Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 8 Shadows

Neji lay in the infirmary with two medics tending to him. They looked up for a moment when Taryn stepped into the room and went to lean against the bed next to Neji, but they didn’t order her to leave. She had permission to walk around Konoha freely and as long as she didn’t break any rules, they saw no reason to not let her stay here. She was, after all, part Hyuga.
      Neji however did look at her suspiciously. “What do you want?” he growled.
“You’re not afraid of me, are you?” Taryn asked, a slight smirk on her lips. Neji turned his head away, an angry look in his eyes. “I was concerned about you,” Taryn said in a friendlier tone, “wounded pride cuts deep.”
“Why?” Neji asked. “Because most people don’t like being wrong I suppose,” Taryn answered confused.
“No,” Neji growled, “why would you care about my pride?”
Taryn shrugged. “Why indeed? I suppose because we are family.” She smirked. “Even though you keep denying it.”
“You…” Neji scoffed, “what do you know? You were never branded with the caged bird. You… with the blood of Suna in your veins… you know nothing about it!”
“Maybe so,” Taryn said, “but you know nothing about me either.”
The door opened and lord Hiashi Hyuga stepped inside. He looked surprised when he noticed Taryn, but she only gave him a blank expression. He turned to Neji instead. “I need to speak with you privately.” The medics bowed and made their leave. Taryn slowly pushed herself away from the bed and cast Neji a last glance before walking to the door. “Taryn,” the voice of Hiashi stopped her, “you can stay.”
Confused, Taryn turned and nodded at him.
Neji worked himself in a sitting position. “What is it sir?”
“I want to tell you the truth about that day.” He sighed as Neji frowned. “That day…” he said, “I fully intended to die.”
“What?! What are you saying?!” Neji yelled, “that day, my father was murdered to act as your double!”
“I understand how you came to that conclusion,” Hiashi calmly said, “but that is not how it happened.”
“Why tell me this now?” Neji asked.
Hiashi looked down. “Because now… I feel like you might finally believe me.” Neji narrowed his eyes as Hiashi told the story. “It was the elder of the clan who suggested to use the Branch House. Your father had already consented to it. I told him that Cloud was after Byakugan, which would be sealed at your father’s death. I told them Cloud would never settle for it. The elders waved it away and claimed that Cloud had only demanded my corpse. They would swap me for my brother, thus honoring their claim. I tried to stop him. I told him he had a son to take care of. I asked him why he would do this for the Main House. He told me that I didn’t understand. He said he still hated the Main House. That he made his choice because of that. Not to protect the Main House, but to protect his brother. He told me to take care of you and to tell you he had died of his own free will, in order to protect you, his brother, the clan and the entire village. He chose to die to gain freedom. He chose to defy his destiny by choosing his own. And that is the truth.”
Taryn stood silently against the wall as the story ended, a frown on her face. Of course she had heard of the event, but she had never given it much thought since her mother’s family already resented her.
“You can’t expect me to believe that!” Neji growled, “it sounds exactly like something the Main House would come up with! Especially after all this time!”
“I knew you would think so,” Hiashi said, “that’s why I waited this long.” Neji snorted. Hiashi closed his eyes. “I wanted to relay my brother’s final words to you. Not as the head of the Main House, but as your father’s brother.” Both Neji and Taryn gasped as Hiashi fell to his knees and bowed deeply to Neji. “Please believe me.”
For a moment Neji was too shocked to speak. Tears ran down his face as he finally did. “Please,” he said, “raise your head.”
He stood up and walked to the window next to Taryn. “There are so many birds in the sky today,” he whispered, “flying free.”
“Yeah,” Taryn whispered. Freedom must be nice indeed. Neji turned to her. “Aren’t your siblings up next?” he asked. Taryn nodded. “You should go watch them then.” Taryn nodded again and walked towards the door. “Hey,” Neji’s voice stopped her. She looked over her shoulder. “I guess I did learn after all,” Neji said.
Taryn walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.