"What do you mean? There's no way I'm letting that little would-be gutttersnipe stay in our clan for one more day!" a Hyuga clan elder shouted.
With the exception of Hiashi Hyuga, the entire table was standing and shouting. They were all furious, filling the Hyuga Clan conference room with the sounds of yelling and fists slamming.
"What I said is that we should avoid any disharmony within the clan. It's clear that only us from the main family hold any disdain for the child. Konoha is on high alert trying to figure out what… disaster befell us, yet we're all in here arguing over a mere child!" Hiashi was visibly agitated and stood himself. "All of the subordinate family heads have voiced their dissatisfaction with our actions today. If it were just one or two we could suppress them, but every single one is too much to deal with."
The other elders calmed some at his words but still looked dissatisfied.
"What of Natsu? She should be crippled at this point. Practically braindead," one particularly defiant elder countered.
"I sent a medical-nin over just earlier and for some unknown reason, Natsu is perfectly healthy. The only thing she lost was her ability to use the Byakugan. There was no explanation for it."
"You probably went easy on her. I bet you like her just as much as those filthy branch families!"
"Nonsense! I know how far I went. She should have had her mind completely destroyed, but she's still alive. Something must have happened during the disaster that reversed the effects of the cursed seal. You know how many shinobi went insane. Perhaps it somehow restored her mind while taking theirs."
"What of the child? I can only hope she has lost her mind."
Hiashi's face turned slightly green at the mention of Mikoto.
"…Unfortunately, like the civilians of the village, she passed out before any damage could be done."
An elder pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine. I suppose we just need to allow her to stay for the time being. Start her training with everyone else, but make it as hard as possible and look for any faults in her behavior. Give us a reason to expel her from the clan, or better yet, execute her for stealing secrets. Are any clan members in disagreement?"
"Nay!" every elder in the room shouted.
"Hiashi, we'll be taking our leave now. Be sure to carry this out exactly as we have said. We're expecting results."
The elders left, leaving Hiashi alone in the conference room. The second the door shut, the tension left his shoulders and he weakly collapsed on the chair, shaking and pale.
"I hope this is enough for now, you damn monster," Hiashi said while glaring at a shadow in the room. In his eyes, it seemed that the shadow moved as if in approval.
However, Mikoto wasn't even listening as her threat was just another leash to keep him in control. As such, Hiashi was simply talking to himself in an empty room.
Tftc