THE TIGRESS' LANTERN - A HINATA HYUGA FANFICTION

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: THE CAGED BIRDS' TRUTHS

Amaterasu: Hello everyone, I know it's been a while since I last posted here, but things have not been going well on my side of the world recently. I'm still drained but this idea was floating in my head and I thought you all would like a new chapter. Please enjoy. And one more thing: please appreciate what you have today...because you never know when it might be taken away from you.

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[Konoha Hospital]

When Hiashi got the news of what happened to his youngest daughter, he leaped from his chair and ran to the hospital; he already lost one of his daughters - he was not going to lose the other one. When he burst through the door, he rushed to the receptionist's desk and questioned her as to where Hanabi Hyuga was being kept; she looked through her paperwork and gave him the room number but he was told that he was not allowed to go.

"What reason would you have to keep me from my youngest - who was attacked by the one who killed my eldest?! What could be an acceptable reason as to why I can't see her?!" The Clan Leader barked at the woman, who began shaking in her seat before she exhaled and spoke in a respectful voice.

"Lord Hiashi, Lady Hanabi is located in the Critical Wing; her vitals are very weak and she is on the verge of death. The doctors are trying to stabilize her but it doesn't look like she will survive." She explained.

The man felt as if all the breath left his body at that moment, his youngest could die by the hand of the one who took his eldest daughter away from him. Why? Why is this happening to him? First, he lost his wife, then his eldest daughter, and now his youngest daughter was fighting for her life. Why was this creature tormenting him?!

"Lord Hiashi Hyuga." Called a female voice from behind him, he turned and saw one of the head doctors. "My name is Doctor Zaria - I'm in charge of your daughter's case." She explained as she walked over to the man.

"How is my daughter? Will she survive?" Hiashi asked.

"Please, follow me, Lord Hiashi; the information I'm going to share with you is not meant for the ears of others." The doctor walked off with the man following behind her - they reached her office and the conversation began. "Lord Hiashi, when I examined the young heiress's body, there were no marks or bruises upon her skin but it would seem the issue was within her chakra system. I have a question: Was the young heiress born prematurely?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, my wife was facing a life-threatening heart virus and Hanabi needed to be born or we were going to lose them both. What does this have to do with this?" Hiashi asked.

"Lord Hiashi, with the information I found in your daughter's file, she shouldn't even be alive; she was never meant to survive infancy but it would seem someone gave her a piece of themselves." The doctor explained.

"What do you mean?" Hiashi asked.

"There was documentation from one of the doctors who examined your daughter - they found additional chakra in her system that didn't match her signature but it did match the signature of your late daughter - Hinata." Zaria explained, watching the man's face change.

"Hinata's Chakra...was in Hanabi?" Hiashi asked.

"More like her soul - if I were to assume: Your eldest daughter fragmented her soul and gave it to your youngest daughter to make her stronger; that's why your youngest survived her infancy." The doctor explained.

Hiashi sat there thinking for a while: Hinata was strong when she was young but she became weaker when Hanabi was born, an infant that wasn't supposed to survive, but she did and rose the ranks. If what the doctor is saying is true, then...Hinata was the strongest one of all.

"If that's true - why is Hanabi so weak now?" Hiashi asked.

"The Soul Fragment is no longer within your youngest and without it, she is reverting back to her premature status; her organs are shutting down slowly." The doctor said.

"Missing?! Where is it?!" Hiashi panicked.

"If I were to guess from the testimonies of the group that brought her here...The Masked Tigress took it from her." The doctor concluded.

[Meanwhile - With Neji Hyuga]

The Former Genius of the Hyuga Clan limped through the forest path of the trail that leads to the Tigress's Cabin - he was on a mission but it was not a mission of revenge; he needed answers. When he awakened in the hospital, he was encountered by Lord Hiashi who was furious with him for failing to avenge the death of the Hyuga Heiress. In his anger, Hiashi activated the Curse Mark of the Branch Clan but...nothing happened. Hiashi tried again but nothing happened; he decided to take care of him later but he had a daughter to look over. Neji was confused and decided the seek out the Tigress when her words from their fight rang in his head: "Let's see if you can truly understand once your cage is opened...and your body is broken."

'I need answers..." Neji thought as he limped through the trail until he came to the clearing; the cabin was in his sights but he knew not to get too close. He stopped halfway and roared out to the building made of wood, "Tigress! Come out here!" He demanded but it was silent...until...

"Why do you lapdogs always seem to find where I live?" Neji looked behind him and saw the masked girl with bags of groceries in her hands and her 'husband' by her side with more.

"Do you want me to deal with him, my love?" Haku asked but his brown eyes remained trained on Neji - The Hyuga could feel the killing intent coming off him like the stench from a rotting corpse.

"It's fine. He's not here to fight. Please take the bags inside and I'll be there soon." Tigress said as she handed the bags to her husband, giving him a kiss on his cheek before he walked away, still glaring at Neji asked he moved to the house. "Kami, I love that man." She looked at Neji, "What do you want?" She growled.

"I want to know something. You've expressed that you hate this village and all its people. You've expressed that you detest the Hyuga Clan; mainly Lord Hiashi, Lady Hanabi, and myself. You displayed your desire to destroy us when you broke my body during the Chunin Exams..." Neji began.

"You're right on those but I feel like you have something to say, say it." Tigress folded her arms.

"I want to know...if you hate us so much - if you really want us to suffer as much as you claimed - then why?" He reached up, grabbing at the bandages around his forehead, and pulled them down, "Why would you free me from the one thing that has brought my clan so much pain?" He asked as he places his fingertips on his clear forehead - the curse seal gone from his flesh and the power that was held over him.

"Call it - returning the favor to the friend." Tigress explained.

"What?" Neji asked.

"You hated your cousin for something she couldn't control: she never asked to be the Hyuga Heiress, she never asked to be a Hyuga, hell, she never asked to be born. She saw how angry you were when you lost your father and regardless of how much pain you put her through, she wanted to find a way to free you from your own pain. I owed you that much...for taking her away from you." Tigress turned on her heel and began to walk away. 

Leaving Neji standing there with his mind racing, he fell to his knees and began to sob - all the pain he went through was now gone, the Head Branch had no hold on him anymore but the worse thing was...

'She had to die...for me to be free? She was looking for a way to free me no matter the pain I put her through for something she couldn't control?' The tears flowed down his face as he closed his eyes and all the grief filled him once again - he gained what he wanted but lost something much more precious...

"LITTLE SISTER!!! COME BACK!!!" He roared to the sun - the thing that reminded him of the cousin he called sister, a constant reminder of what he lost.