Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 87: An Attitude Problem
As Naruto was walking through the sitting areas, he spotted someone familiar and approached.
"I thought you had to stay in the hospital for another week," he told the girl next to him after leaning on the brick balcony.
"Naruto!" Hinata almost jumped from the shock.
"I… I didn't see you approach."
"If anyone should see me approach, that would be you," Naruto remarked on her Byakugan ability.
"I don't use it all the time…" She still felt very embarrassed to be next to him, but at least she could talk mostly normally now.
It had only been six days since she woke up from her coma, and Naruto went to visit her on the second day.
They talked about various things but avoided the topic of her family troubles since she didn't seem to feel like talking about it.
"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked her.
"Better… the doctor said that I should be completely recovered in a month," Hinata told him.
She got lucky not to have any permanent injuries after what Neji did to her. But no one in her clan had spoken in her defense, so she remained quiet about it.
Still, she was very happy that Naruto showed interest in her. He was the only one who visited her in the hospital, other than her sensei and teammates.
Her father had only come the day prior to remind her that her presence was required at the finals. After all, she was the Hyuga heir.
"Oi, stay away from my daughter."
Naruto heard someone speaking in a harsh tone from behind him.
He turned around and saw a man with long black hair and white eyes, sitting close by, and he did not look happy to see him.
"You must be Lord Hyuga," Naruto said calmly.
"Indeed, and I don't need to ask for your name. I already know who you are...the troublemaker of Konoha and the worst student of your year," Lord Hyuga said.
"Father, please…," Hinata muttered.
"You better keep quiet… you have done enough to embarrass me already. Come here and sit down next to your sister," the man demanded.
"Sorry…" Hinata said to Naruto in a whisper before walking to her seat.
"Looks like your clan has some internal issues, Lord Hyuga," Naruto told the man without skipping a beat.
The two Hyuga attendants who were sitting behind their lord gasped in shock.
Not even the Hokage would speak to Lord Hiashi with so little courtesy.
"My clan is none of your business, and neither is my daughter. So stay away from both… this is the only warning you'll get from me," Hiashi said in a cold tone.
Normally, Naruto would avoid offending the leader of a powerful clan for no good reason, but he knew how empty his threat was.
There was no way for the Lord of the Hyuga clan to attack him inside the village without suffering some serious consequences.
He had a reputation to maintain. He could not go around assaulting Genins as he pleased, unless he had a very good excuse to do so.
"Your daughter was almost killed by a lesser member of your clan…" Naruto saw as Neji arrived and sat down to the left of Lord Hyuga without saying a word.
"And I see that he has suffered no consequences for his actions."
Neji stared at him with his white, empty eyes.
"If that had been my daughter, I would have at least taken one of his limbs as an example," Naruto added.
"D-daughter!..." Hinata's face turned red, and she got lost in her own imagination.
"How many times must I repeat myself? This is none of your business!" Lord Hyuga stood up from his seat.
"Neji is the genius of our clan, why should I punish him? Had my heir been more… worthy of her position, she would not have been put in this situation." There was a lot of venom in Hiashi's words as he glared at Hinata.
This was obviously meant for her and not for Naruto.
Hinata lowered her head and said nothing.
"Hmph, Father, there is no need to waste words with this boy… he will soon get killed by Cousin Neji."
Naruto had barely noticed the small girl sitting on the right of the Clan Lord.
"Who is the little Hinata?" Naruto asked.
The girl immediately got angry.
"I'm not like my sister! And my name is Hanabi!"
"I see, the little sister…" Naruto felt like he had learned a lot about the Hyuga clan from this short exchange already.
Lord Hiashi had Neji sitting at his left and his youngest daughter sitting at his right, while Hinata, his heir, was one more seat away.
This showed the Lord's preference and also told him that the Hyuga clan holds a traditional inheritance system where the older child becomes the heir, but at the same time, their current Lord values talent and strength over everything else.
That would explain why Lord Hiashi did not punish Neji. As far as he is concerned, the strong should discipline the weak, so he didn't do anything wrong other than point out the current heir's weakness.
"So you are sure that I will lose against Neji, huh?" Naruto glanced at the little Hyuga girl.
She grinned with satisfaction.
"Of course! A loser like you has no chance."
"Hanabi!" Hinata looked horrified.
Neji had remained stoic during the whole exchange, opting not to join in.
As far as he was concerned, Naruto was so far beneath him that it would be insulting for him to say anything.
"Is that so?… Then what about this...If I don't get horribly beaten by this cousin of yours… you will have to refer to me as Mister Naruto every time you see me, and you will do it with the utmost respect that a girl of your caliber and education knows how to," Naruto suggested.
"And if you don't?" Hanabi asked.
"Then, according to you, I would be dead, so there is no point in further terms, right?"
Hanabi seemed to be thinking about it.
"Fine, if you win, I'll call you whatever you want. Like that is going to happen…"
"Hanabi…" Hiashi gave her a look of disapproval.
"Then I will take my leave and wait for my turn." Naruto looked at Hinata.
"We can talk more on another occasion," he told her before walking away.
"Hey! I told you to stay away from my daughter!" Lord Hyuga shouted.
"And I chose to ignore it!" Naruto shouted back without turning around.
"Damn boy!" Hiashi glared at his younger daughter.
"And you! Why would you engage him in a stupid bet?"
Hanabi made a troubled expression.
"But he… but Father, it's not like he can win!"
"That's not the point! You should have ignored him and been done with it… urgh…" Hiashi turned to Neji.
"You better teach that arrogant boy his place."
"Of course, Lord Hyuga… I will…" Neji answered.
"Naruto…" Hinata looked at his back as he was getting away.
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