Bag of Depravity
patreon
Fifty Shades of Gennin: Chapter 19
🕑 Added 2025-02-06 20:13:57 +0000 UTCChapter 19
Judgement
It was the largest room in the compound, and the darkest to boot. The ceiling was high, lost amid shadows high above. Hinata stood directly in the center. She was illuminated by a skylight, leaving her in the only bright spot in the entire room. Just ahead of her, Hiashi Hyuuga sat on an unadorned throne.
Hanabi sat just to his right in a miniature version of the same chair. To either side of them stood two of the Hyuuga’s best Jonin’s. Among these four, of course, was Neji Hyuuga. Hinata’s cousin stood the closest to Hiashi himself. In the dim lighting, Hinata could only just make out his impassive lavender eyes.
Beyond these people, the room kept going, getting darker as it went, like one massive shadow.
Hinata took a deep breath. The air was stale but contained no dust. That seemed appropriate for this clan. She held the back of her right hand with the left one, keeping her hands pooled just below her waist, and waited.
“Hinata Hyuuga,” said a voice, and it was not her father’s. “You are here for us to make a decision.”
It came from the shadows beyond where her father sat. The voice was authoritative without yelling, but lacked something else Hinata couldn’t put her finger on. Was it too nasally? Did they stutter slightly? She didn’t think so, but there was definitely something lacking.
“You were to do your duty,” said another voice from the dark, nearly identical to the first. “You were to act as you were called upon to do. Instead, you have disobeyed.”
“A lack of nerves?” said a third similar voice. “A lack of competence? Or perhaps… lacking character?”
“We will know soon,” said a fourth voice. “Hinata Hyuuga. You are here to be judged.”
Eight pairs of purple eyes appeared in the dark.
Their glow pierced the darkness, leaving them the only part of the body that Hinata could see. It was as if disembodied Byakugans were judging her— impartial; all-seeing. This was by design. It did not fool Hinata.
Hiashi Hyuuga had activated his own eyes, while to the side of him, Hanabi did the same. Only the guards standing beside the clan leader and heiress kept their eyes the same. They didn’t matter. They were simple branch members, like her, even if their skills separated them slightly. They were only here for show.
“You were given a simple task,” said a voice from the dark, which Hinata could now pinpoint as belonging to one of the eight men and women sitting with their byakugans activated. “You were to marry as you were told.”
Hinata tilted her head.
“We paired you with the Hokage’s son,” said another. “Every arrangement was made. Yet now you appear, saying you won’t do it.”
“Are you frightened? Are you a fool? Are you, perhaps, both?” asked another voice from the dark, this one distinctly female.
“You merely had to go along with it,” one said. “Why are you being difficult?”
Hinata waited a full twenty seconds before answering, to be sure that it was an invitation and not a rhetorical statement. In an atmosphere like this, a single slip of the tongue could cause someone to activate the seal she didn’t have. She was slightly surprised they hadn’t done so already. The fact that they hadn’t meant they wanted something from her.
“Naruto is not going to marry me,” Hinata said. “It won’t happen no matter what I say or do.”
“What is this girl saying?” snapped a female voice.
“Explain,” said Hiashi.
“Minato Namikaze is not the kind of man to care about alliances and politics any more than has to,” Hinata said calmly. “He values them, but he values his family more. His son’s future is not something he would use as a bargaining chip. His wife said this: ‘He won’t let anything happen to their son that Naruto doesn’t want.’ That includes me. Naruto does not want me.”
“Then make him want you,” said one of the voices. “Do we have to explain everything? Tempt him with your body, if you must.”
Hinata only barely kept from laughing.
Did they think Naruto was as sexually sheltered as a Hyuuga? It was like they believed she would be his first, and he’d go smitten the moment she spread her legs. Although…
Hinata glanced briefly at Hanabi. Maybe, from a Hyuuga point of view, that actually made some sense. But they couldn’t fathom how different Naruto was.
“Then I would become a notch on his bedpost,” Hinata said, “but I would not have his heart, and nothing would change.”
“It was an example,” said one of the voices from the dark. “The point is to take initiative. When faced with a problem, solve it for the sake of the clan. Instead, you have crawled back pleading to run away.”
There was no pleading in what she had said. She’d been quite direct about calling off the marriage. But that was just indicative of this clan, wasn’t it— if Hinata declared something with all her heart, someone else would get back to her about whether it was acceptable.
Hinata bowed her head. “All the same, I do not wish to chase what I cannot catch. I am backing out of the marriage arrangement.”
“You would dare—!”
Hiashi Hyuuga held up his hand.
“Elders,” he said softly, and the Hyuuga in the shadows immediately stopped speaking.
Hiashi turned his attention forward. “So you stand by your decision, Hinata?”
“I do.”
“In that case, we must pay attention to what we are losing because of your actions. This marriage arrangement was created to tie our clan to the Hokage. Favors from the village’s most powerful man would be invaluable, catapulting us forward. We would surpass the Uchiha once more. But you would deny us this.”
Hinata remained silent. She didn’t repeat that the marriage would not survive even without her actions. It was clear her words had not been believed, so speaking them again would do no good.
“You will be allowed to leave your engagement,” Hiashi said. “But only if you can prove that you are a greater asset to the clan than a connection with the Hokage. You must best Neji Hyuuga in a duel.”
“Is that not excessive?” Hanabi asked. “Father—”
“Clan Head.”
Hanabi flinched. “Of course. I just mean, Clan Head, that surely Hinata need not fight him. I would be willing to test her, if you would allow it, so please—”
“Impossible,” Hiashi said. “You are insufficient, Heiress.”
Hanabi was holding onto the armrests of her chair for dear life. She dipped her head very slightly, in an almost imperceptible nod. Her jaw was set tight enough to grind her teeth.
“Does anyone else object?” Hiashi asked. He looked to the side. “How about you, Neji?”
“Your wish is my fate,” Neji said dully. “Who am I, to stand in its way?”
He would not look directly at Hinata, but he did not need to in order to instill a sense of ‘I told you so.’ He’d been as clear as could be after their argument days ago that he would not help her when the time came. This was Hinata’s mess to manage.
And manage it she would. So this was her father’s gambit? He would force her to beat Neji if she wanted her way, and if she failed, then he would get his. It was intended to be insurmountable. It might very well be. But that would not frighten Hinata— it left her with nothing to lose.
“I accept, Clan Head,” Hinata said.
“Then it’s settled,” Hiashi said. “The judgment of Hinata Hyuuga is finished. Let the results be observed by the Heiress of the clan, and by the elders themselves.”
“I observe,” Hanabi muttered quietly.
“We observe,” said the voices in the dark in unison, followed by their eyes extinguishing.
“You may leave,” Hiashi said. “You have two weeks to prepare, Hinata.”
She bowed, then turned and walked to the door. She could still feel attention on her back the whole way out, wafting out of the shadows.
O-O-O
“Hinata, wait!”
Hinata was almost halfway across the compound when the voice cried out to her. She turned back, and found her sister running toward her.
Hanabi slid to a stop in front of her sister. As she stood under Hinata’s gaze, she started to fidget. For the first time Hinata could remember, Hanabi averted her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said.
“There’s nothing to thank me for,” Hinata said. “I didn't do it for you.”
“Still,” Hanabi muttered. “Even if it didn’t work. The fact that you tried…”
“I have not given up yet.”
Hanabi’s head jolted. “You can’t beat Neji!”
“Most likely,” Hinata said. “But I’m still going to give it all that I have.”
“Why? Hanabi asked.
It was slightly rude, hearing the pure disbelief in her voice, but Hinata didn’t mind. It was a genuine question. Hanabi could not fathom why Hinata was doing this. Hinata wouldn’t have been able to either, if the her from a year ago was to see the her now.
“Because I would rather try, and fail, than go on being too scared to try,” Hinata said. “I’ve done that for too long. I realized recently that for all I complain about our clan, I never actually did anything about it.” She smiled. “I’ll tell you a secret, Hanabi. I love Naruto.”
Hanabi physically took a step back. Her hands assumed the beginning stance to the gentle fist, but instead of an aggressive posture, it was a defensive one, as if she thought she had to parry Hinata’s words like an attack.
“Did he tell you?” Hanabi demanded. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No, I’m not making fun of you,” Hinata said. “I want Naruto to be mine because I choose him, not because he was picked for me. He recently confessed that he planned to call off the engagement. I simply did it first. But I have no plans to stop chasing him, no matter what the clan says. So, sister, if you truly want him, make an effort. I’m not giving him up to you, but at least now it’s a fair competition.”
“You could do that?” Hanabi asked. “You would try to win him over… yourself?”
“You could as well, Hanabi,” Hinata said.
Slowly, Hanabi lowered her hands from their defensive position. As she did, she lowered her head as well.
“I can’t,” she said. “I don’t have the courage to.”
She looked so down. And somehow, to Hinata, that made her look young. It reminded her of the distant past. She reached out, only hesitating once, and patted Hanabi’s shoulder.
The girl flinched slightly from the touch.
“A day ago I didn’t have the courage either,” Hinata said. “It’s not something that you come with. Anybody can build it up. If even I can do it, surely it wouldn’t take you long to do the same.”
Hanabi looked at the hand on her shoulder, before averting her eyes. “I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I think there’s plenty that you…”
Instead of finishing her sentence, she stepped back, allowing Hinata’s hand to slide off of her.
“Focus!” Hanabi said. “If you want to have any chance against Neji, you have to have a plan. What are you thinking of? Poison?”
“Neji would spot anything slipped into his food,” Hinata said. “And it’s not like no one would notice if I drugged him. I will face him directly.”
“But your Gentle Fist is worse than mine, and I don’t stand a chance against Neji!”
Hinata smiled, tilting her head.
“I will most likely lose,” she reminded her sister. “But I do not plan on making it easy. If you must know… I plan on asking for help.”
O-O-O
Hinata approached the unassuming house tucked into the courtyard’s corner. It was the first time she had visited alone and without an invitation. Still, a bit of impropriety was worth it in this situation.
At first she tapped the door with one finger, before reminding herself that this wasn’t the Hyuuga compound. She formed a fist. Using her knuckle, she rapped at the door.
A few moments later, it opened. Sasuke stood there with Sakura peering over his shoulder.
Hinata smiled politely. “If you had to fight someone from my family, how would you go about it?” she asked.
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged looks. Then they stepped apart, inviting — or maybe ordering — her inside.
