Forced Paths

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The cells were cold as they've always been. She had come here once or twice, maybe some more, to learn how prisoners should be treated, how treason should be treated. Striped from clothes, from any dignity until the chill would find the way to the bones, until it would be unbearable and they would beg for mercy. For a blanket at first, for death later. A wish that would never be granted.
She looked at her hands, the restraints were heavy and tight as they should be, to leave scars, to make every move hurt. There was blood on her palms, dry and still red despite the dirt. Blood that wasn't her own. Blood of people she knew, blood close to her own.
She took a breath, quickly a second.
She had ended lives, easily, a swing of the sword that was all it took. Her father would be proud, she smiled with the irony of it.
Who would have thought, he would say, dismissive still.
She let out a sob. She could puke right now. Another sob. For the irony, for the blood on her hands.
Sasuke would say it was necessary. It was. And still.
She had killed someone. Anyone. Her father.
He existed yesterday, this morning, he existed and talked and commanded. He had breathed.
And now he was not.
Just like that. Just with a swing of a sword. Just a decision away from one's mind.
Was it like this for every killer? She hoped it was. Otherwise, without the pit in the stomach, the sob, the twist on the insides, otherwise what was that was left.
She shivered. From the cold of the wall behind her, from the chill in her bones.
She wished that at least she had achieved something. Anything else than making her dead father proud.
She hoped that Neji had succeeded. She hoped that Fugaku Uchiha was on his way to his home. To his land. To his wife.
She hoped that she was able to keep her promise.
She was sure that he would still mark her as a traitor. Relishing Neji Hyuga, her father's right hand was treason after all. Despite the fact that she killed his enemy. She smiled a little, cried some more.
She wasn't sure that the death of the Hyuga clan would stop the fights. But it would definitely stall them from marching to the Uchiha grounds. It would give them some time.
She was sure of that at least. Because the clan was her father for many years. In his arrogance, he never let anyone rise close enough, for a moment like this to be dealt quickly. That was a mistake. Perhaps, she shouldn't think like this. Perhaps it was wrong to judge a dead man, a man that she had killed.
Hanabi would want to fight, to destroy, to shout out her grief. She was her father's choice, but even her, wasn't him. Neji was there. To stop her, the voice of reason. And because Hanabi wasn't Hiashi, she would perhaps listen.
Now was the time to negotiate. To take the scattered pieces, to form a truce. They couldn't win without her father. Not now. And they didn't have a leverage. Not anymore. Not with Fugaku Uchiha gone. She had made perfectly clear that she wasn't one. For everyone to listen. For her father to acknowledge the very fact, before he died. You will die as a Hyuga, he had said and she hoped his words echoed still.
She wished Sasuke would listen. He had his own voice of reason. Itachi was calm, he would understand that now was not the time to break in another fight. Not for one person that wasn't part of the clan.
She had made her decision on her own. Fight as a Hyuga. Die as such. Trying to prevent a war. Trying to keep him safe.
She hoped she did.
She looked at her hands again. If she focused enough, she would only see the dirt. Not much different for when she planted the seeds in her garden. The garden back home. She had been meaning to care for it more, to plant a tree, watch it grow over the years.
When I get back. He had said and she had agreed.
It would be probably drained by now. She hadn't watered the plants enough for the weather back... back home. And Sasuke surely would never attend to it. Perhaps Mikoto would stop by, perhaps she would take pity on the flowers that would slowly die under the sun. Perhaps someone would plant a tree.
She felt the move on her throat. An exhale of air, a quiet cry. She tried to move her hands, compell them to reach her eyes, an irrational move, since the restraints wouldn't let them. So  she settled, when the first tears moved at her cheeks.

____

Neji had come. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, only that he was here. He had brought a blanket, a woollen things that itched. The best that he could do.
The warmth would made her cry.
He was accompanied by two guards, angry set of eyes rested on her, on the blanket that she surely didn't deserve. But Neji had said that Hanabi would come, that she shouldn't be forced to watch just a spectacle and they had quietly agreed.
He watched her, silent and unmoving. He was asking Hinata knew, why she never listened, why didn't she tell him, what could he do.
He was trying to find a way. Hinata didn't want him to. Because if he tried to set her free, they would switch places, he would be here, cold, without anyone to bring him a cover.
"Your sister will come shortly." He said and left.
But it seemed as hours had passed, before Hanabi came. Four guards this time. Neji again.
"Leave us." She said when Hinata looked at her. She had been crying, trying to cover it under powders that used for weddings.
"Hyuga-sama." One guard spoke.
"Do I have to repeat myself?" She asked and her tone was cold.
I won't repeat myself. Father would have said.
"I have Neji with me." She added.
Father would have only looked.
When the quietness fell, Hinata tried to speak.
"Hana.."
"Don't talk." Her sister replied. "I don't want to hear your voice. I just want to look at you." She was angry. On the verge of crying. But she didn't. Hinata wanted to compliment her on that. She wanted to tell her to let go, it didn't matter anymore.
"Who gave her a blanket?" She asked after a while.
"I did. The sight was unpleasant." Neji replied. Neutral. Cold.
"Prisoners don't take blankets. Father..." She said and she stopped.
"Someone must see to the wound on her arm." Neji added. His eyes remaining on Hanabi.
"Why?" Hanabi returned the gesture.
"Because the wound could infect and she will die." Neji replied calmly. Distant.
"I don't care." Hanabi said after a breath. "Let her die." She gave her a last look, before she turned around and left.
Hinata followed the echo of her shoes.
"The fighting has seized for now." Neji said quietly and left to follow her sister.
Hinata let out a breath and her head fell on the wall behind her.