SasuHina: Beyond The Camera

Chapter 2

Later that evening, I snuck back inside my family's home and went straight to my room after convincing a few maids not to announce my arrival to my father.

Our house wasn't the mansion you'd expect the CEO of Hyuuga to have, but it was still grander than a run-of-the-mill high-class family home. My mother had designed the house before dying while giving birth to Hanabi. She was an outstanding architect who gave up her career when she fell in love with my dad. She gave up one dream for another.

When Father found the designs after her passing, he made plans to have the house built without a moment's delay. It's been years since her untimely death, but Father has never even gone on a date with another woman. Instead, he threw himself into his work, which obviously paid off with the company's current status.

Even if the company continues to thrive, his home life wasn't. Hanabi still has her rebellious teenage nature to outgrow but shows promise that I clearly don't. Neji, when around, tries his best to follow in Father's footsteps. His own father died when he was a child, and my mother convinced my father to take him in. Hiashi doesn't treat him as one of his own but still acknowledges his skill in the field. Neji is focused and driven around his uncle, but when he isn't around, he's actually quite mellow and comforting, if a little short-tempered, when it comes to Hanabi and me.

Alas, that leaves me: the eldest daughter that just doesn't have what it takes. As Father has repeatedly said, I am too "soft" to fit the bill. I don't feel there's anything spectacular about my compassion and empathy toward others compared to your everyday person. Still, compared to the Hyuuga family, I'm the black sheep.

Anything less than complete professionalism is unacceptable. It's even normal for Hyuga parents to treat their children as a type of understudy rather than family members.

I sighed while applying the finishing touches to an overnight face mask in the mirror of my ensuite bathroom. It was dark out, nearly midnight, and I couldn't manage to fall asleep.

A few things were making me restless. The first being, obviously, the audition I'd have to somehow perform well in tomorrow. Kakashi Hatake had said that I was the final member of this four-person group.

A familiar warmth rose to my cheeks, but I felt cooler with the still-drying mask against my skin. That means that everyone else will be ahead of me regarding training. Not only that, but I'll have no choice but to get along with whoever's already part of the group. It's been so long since I've spoken comfortably with anyone my age. In fact, I was beginning to worry if I'd start to have fainting spells again.

Suigetsu's the second reason for my insomnia. Would he be waiting for me when I get to school after tomorrow's audition? Did he tell Karin about what happened earlier? If so, would she try to hurt me in return?

I absent-mindedly touched the messy bun on the top of my head, remembering that poor pink-haired girl they'd bullied.

Another sigh slipped past my lips, and I wandered into my bedroom. It had plush gray carpet, white Victorian-style furniture, and a large poster bed with lavender bedding thrown invitingly on top of the plush mattress and silky sheets. My bed is, by far, my favorite thing in the whole house.

Despite longing to throw myself unceremoniously onto the soft contraption, I headed to my walk-in closet and debated what to wear for the audition. I'd decided to skip my morning classes, go to the audition, and then go to school afterward if I finished in time.

I hadn't missed a school day since year three of elementary when I had chickenpox. If I were ever sick, Father would have me take medication and then send me off anyway, more worried about my schooling than me getting someone else sick or how terrible I felt.