It was over, everything except for collecting the bodies of the attackers. Intellectually, Neji knew that was exactly why Hiroki said it; the wired exhilaration of having survived again did often unhinge people’s tongues.
It didn’t make the silence that spread through the courtyard any less infuriating, when Hiroki joked with another of the younger cousins, “Hey, almost too bad Neji’s so good, huh? He could have moved a little slower and been clan head for real instead of just behind the scenes.”
The weight of the silence spoke of years when that hadn’t been a joke, however tasteless and disrespectful, and the watchful memory of those years among the adults of the clan. Hinata’s mouth was a little tight, but she ordered a courier to be sent to Intelligence, notifying them of the attack and the bodies to be examined, with perfectly level grace. She was going to ignore it.
Neji… couldn’t do that. He very much doubted she’d let him give Hiroki the trouncing he deserved for that, but Neji couldn’t ignore it.
And that was why he spun on his heel and strode across the courtyard to stand eye to eye with her, his clan head, his wife, the cousin he had once tried to kill.
“Neji,” she said softly, reaching out a comforting hand to him.
He sank down to his knees before her and slowly bowed until he could spread both hands out flat against the earth. Far enough that his hair, ends still stiff with the blood of their enemies, brushed the ground at her feet. Little hisses of shock snaked around the courtyard. It was not the bow of a modern shinobi, even one of a noble clan. This was the way one claimant for the clan had surrendered to another, in the days before the seal, when cousin had fought cousin and sister had fought brother to lead the Hyuuga. It was a gesture not used for generations, and then only for the loser of a succession fight to publicly acknowledge his defeat and submission to the victor.
“Neji,” Hinata protested. “Stand up. There’s no need for something like that!”
“It seems necessary for some,” he answered quietly.
“You’re my consort, not my opponent,” she said more sharply. “You have not defied me. I won’t have you bowing to me like that.”
Neji kept his hands spread out and still under her eyes, kept his own eyes on the ground. “There was a time when I did,” he pointed out.
He could hear her inhale and imagined the flash of will in her eyes that most likely accompanied it. “Very well, then,” she said, soft but clear in the absolute silence of the courtyard. “You were given a command by your clan head. Do you intend to disobey it? Stand up.”
Neji bowed his head lower for a moment and murmured, “Yes, Hinata-sama,” before he rose to stand before her. As he’d rather expected, there was a glint in her eyes that promised trouble for whoever got in the way of her sense of right. It was one of the things he loved her for, even if he did sometimes think it made her too stubborn about realizing what the clan would and would not accept or understand. He gave her a tiny, hidden smile, a reminder; he would protect her, always and from anything, and that included disrespect within their clan. Of course. The glint eased into exasperation. “Honestly,” she breathed, just between the two of them, and touched his hand softly.
Neji regretted her irritation, but when he cast a glance around the courtyard there was no doubt to be seen, no careful neutrality. A little shock in places, especially among Hiroki and his friends who were, perhaps, young and foolish enough to be surprised that Hinata truly ruled him. But there was no doubt. He turned to take his place at Hinata’s shoulder, calm and blank-faced. The point had been made. The submission that, by all rights, she should have demanded of him years ago had been given, and witnessed by the clan.
Neji watched as the Hyuuga put their compound back to rights and smiled faintly with satisfaction.
End
Awwww~ *melts* This is lovely.
*grins* Neji is just /wildly/ overprotective, and since Hinata won’t let him wrap her up in silk all the time it tends to come out a little sideways.
Oh. Oh, hi. This is. I.
How is this so awesome, branch? The clan politics and the ritualized gestures are shiny enough all on their own, but then there’s Hinata Not Standing for that Crap and Neji’s genuine /affection/, how clearly he think’s she’s totally awesome and blood in his hair dragging in the dirt (and how much am I imagining her sitting him down and washing it out for him now? SO MUCH. Hinata would totally be a service!dom, y/y? You WILL be happy and have nice things, and you will LIKE IT. :D) Unnnnnffff. I seriously got to this line: He could hear her inhale and imagined the flash of will in her eyes that most likely accompanied it. “Very well, then,” she said, soft but clear in the absolute silence of the courtyard. “You were given a command by your clan head. Do you intend to disobey it? Stand up.” and kind of died a little inside from sheer freaking win.
I was going to wait until I’d finished my fic to read this, wasn’t I. >.>
*sparkles at you* I’d say I was sorry for distracting you, only I’m kind of not.
(Hinata would /totally/ be a service dom. And she’d wind Neji around her little finger that way, quite possibly without entirely realizing how much. He’d know, though.)
Mmmmm, prrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
*grins* They’re so tasty.
I don’t follow Naruto (and have no intention to start, because holy crap it’s long), so I have no idea who these characters are, but I’ve been enjoying all your Naruto fic immensely, this one in particular, because ritual gestures and that sort of deep, deep loyalty makes me want to purr and purr and purr ♥
*sparkles* Thank you! I’m having huge amounts of fun inventing traditions for the noble clans that canon leaves hanging around for us.
To start off on a slight tangent: I once wrote a story where Neji and Hinata got married in the background, and had someone comment that it was out-of-character because A) Hinata only ever belongs with Naruto (which is a set of issues I don’t want to get into here; I would be ranting all night), and B) Neji hates Hinata… thus proving that the reviewer had missed the entire point of Neji’s character arc during the Chuunin Exam and beyond. Which is frustrating, because I love that arc to bits.
This, though. This is lovely. 🙂 Love and loyalty and respect and clan, and the way Hinata is so strong, and the way Neji wants everyone to see her for what she is.
*pained* Honestly, how could you possibly /miss/ that Neji once loved Hinata to pieces and that’s half of why he’s being such an unspeakable asshole during the exam, because he feels betrayed by his own heart? Argh.
But yes, thank you! Most of “Cloud Hands” is getting Hinata herself to this point, and then Neji just kind of goes head over heels again, and it’s awfully cute.
Such an interesting take on clan politics and Neji and Hinata’s relationship! It feels very fitting that he would support Hinata’s position with just as much fervency as he showed when he hated her as a child.
(In your notes you mentioned it was “Set after “Cloud Hands”,” but I didn’t see that listed in your works. Is this another story about the Hyuga perhaps? I’m quite curious!)
That’s exactly how I see Neji, yes! He’s very passionate about whatever path he chooses to take.
(It isn’t posted yet, but yes; it’s a companion story to Half Without Another One, tracing Hinata’s life during those years. It’s for the ladiesbigbang fest, so it won’t be posted until the start of October, but it’s almost finished now, and full of Hinata being awesome. Plus a good deal of speculation on Hyuuga history and politics.)
This made me smile. Thank you! The summary mentions a story called “Cloud Hands,” but I’m not finding it in the archives. Would you please tell me where I may find a copy? Assuming it’s not from either the show or the manga, which it may be as it’s been years since I’ve read or watched them.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! “Cloud Hands” won’t actually be posted until next Friday; I wrote it for a Ladies Big Bang fest, and have been filling in around in for rather a while while I wait for my posting slot to come up.
Love it. Politics and romance and clan issues meet.
*grins* This arc has give me so much chance to play with the politics and it’s been /huge/ fun.
I have read this series many times, and I still love it. I hope whatever you’re doing now a days is as good as this 🙂
Thank you, that’s lovely to hear! People still seem to be liking the fix-its, at any rate. ^_^b