed how the two moved in accord as Neji took out the silverware and Hinata prepared the food, and it unsettled her, making her feel out of place, like an intruder in their home. She had half the mind to stand up and come in between to help (just to add some distance between her beloved oneesan and her irritating cousin) but her feelings of awkwardness and unfamiliarity with the place gave her the rationality not to interfere where she would not be productive at all.
"Have you eaten kebab before, Hanabi-chan?"
She shook her head.
The cuisine of Sunagakure was very different from Konoha, and Hanabi had never had anything quite exotic to eat. The last meal she had was the rations her team carried for the mission.
The dinner went peaceful from that point on to say the least. Hanabi was civil towards Neji. She was glad Hinata did all the talking; she was their only common ground and if they were to be left alone in the room, surely Hanabi would attempt something to injure her older cousin, though chances are highly unlikely. And the time came when Hanabi realized that she should get back to the inn her team was staying at.
"How long will you be in Suna?" Hinata followed her to the door.
"I'm not sure. Either we leave tomorrow or the day after."
Hinata's face scrunched up in contemplation. "I wish I could spend more time with you. Mmm…" She tapped her chin. "I could tour you around Suna tomorrow!"
"Why don't you take her to the bazaar instead?" Neji suggested. "It'll be less tiring and you could go with Tenten. She's planning on buying souvenirs for Lee and Gai-sensei."
"That's great! What do you say, Hanabi-chan?"
She was silent and from the blank look on her face, she looked as if she wasn't considering the option but rather choosing not to answer.
Neji coughed. "I won't be able to join you tomorrow, Hinata. I have some unfinished paperwork to go through with the Kazekage that I hope to get done so I won't be doing it over the weekend." For a second, his eyes flitted over to his estranged cousin.
"I see. That's too bad. You won't be able to spend some time with Tenten then. "
A nod from Neji confirmed it.
"So, are you going, Hanabi-chan?" Hinata repeated.
"I guess," her eyes roamed the place before returning to her sister. "I'll have to ask Sensei first."
"I'm sure Tenten wouldn't mind. Oh, by the way, you should take some of the leftover kebab with you. Wait here; I won't take long to pack it." And Hinata scurried off to the kitchen, leaving Neji and Hanabi by the door.
"It was very convenient of your busy schedule." Hanabi spoke as soon as she was sure that Hinata was out of earshot.
'Little brat,' Neji thought as he crossed his arms. "Hinata has missed your company and I'm sure she wants to spend as much time as she can with you." Because he knows that although Hanabi has her for the whole of tomorrow, he has the rest of their lives together and surely, he can be a bit unselfish. Because he knows he has taken someone precious to Hanabi.
Hinata returned to catch them in a moment of agreeable silence, although her sister and husband aren't looking at each other. "Here you go," She handed the bundle of food to Hanabi.
"We'll walk you to the inn you're staying at," Hinata offered but Hanabi shook her head.
"No need. Just rest, Neesan. Don't worry; I can find my way."
The worried look on Hinata's face passed as she relaxed. "Take care of yourself then. Goodnight, Hanabi-chan," She was enveloped in an embrace by her oneesan, and Hanabi could feel her sister's belly against her own.
"Goodnight, Neesan," she whispered at the crook of her sister's neck before they pulled away. "And Neji," Neji just looked at her to indicate his attention to her words.
"Take care of Neesan. If anything happens to her, I'll hunt you down and place a bounty for your eyes."
Hinata just shook her head with a sigh as Neji locked an intent gaze on her Byakugan orbs.
"I will."
Hanabi nodded. "That's good to hear." And waving at her sister, she left. Not knowing when her next visit would be, or if ever there would be another chance at all that she would be seeing their child.
She hoped it would be a girl that looked just like Neesan.
a/n: Finally! After some polishing and a bit of stretching of the storyline, I've finished this chappie. My dedication to my worshipped couple on Naruto, NejiHina! Coz I noticed that there weren't too many updates these couple of weeks, so I decided to post this one that I've had in mind. Hopefully, I'll be able to post my other planned NejiHina fics. Chapter2 is coming up!
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELCOMED BUT NOT FLAMES!