Chapter Text
There is a shiny new grave in the Hyūga Clan's graveyard and a hole the size of his brother in Hiashi's soul. He feels sick. The bottle of cheap sake might have something to do with that. It's still better than the other alternative.
He doesn't remember much of the ceremony, but some details burn a blazing light in his mind. Like Hinata's quiet breath, because she's alive and well and far, far away from Kumo's treacherous hands. Or Neji's back, a straight line of stubbornness amongst the sea of hunched shoulders.
Or the fact that they didn't have a body to burn and no ashes to bury under Hyūga Hizashi's name.
Tsume and Shibi left a couple of hours ago, silent and supportive shadows best ignored when there is something so much darker surrounding him. He hadn't longed that much for Sakumo in a long time. Their teacher didn't have many faults, and unreliable hadn't been one of them. That's a shoulder he'd have liked to lean on.
Hiashi can count the number of friends he has left on one hand. His twin had always been one of them. Not anymore, and the thought alone is enough to envy Tsunade's resiliance in emptying every sake bottle Konoha has to offer. But that's not something he can indulge in right now, however tempting drinking another cup might be.
The perks of being Clan Head, right?
He hates the silence in the graveyard, the cold stones and polished kanji spelling his brother's name for the gods to see. So he leaves.
He can feel Neji's eyes trailing him as he escapes the compound. He sees Hizashi in the kid, in the almond eyes and flowing hair. But it's Hizashi's death that he sees in the bandages covering the little forehead, hiding in plain sight the very reason for the crushing loss he feels.
What a mess.
Fugaku is a hurricane of emotions when the Council's session is ajourned. The report on the incident is a day old but he can feel Konoha shaking from its impact. There isn't much the head of the Konoha Military Police Force can do right now.
What's eating him is what he shoud have done before.
How could Kumo get away with kidnapping the Hyūga heir, then ask for the Clan Head's body in exchange and actually get it? It doesn't matter that it worked out in the end, because it's still a failure and it makes Fugaku sick. He wishes for a cup of sake. Anything to make him forget the haunted look on Hizashi's kid's face and the faint tremor in his hands.
As the Uchiha Clan Head, he had been to the ceremony. That's when his sharingan had the good idea to carve in his memory how unkempt Hyūga looked. Hyūga Hiashi, unkempt.
That's the most terrifying thing he's seen since the Kyūbi, and that's saying something.
It's a furious, guilty and overall extremely shaken Fugaku who finds Itachi in the middle of a panic attack, hidden behind a flower pot in their backyard.
Anxiety is an old friend of his, and so are the panic attacks. He's delt with them for longer than he can remember. Getting his son to breath normally is nothing.
Talking to him about it, however, may prove more challenging than he thought.
“I'm fine, father. I apologize for my behaviour.”
“What was this about, son?” And he doesn't want to sound so harsh, but the day left him feeling raw, his soul bared for the world to see. He doesn't miss the shaking coming back or how Itachi's breathing quickens. He sighs, feeling lost about what to say. Uchiha Fugaku, rendered speechless by his son's need of him actually acting like a father.
What a mess.
The night finds them in the same civilian bar, a few minutes past midnight. There's no question asked, not when two of the most important men in the village come for a drink. That they're sitting at the same table but minutely not looking at each other might actually be a bigger factor. Not that anyone would dare point that out.
Hiashi pours himself another cup, considers Fugaku's for a moment before filling it up as well. They both empty it in a blink before resuming their quiet examination of the room.
“Itachi told me he's thinking about retiring. He was crying and scared out of his mind that I would kill him on the spot. Or worse, disown him. And all I could think of was how four years ago, he was braiding pink ribbons in Shisui's hair while singing The Lusty Kunoichi Said To Me.”
Hiashi's sharp eyes are on him in an instant. He stays quiet, but his gaze doesn't leave Fugaku's face.
“I told him he was technically an adult and responsible for his own choices. Then I made a very dignified retreat and decided to find someone even more miserable than I am.”
“You're really going to let Itachi quit?” Hiashi's voice is a very special brand of rough, deepened by sorrow and bad alcohol. Fugaku raises his head and locks eyes with the ceiling. That's a nice shade of brown. The sake smell strengthen as Hiashi refills both cups.
“I saw my child break under the pressure I put onto him. I watched as he cried and shook because I treated him like a soldier in a war I know we're going to win. He's eight, Hyūga. He needs a father, not a commander.”
“Why the change of heart? You were perfectly content with being his commander, last I checked.”
“Today, a child lost his father because the man saw himself as a soldier in a war we're going to win. And I have my eyes on another father who's bordering on turning into the same thing.”
Hiashi doesn't answer but drinks his cup, pours himself another one and orders a second bottle. The shadow in his white eyes has settled into something fierce, unyielding. Fugaku licks his lips and empties his cup.
When Hiashi wakes up, his bed is empty but the other side is rumpled and there's a note on the pillow. He doesn't read it but slips it in his pocket as soon as he finishes tying up his yukata. As he leaves his bedroom, he calls for the housemaid and asks her to bring Hinata and Neji. There's a guard hiding in the shadows which he sends away with a message for the elders.
He eats breakfast with the two children, in a silence he finally breaks as they are left with nothing but tea.
“Neji, as of right now, you're a member of this family and second heir to the Hyūga Clan. You will move in this house this week, and I will make arrangments for your things to be brought here. Will you be needing anything else that you lacked in your previous house?”
There is no mistaking the look on the child's face as he processes the announcement. This is confusion, hearbreak and anger, all at the same time.
“I am Hinata-sama's shadow, I am not meant to leave my place at her side,” he replies in a very, very careful voice.
“Not anymore. Actually, you're not a Branch House member anymore either, since the Branch House has ceased to exist.”
“What?”
“Congratulation on being the first one to hear about this. I'm fusing the two houses together and I contacted Konoha Central about finding a way to break the Curse Seal.”
There is a loud voice echoing in the hallway, many feet stomping off in their direction. The rice paper wall slides open and all hell breaks loose.
“Hiashi! What is the meaning of this?”
“Jiman told me you're going to disolve the houses system!”
“Kiyoi, move aside, I'd like to try and punch the stupid out of our Clan Head.”
In the sea of yelling people who bursted into his living room, there is an ANBU with a low ponytail of raven hair, the Jonin Commander looking like someone just dumped a dead body on his doorstep and the Head of the Military Police with a twitching left eyes. Or is he trying to wink at him? Neji still looks like he's been slapped and Hinata is grining and his tea is getting cold and Hiashi has never felt more alive.
What a mess, indeed.