The Hyuuga compound buzzed with quiet energy. Even after Lady Hinata's birthday celebration, the corridors still echoed with laughter and polite chatter. Servants moved between rooms gathering trays, and children's voices lingered in the air like fading sparks.
Haruki and Neji had both fallen asleep early, worn out from the festivities. Hizashi had stayed behind with a few other branch members to help clean up and see off the remaining guests.
The celebration, after all, hadn't just been about Hinata's birthday.
A formal diplomatic delegation from the Hidden Cloud had been invited to Konoha that week—an exchange of goodwill, meant to reinforce a peace treaty between two great villages. Smiles had been shared. Promises of cooperation uttered. And yet, to Hizashi, the entire visit reeked of caution.
Too smooth. Too polished. Too polite.
Their gestures were rehearsed. Their eyes, practiced. And though none of them reached for a weapon, Hizashi had long since learned that not all threats arrive with blades drawn.
The Kumo delegation had moved like men on a hunt. Their gazes lingered too long on the children of the main house.
The Hyuuga clan, with its coveted dōjutsu, had always drawn attention from outsiders. But this time, Hizashi's instincts were louder than usual. Beneath the laughter and toasts, beneath the perfumed scrolls and diplomatic smiles, he sensed it clearly: a lingering, opportunistic hunger.
So when the messenger arrived—pale, breathless—Hizashi was already halfway to standing.
"Hizashi-sama… Lady Hinata is missing."
The words struck like lightning.
Hizashi's expression didn't shift. But his breath caught mid-motion.
He didn't ask questions.
Ten Hyuuga shinobi. Immediate activation of the Byakugan. A direct path toward the inn where the Kumo delegation was staying. No hesitation. No time to think. Just instinct.
The Kumo ninja claimed ignorance. One of their diplomats, they said, had departed early for the Land of Lightning. A personal emergency. An unfortunate coincidence.
Hizashi didn't believe a word of it.
He searched the district. The rooftops. The sewer grates. The forest's edge.
But by the time he returned to the compound, it was already over.
Hiashi had found her. And he had killed the Kumo shinobi responsible with a single, decisive strike.
Hinata was safe.
But the warmth of the celebration had been extinguished. It left behind only tension—quiet and suffocating. The compound knew, even if no one spoke it aloud. War had nearly come to their doorstep.
Hizashi returned home well past midnight. He found Neji and Haruki curled together on the tatami mat in the sitting room, both fast asleep with their heads leaning gently against one another.
He moved them to their beds, brushing hair from Haruki's forehead. The boy stirred slightly but did not wake.
Then Hizashi sat on the edge of his own futon.
Sleep didn't come.
Because in the space between breaths, a terrible thought had settled in his chest: This isn't over.
........
By morning, the news had spread like wildfire.
The Cloud delegation denied everything. They claimed their envoy had been assassinated in cold blood, that Konoha had fabricated the abduction to dishonor the treaty. They called it a calculated insult. A deliberate provocation.
The Raikage, incensed, issued a demand.
Compensation.
Specifically: Hiashi Hyuuga.
A life for a life—or war.
The Fire Daimyō, cornered by political pressure from all sides, urged a swift and diplomatic resolution. War would destabilize not only Konoha, but the Land of Fire's entire influence across the continent. The Third Hokage, weary but resolute, called an emergency council.
The message was grim and unmistakable: Unless Konoha sacrificed someone of equal standing to the slain Kumo envoy, the peace would crumble. The Hidden Cloud would retaliate.
And within the polished walls of the Hyuuga compound, preparations began for their most painful discussion in years.
......
That evening, the clan's high council room filled with voices—some angry, others quiet with dread. Sarutobi stood beside Hiashi, silent as the storm unfolded.
"The Raikage's demands are absolute," said one of the village elders. "We cannot afford another war. The Fire Daimyō made that clear."
Hiashi stood tall, posture firm, expression unreadable.
"I acted to protect my daughter. Would any father have done differently?"
Another elder nodded slowly. "No one faults your instinct, Hiashi-sama. But the Cloud is calling for blood. The village cannot shield us from the consequences."
Sarutobi finally spoke. "We are doing everything in our power to negotiate. But we must prepare for all possibilities."
A moment passed.
Then an elder—older than the others, voice like cracked wood—spoke.
"There is… one path we can consider. Hiashi-sama is a twin. Hizashi could be sent in his place."
Gasps.
"The Caged Bird Seal will protect the Byakugan," another added. "Even in death, the enemy will gain nothing."
The words hung in the room like poison.
"You speak of a life," Hizashi said from the edge of the chamber, voice cutting through the silence, "as if it were a scroll to be signed and stored away."
All turned toward him.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were shadowed. Worn.
"A seal. A scapegoat. That's all I've ever been to you, isn't it?"
Sarutobi's brow furrowed. "Hizashi… this is not an order. The choice is yours."
"But is it really?" Hizashi asked, gaze unwavering. "You think I don't see the truth behind your restraint? You stand here and speak of peace, but what you mean is sacrifice. And always, it's the branch that pays."
He turned to Hiashi.
"And you. My dear brother. You won't fight them on this. Because somewhere deep inside, you know it's easier this way. Don't you?"
Hiashi's jaw tightened. "You're wrong. I never—"
"I should have been born first," Hizashi snapped. "Then none of this would've happened. My son wouldn't wear a seal that burns into his soul. I wouldn't be the one standing here, expected to die while the elders nod along like this was always the natural order of things."
One of the elders broke the silence. "You misunderstand. This is not punishment. It is duty."
"Is that what you call it?" Hizashi's voice was quieter now. But colder. "Duty, when it always falls to the same people?"
Hiashi took a step forward. "Then let me go. If this is what the clan demands—"
"No."
Hizashi's hand moved. Fast. A light strike to Hiashi's chest, clean and silent. His chakra network crumpled instantly.
Hiashi fell to one knee, stunned.
Gasps rose.
The Hokage stepped forward, tense.
Hizashi didn't flinch.
"I hate the Main House," he said, voice nearly a whisper. "Not for its people. For its system. Its chains. Its hypocrisy. But even so…"
His eyes flicked toward his brother.
"…I am still your brother."
He reached into his sleeve and placed a scroll at Hiashi's side.
"Give that to Neji. And Haruki, when he's old enough."
Then he turned to Sarutobi.
"I'll go. But not because you asked. Not because your council whispered it into the walls. I go because I choose to. Not to preserve your traditions. Not to validate your silence."
His voice cracked slightly.
"But to protect what I love. My son. My brother. My village. And to leave behind something different—even if only once, and only by choice."
He turned toward the door. And stopped.
"My only regret," he said softly, "is that I showed Neji and Haruki only my bitterness in life."
He didn't face them. Didn't bow.
"Tell them why I did this."
And with that, Hizashi walked out.
He did not look back.
That night, as the wind shifted over the compound's tiled roofs, a ripple passed through the still air.
In the far wing of the house, Haruki stirred.
He blinked awake in the quiet dark, breath catching. Something felt wrong.
Or maybe just… hollow.
He placed a hand gently against the floor.
The world felt quieter. Like someone important had just vanished from it.
And somewhere deep within that hollow space, his own chakra pulsed—a strange, echoing reaction, folding inward on itself, as though it recognized the absence.
He didn't understand it.
Not yet.
But something had changed.
Forever.
.........
So, what do you say? A bit short one.
Shower me with those stones, Zehahahaah and do write a review.