The Love Letter {Hyuga Hinata}

Chapter 4

A shrill scream awoke all those residing at the Hyuga compound. Bare feet pounded loudly against the wooden floor.

"What is it, Hanabi?" Neji gasped out.

Hiashi followed close behind. "Hanabi?"

But the girl was silent, staring out into something beyond the two men.

"What is it, Hanabi?" Neji pressed. Flashbacks of Hinata's face came and went. This urgent, terrifying feeling was becoming too much.

But the girl slowly shook her head. She slid down the wall and onto the floor with a plop.

"Was there something in the bathroom?" Hiashi asked.

Neji glanced nervously toward the bathroom. The light was on, and the door was barely ajar. He feared the worst. Hiashi made as if to open the door, but Hanabi suddenly sprang to life.

"NO!" she shrieked. "Don't go in there!"

Hiashi's expression changed quickly from shock at his daughter's outburst to annoyance. "Well, why not?"

Tears ran down Hanabi's face. "No... Don't go in... Don't look..." she muttered.

Neji knelt down and held her to him, nodding at Hiashi. 'Go on,' he mouthed. He was being a coward. He knew this. But something was telling him exactly what Hiashi would find inside the bathroom, and Neji wasn't strong enough to see it. In any case, he had to take care of Hanabi, because she had seen...

Hiashi's features took on qualities of someone attempting to scream. He stumbled backward, and his knees gave way under him. His mouth moved very quickly but no sound was coming out.

"Wh-what is it?" Neji asked, feeling bewildered, even though his mind already knew exactly what was going on.

Hiashi didn't respond.

Neji gently let go of Hanabi, and he peered anxiously around the side of the doorway. White pills littered the damp tile floor. There was a broken bottle of—was it vodka?—around the perimeter of the bathroom. The curtains of the tub were pulled back just enough to reveal a stark, white body, painted red with the fluids in the water. The arms were absolutely torn to pieces, and the lips were blue. The face looked to be twisted somewhere between an expression of pleasure and agony.

Numbly, Neji stood up and went to his room. Somewhere, in the far reaches of his mind, he noted that there was an envelope on his bed. But he ignored it, and went to sleep.

There had to be an autopsy done. Even though everyone knew that it had been a suicide, it was still the unnatural death of the heir of a Noble clan. Procedures, procedures. Hiashi hadn't opposed it, but he didn't like it, either. Neji actually had opposed it. He'd asked if there was any other way. When they'd told him no, he requested one of Tsunade's doctors to perform the autopsy. He knew that they wouldn't release any information to the public.

The three surviving, close relatives to Hinata Hyuga were called in the very next day. It was suggested that Neji and Hanabi wait outside in the waiting room, but Hiashi deemed that unacceptable. They had every right to know all the details about Hinata's autopsy, straight from the horse's mouth.

According to Shizune, a trusted doctor who dabbled in many fields of medicine and had been personally trained by Tsunade, was present herself to give the report. Apparently, a fetus had been found in Hinata's womb. Neji reeled with shocked. Of course this was something he had thought of, but... Why hadn't she gone to Naruto? I don't really like him... But he would have done his damnest to take care of her and that kid! What in the hell—