Chapter 31

—

Hinata had never expected to stumble upon such earth-shattering news simply by wandering her own home.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, six grueling hours of solo training behind her, and she had been quite bored - and needed…maybe some time with her beloved brother.

Yet, when she found him absent, she suddenly remembered he had gone to Ino's house and unknowingly a small surge of annoyance rose within her.

She knew Ino likely had a crush on Tatsuya and wanted any chance to spend time with him. Normally, if it was somebody else, she would have wholeheartedly supported her friend, but in this case she found her enthusiasm waning.

"Wait?, am I a...bro-con?" The thought hit her like a truck-kun, instantly reddening her cheeks with embarrassment.

As she pondered about it more, her thoughts started spiraling out of control. Unbidden, an image of Tatsuya kissing another girl - Yumiko, flashed through her mind. But there was just a little change now, rather than Yumiko, she saw herself in that place.

"Aargh!" Hinata internally screamed. 'Control your thoughts, control them Hinata. What are you thinking!' she mentally scolded herself, struggling to regain composure.

"Sigh. Why are you screaming at yourself, Hinata? It's not like anyone's going to hear your thoughts," she mentally scolded herself for her lapse in composure.

Once she had managed to calm her racing thoughts, she allowed herself a moment of serious reflection. Admitting to herself, seeing her brother with Yumiko had surely stirred jealousy within her even though the kiss was just accidental. It was a disconcerting feeling, as if witnessing something precious taken away from in front of your eyes.

"Maybe I really am a bro-con," she concluded with a sigh. Yet, she couldn't help but shift some blame to Tatsuya himself. Why did he have to be so kind, so affectionate to her, even when they are of the same age?

Shaking her head, Hinata decided to simply move past these troubling musings. She would just forget about it, at least for now.

"First let's go to mom" she decided as she had some doubts about the Revolving Heaven Jutsu.

But finding her mother's room empty, she thought, "She is neither in her room nor in the living room, maybe she is in the meeting room?"

Making her way towards the clan's meeting room, she waited outside rather than simply barging in, and then activated her Byakugan to discreetly survey the scene first. And she was surprised to find not only her mother present, but her brother as well, engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion with the Hyúga elders.

Though the sound suppression seals prevented her from hearing their words, her byakugan vision allowed her to read their lips, piecing together the gist of the exchange.

Her eyes widened in shock as started understanding their discussion. And at the end of it her eyes had been opened wide. Cage Bird seal on her and Hanabi? Brother being declared Heir? And lastly the most shocking thing, her being married to her brother!!!

Hinata felt her heart thundering in her chest, and flush burning her cheeks as she processed the enormity of what she had overseen. "M-Me...marrying my brother?" she stammered faintly, overwhelmed by the knowledge.

The first two points of information faded into the background as her mind fixated solely on the information of being married to her brother, consuming her thoughts entirely.

"But I am his... sister," she thought, the words echoing in her mind. Yet, strangely, she found herself questioning whether that fact truly mattered to her. She had heard about inter-marriage between siblings within their clan, but she didn't know about it in much detail.

But there was a stark difference between hearing about something and experiencing it firsthand.

While she knew that for most people, they would easily be weirded about such a situation, she somehow found herself unable to have any negative feelings about it.

"What are you so dazed about, big sis?" A teasing voice called out, snapping Hinata out of her thoughts. Startled, she jumped up just like a cat.

"Who?!" A startled shriek erupted from her mouth, muffled by a hand, until she finally saw who it was.

"What are you doing here, Hanabi?" Hinata asked, removing the hand from her face, annoyed by being jumpscared.

"I could ask the same question to you. What are you doing sitting here in the corner alone, with a face as red as a tomato and trembling like a leaf? Are you having a heart attack or what?" Hanabi inquired with a curious tone.

"You don't need to know. And let's leave here before they come out and see us," Hinata said urgently, quickly pulling Hanabi away.

After retreating to their respective rooms, both sisters settled down, and Hanabi couldn't resist her curiosity any longer. "Can you tell me now? What did you see? I saw you activating your Byakugan to spy on them," she inquired.

Hinata hesitated for a moment before replying, "I saw the elders discussing using the Caged Bird seal on us."

Hanabi remained silent for a moment, absorbing the information, before calmly responding, "I see."

Surprised by her sister's composed reaction, Hinata asked wryly, "Are you not worried or scared, Hanabi?"

"No, I am not," Hanabi replied confidently. "Why would I be worried? I know that mother and brother will never let something like that happen to us," she stated proudly.

Hinata couldn't help but pause for a moment before a genuine smile appeared at her sister's absolute trust. "You're right," she agreed wholeheartedly.

"Now tell me, what else did you see? And don't try to hide it. I know it's something interesting, otherwise, you wouldn't blush like a tomato," Hanabi teased.

Hinata hesitated, her cheeks flushing slightly, before stuttering out, "Oh, that…"

- x - X - x -

{3 Hours Later}

In his dimly lit house, Yami idly played with a kunai, twirling it between his fingers like a toy.

Beside him, Murama stood silently, and sweating like crazy. 'He seems quite annoyed. If I talk, he will take it out on me. Better be mute, Murama,' he thought, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

"How's that Maya girl doing?" Yami asked abruptly, his voice cutting through the tense silence.

"Oh, her? She's doing well. It seemed Lady Hitomi managed to pull some strings and transferred her to her son's class. It seems they're trying to extract some information from her," Murama answered, nervously rubbing his nose.

"Hmm," Yami mused, "You haven't left any traces they can track, right?" he asked.

"No, no! I've double-checked everything. No one will be able to trace it back to use," Murama replied confidently. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his skill in covering up the dirty deeds of corrupt individuals.

As for the man in front of him, Murama couldn't help but think that calling him corrupt would be too generous. He was a straight up psychopath. Unconsciously, his gaze drifted towards the floor before he quickly averted his eyes.

The basement of this mothefucker was something he didn't even want to imagine, if he hoped to have a peaceful night's sleep.

"Good," Yami praised, pleased with his servant's attitude. He liked him because he knew where his place belonged, unlike that brat and that woman. Just the thought of them made his blood boil and his shoulders tense with anger.

"Just you wait, brat," Yami thought seethingly, his eyes narrowing. "I will ruin that woman right in front of you one day."

"You should write to Danzo. I want to meet him," Yami said abruptly, turning to Murama.

"Are you sure, Master? Do you want to disturb him? He doesn't like anyone wasting his time," Murama asked hesitantly.

Before receiving an answer, Murama felt a sharp kick to his chin, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Are you saying I am wasting his time, Murama?" Yami's voice was cold and menacing.

Quickly, Murama knelt down, even though he felt dizziness threatened to overwhelm him and his screaming to his mind that it had been shattered. "I arm shorrry, Mashtur... Pleesh, give meh one morrr keek. I desherv that," he pleaded with a broken chin.

Murama was a cunning guy; he knew when to choose his words carefully. So he knew if he had tried anything other than asking for another kick, he would likely receive two more in the place.

Because people like his master are the types of people who thrived on having their superiority validated everytime. And to survive them, one had to constantly inflate their ego and lick their asses. Of course, metaphorically speaking. Actually licking their asses would be utterly disgusting. Bleurgh.

But at least this mothefucker wasn't completely devoid of intelligence. In fact he was quite intelligent, he was able to maintain a good guy act in public while unleashing his cruelty on him and those poor women behind closed doors.

Oh, those poor women. May they find peace in heaven. Amen.

"Hmph! This is better," Yami declared, satisfied with the display of submission. "Now go, write a letter to Danzo, saying I want to meet him," Yami said.

"Mashtur, shuld I invyit him to your housh??" Murama asked.

Yami paused, hearing that. Even he felt that summoning Danzo to his house might be too bold. "No, just ask him about the meeting place. I will go there," he said.

"Ok, Master," Murama nodded, and started to leave the room to carry out his orders.

All the while, neither Yami nor Murama noticed a figure standing in the shadows of the room, watching them coldly.

"Need to capture this Murama guy," The invisible figure murmured.