Tsubaki Nara didn't know why things happened, only that they did. Thrust in the middle of political power struggles, agonizing conflictions of the heart, and discovery of world-shattering revelations, Tsubaki must learn for herself where she belongs...
She pulled open a few doors, cautiously peeking inside, trying to locate Neji. Plenty of the rooms were empty. Some had a few shiny knickknacks or even a shrine with burning incense.
It wasn't until she got to the very end of the wall where a cold breeze slipped in from underneath the small slit between the door and the floorboard did she find the boy. He was curled up on his comforter, staring out to the frozen garden outside the open window. Tsubaki carefully maneuvered her way around the shards of glass, torn books, wooden splinters, and scattered weapons lodged in various objects. It looked almost as if there had been a war in here.
She slowly lowered herself onto the edge of the comforter without a sound.
"What do you want," came Neji's raspy voice.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"I could hear you from the doorway. And your chakra is hard to miss."
The Hyuugas are very good at tracking chakra signatures, both consciously and subconsciously. Because it's been so cold, and her body was still recovering from hospital rest, Tsubaki has been practicing using her chakra to keep her body temperature consistently warm. It was the only training allowed since her parents were still on edge about her health.
"Ah, right. Your maid let me in after I persuaded her. It would have been nice if you came to greet me once though. I've been worried. I wanted to see you; make sure you're doing okay."
"How the hell am I supposed to be doing okay? My father is dead," he said bluntly.
Tsubaki winced at her poor choice of words. "No, that's not what I meant. Of course you're not doing okay. I just meant...I wanted to make sure you were taking care of yourself. We barely talked at the funeral. If you need a friend-"
"No, I don't. I don't need anything from anyone. None of you understand what I'm feeling. Not you, not the rest of the Hyuugas - no one. So just leave me alone."
She frowned down at his back. A plan started to form in her mind. "Ah, I guess you're right," she said in a loud, obnoxious voice. "After all, you're the second branch's new head so of course you know everything! Since you're such a big shot you don't need people to worry about you. I'm sure your father would be so proud of what a huge jerk you're turning out to be."
Neji threw the covers off his body, spinning around with absolute fury written on his face. The moment he opened his mouth to yell, Tsubaki shoved a spoonful of her warm vegetable soup down his throat, smirking victoriously at his mixture of horror and surprise.
"Jeez, your complexion looks awful." With the spoon still lodged in his mouth, she took advantage of the situation to do a quick checkup.
When he lashed an arm out to push her away she easily caught it to check his pulse. "Hm. Luckily you don't seem to have any of the symptoms of a developing fever. Still, you look a bit flush. It's a good thing I brought over some medicine. I'll show your maid how to put it in soup for easy digestion. People have been buying up our stock like crazy so make sure you make good use of it."
He ripped his limb out of her grip, taking the spoon out of his mouth. "What the hell! Are you insane? I could've choked!"
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