...I am actually working on it, believe it or not....

[moonsheen]

"You’re not afraid."

"No," the boy agreed. "I’m not."

"So why won’t you?" His brother argued, sitting cross-legged on the steps. His shoulders lifted impatiently, his mouth was twisted into a displeased scowl—exaggerated, of course, for Hiashi’s benefit. Playing up his annoyance for all it was worth, the absent, irritated toss of Hizashi’s head spoke more loudly than his words.

Hiashi, with his back turned, sighed. "Because father won’t approve of it."

"Father!" Hizashi sat up stiffly, quickly, gone from irritated to angry in less than a second. Every inch of the boy shared a collective twitch. "I’m the one asking."

"And I am the one saying no."

"Hiashi-"

"No, Hizashi."

"Maybe you are afraid," Hizashi wondered aloud, and watched his twin flinch with the words. "Looks like I’m right." And he let himself be smug; dropping his shoulders, sweeping his hair back, standing with self-satisfaction oozing from head to toe. Lazy. Casual. Smirking. Everything he knew his brother hated to be met with.

"…Allright," Hiashi snapped. "Just…Stop that. You know that if father gets wind of this--"

Hizashi fell back into the proper stance, and stood poised and smiling. "He won’t."

He did.

They were toe to toe, Hiashi barely dodging a blow to his shoulder, slipping past his brother’s palm and dropping low. It happened fast. Like his counter, a swift upward push aiming for his brother’s stomach. Fast like Hizashi’s feint, like the fingers Hizashi held perfectly level and still as he reversed the movement and pressed forward suddenly. Hiashi shifted his balance, snapped his hand up and—

"Ah…!"

--and then Hizashi’s eyes went wide and bright with pain.
He fell before the blow was even landed, body buckling in upon himself in inexplicable agony. He landed on the stony path, hard, and lay writhing. The fingers that had been held in such perfect, graceful form clutched at his temples, scrabbling and in one vulgar move tearing away his headband, nails digging into the skin as he gasped, rolled onto his back, and screamed.

Hiashi was on his knees in a moment. "Hizashi--!" His brother’s eyes rolled up to meet him, the hands clutching at his head parting just enough that Hiashi got his first good look at…at--

"That is enough," the voice of their father intoned from the steps of the house, and Hizashi’s cries pealed away into a gurgle. The boy lay shivering, chest heaving. Hiashi reached for him. "Don’t touch him." The clan head’s long fingers tightened around his cane, and he walked with measured, confidant steps down the stairs. He loomed, watching his sons with a cool gaze. Hiashi felt that gaze rake across on his hand, still hovering over Hizashi’s shoulder, like pin pricks of ice in his blood. He dropped it.

"Father," Hiashi began. "I--"

His father overrode him, deep and angry. "A member of the Branch House…" he said slowly. "Never raises his hand against the Main House." The end of his cane wrapped against the stones.

Father, Hiashi thought but didn’t voice, bowing low and feeling his unbound hair fall in his face. Dusk was in the garden then, and it looked like blood.

Their father continued, circling them, "…And it is beneath you, Hiashi, to humor them. You are not a small child anymore—nothing of this nature can be called a game."

"I understand, father."

"No," the man told him. "You don’t. Know your place Hiashi."

He paused, hovering over Hizashi, and it was the first time that Hiashi saw the difference in the way their father looked between him and his twin. The way his eyes flattened, the way his voice hardened—and he gave him a sharp jab in the ribs with his cane. Hizashi gasped, but Hiashi could see that the boy’s eyes hadn’t closed, and his hand had slipped from his forehead enough that the mark was visible, the skin around it an angry red.

"And you," the clan head commanded, regarding his second son like an insect under glass. "Know yours."

Comments

[spacetart.livejournal.com]

Eeeyah. That was painful. Good, but just painful to read because you know how it ends, with Hizashi dying, when the two twins obviously love each other very much(not that way, except now that I think about it, hell, why not?)

Re:

[moonsheen.livejournal.com]

...I always found it really telling, the fact that Hiashi had to be /knocked out/ before his brother's left. Don't think he ever really got over it, which is one of the reasons I believe he shows such contempt for Hinata: maybe, however unconciously, he assigns some of the blame to her (Something I think Neji kinda does too).
In whatever way, Hizashi was the most important person in Hiashi's life--and the fact that Hiashi sees so much of him in Neji...And Neji openly /hated/ him when they both hurt for the same loss --gah. The Hyuga are so utterly screwed up. It's one of reasons I love 'em so much.

Re:

[spacetart.livejournal.com]

The Hyuga are so utterly screwed up.

Yes. Even though Hiashi apologized to Neji, I wonder how much can be done to right the problem in this generation. I think Neji and hanabi are the ones who are going to have to put it to rest, or at least something. But I don't know. Hanabi strikes me as being a little zealot. She might go along with her father while he's alive, but then after his death, I could see her confronting Neji and telling him that things are going back to the way the're supposed to be.

[beeblebabe.livejournal.com]

Neji and Hanabi should have an uncomfortable arranged marriage (because he is so strong in the Hyuuga jutsu! As is she! And we must breed this bloodline!), including her using the curse mark jutsu to keep him in line. It's kinda bdsm-y!

[moonsheen.livejournal.com]

Ack! You! gimme my brain back--except he should go for the older sister! 'Cause she's the 'weak link' who'd be under pressure to make some sort of alliance-marriage-or something and finally be useful to the clan (and get her outta Hanabi's way). And then she could go, hey screw you (in a shy way, of course) you want me to get married? FINE. I'll marry my Branch House COUSIN and force this entire damn family together. IS THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? (...Years of repression is not a good thing...)

...Even though she'd rather have her dopey fox boy. Sniff.

[beeblebabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm far too in the "Hinata + Naruto = 4-EVAH" camp to cotton to that. See, that's how he'll change the Hyuuga! ...by marrying one of them!

You know the Hyuuga are inbred as all get out. I mean, it seems like the other advanced bloodlines all have the problem of the attribute not showing up in everyone in the family - like the Uchiha and Haku - but EVERYONE in the Hyuuga has the byakugan. And they all basically look alike. INBREEDING.

Let Neji have a weird love/hate/lifetime resentment/admiration for doing something against the will of the family/sexual rage relationship at a distance with Hinata, while he marries her sister, fathers some s00p3r byakugan jutsu-kid, and fantasizes about breaking his wife's fingers.

I tell you, you can think of a bazillion different ways for the Hyuuga stuff to pan out, and they're all screwed up!

(And then there's this Neji/Sasuke idea over here...

Re:

[moonsheen.livejournal.com]

....I dunno. I think the Uchiha must've had some weirdass imbreeding in there too. Just look at Itachi. Although...Wait. They ARE said to originate from the Hyuga. Hmmm. (Meanwhile all of the Advanced Bloodlines seem to have that mentally imbalanced thing going on...)

....Oh, I can totally go for Neji/Sasuke. Especially after Sasuke totally SNUBBED Neji on the introductions. (Not unless you give me FLOWERS, dumbass.) And the fact that Tenten seemed waay to amused by bird-boy's fixation with him. They'd be all bitchy and sarcastic with eachother...And get into staring contests. And possibly (when they're all grown up) have really really hot snarly mansex.

...I still like to stick Hanabi with Konohamaru. Just 'cause, yanno, he'd be on his way to becoming a stealth expert, and what better way to learn than repeated attempts at sneaking up on a Hyuga? Especially haughty little Hyuga-girls who seem to expect him to, like, respect their authority or something.

[spacetart.livejournal.com]

If Hinata married Neji, then later, Hanabi(who'd been taught the curse seal jutsu) could control Hinata with the threat of killing him. Oh! the angst!

Re:

[moonsheen.livejournal.com]

...And when they have a kid there'd be even MORE angst since he/she would be under the pressure of both the Main AND the Branch house, and probably not have many fans in either.

Not to mention the wedding night would've been awkward as hell.

Re:

[moonsheen.livejournal.com]

...Hanabi I can easily see hating Neji. Jealousy, more than anything else. After all, why should her father favor /him/--a upstart member of the Branch House, who not only doesn't seem to know his place in the order of things, but openly names the Main House murderers in front of a good portion of the village? She wouldn't understand the circumstances, and maybe wouldn't want to, being a proud person probably already threatened by the fact that she's not the first born (I always got the impression that Hinata was never 'officially' disowned...Just sort of tossed by the wayside. Easy to do, with a female heir) and hurt by her father clear wish Neji could've been the one to inherit. She very well might cling to tradition out of desperation more than anything else.

...As for how the mess could be sorted out. Well I have kinda have a cracked out theory about that...