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"I have a proposition for you."
Moegi can count on one hand the number of times she's spoken with Hyūga Hanabi privately. That is, she never has. The girl didn't go to the academy. Hiashi had been convinced that a private education would be better for her; being exposed to other children had supposedly softened Hinata.
So even though they would've been in the same year and they are the same age, Moegi doesn't have a lot of experience with the Hyūga heiress. But here she is, lips pursed and pale eyes slightly narrowed.
"A what?" Moegi asks.
Hanabi doesn't roll her eyes, but she does this thing how she purses her mouth that lets Moegi know she's displeased.
"I want to talk to you," Hanabi says, punching out the words. "Would you give me a moment of your time, Senju-san?"
Moegi nods. It's still strange being called 'Senju' instead of Kazamatsuri. She had taken on the name after the Mokuton unfurled itself inside of her. She had started sitting in on her older sister's lessons with Tsunade. Moegi will never be clan head, not if the world of peace that the war had ushered in stayed consistent. The Mokuton would ensure that she'd be made to pop out a few kids for the clan, but Tsunade was unconcerned. So was Umeko.
Moegi supposed she was lucky. Not every clan was lead by women who weren't keen on having children themselves, and therefore, weren't of the mind to force a pregnancy onto someone who wasn't particularly ready for one.
"Sure, Hyūga-san," she replies. "How can I help you?"
"Not here," Hanabi says, voice low and snappish. "Elsewhere. Please. Come with me."
Moegi looks down at the formal kimono Hanabi is wearing, and at the formal one she is wearing as well. Umeko is dressed better, of course, and Tsunade doesn't care much for her own appearance when it comes to clan council meetings.
The others assembled had at least put more effort into their clothes. Today was the day Moegi had been officially acknowledged as a Senju and as Umeko's heir apparent should she come into the mantle of clan head prematurely.
The room had mostly emptied and the Senju had stayed behind, accepting compliments and congratulations on Moegi's behalf. Tsunade had slid out to see to the former Mizukage still sleeping in her bed. Umeko had popped out to settle some things with their cousin, the Rokudaime. Something about Kakashi adopting kids so the Hatake would have heirs, or whatever.
The rest of the Hyūga had left. Hiashi had given Moegi his most solemn gaze through the whole meeting, like he was expecting her to crumble under the pressure of her new position.
Which to be fair, Moegi was kind of worried about also.
"Where should we go?" she asks.
Hanabi looks over Moegi's shoulder, her pale eyes narrowed. Then, she huffs out an annoyed breath and bypasses Moegi completely. She shuts the door with a firm click and then locks it.
"Marry me."
Moegi has to force her jaw not to drop. Hanabi does roll her eyes this time.
"I am in a very difficult situation," Hanabi explains, jaw clenched as she does, "with my father. I'm still his heir, not the clan head yet. The war took a lot out of him, but he doesn't want to step down. Too stubborn, I think."
She folds her arms about her chest, her gaze narrowed.
"There are lots of traditions that he doesn't want to let go of," she continues. "The Caged Bird Seal being one of them. I think it's archaic and disgusting. He thinks it's just the way things are done. As long as he's still clan head, I can't do much about it but it's high time the ugly thing came off the heads of my kinsmen."
Moegi nods slowly. She's pretty sure she's being told things that she isn't supposed to hear. Clans were very tightly lipped about internal strife. Hanabi must be in an incredibly difficult position if she was willing to reach out to Moegi about it.
"How would a marriage solve that?" she asks.
Hanabi sucks her teeth.
"If I'm married," she says, "to someone with great esteem, someone in a clan with great esteem, it makes my opinion more valuable to our clan elders. It means that someone else will know Hyūga business. It also means more potential Hyūga children, which my father is too old to produce."
Moegi can feel her cheeks color at that, and feels childish for it. Hanabi only snorts.
"I'm not sure we can have children -, "
Hanabi waves a hand.
"How do you think Yamato-san was born?" Hanabi asks. "Science can do much stranger things that build a child from two women."
It could build a child from no women at all. That was true enough.
"But why, uh - ," Moegi begins. She scratches her cheek, suddenly feeling bashful. "Why would you pick me?"
Hanabi lifts a brow.
"You're a Senju," she says, matter-of-fact. "You have a bloodline connection to the Shodaime and the Niidaime both. You have a biological Mokuton and a strong sensing ability." Hanabi shrugs a shoulder. "Combining our bloodlines would entice the elders into giving me whatever I want."
Moegi bites her lip. Tsunade and Umeko had both warned her about marriage proposals and political alliances. Umeko for the most part, would be the one faced with the lion's share of them. Tsunade was clan head, but Umeko was her heir, and while she was still young, she would be seen as the more reasonable counterpart to the rather obstinate Tsunade.
Moegi on the other hand? Moegi was Umeko's little sister, and as such, held her ear better than anyone else. If someone wanted to get to Tsunade, they'd get to Umeko through Moegi.
The both of them had told her to be on the lookout, but she hadn't expected to have to deal with it so soon.
"I'm - ," Moegi sucks in a breath, then licks her lips. It should hurt, to be spoken about in such away. In terms of bloodlines and kekkei genkai and inherited abilities. Is that how all clan shinobi thought of the world? Is that how she would have to start thinking?
"You're kind."
Moegi blinks. Hanabi's arms are still crossed, and she is studiously staring at the space just above Moegi's shoulder instead of looking her in the eye.
"Most people think it's a weakness in shinobi," she says, sniffing. "I find it - I find it admirable. During the assault, before you were evacuated, you were trying to save lives. You were a genin. You had no place in that fight, but you tried anyway."
Moegi can't tell if it's a trick of the light or of her own foolishness. But she can almost swear that there's a flush of red on Hanabi's cheeks.
"You're stubborn. No one who's such close friends with Sarutobi Konohamaru can be anything but. I heard about what you did for him, when he challenged Sabaku no Temari. You care deeply about your friends and comrades. And not just them, but about others in the village."
Hanabi's mouth hangs open, like she's trying to find new words to say. Moegi stays silent. She's stock still and very, very confused.
"I - ," Hanabi shuts her mouth and shakes her head. She looks nervous. "It's strange to say I've watched you. But I have. I've watched everyone in your year. You would've been my graduating class." She says it like she's giving up some terrible secret, and Moegi can't help the way her heart throbs in her chest. "You would have been my comrades, maybe even my friends if my father had been more reasonable."
"I know the circumstances aren't ideal," she says, dropping her arms from around her chest. "I don't have much to offer you other than the prestige of the Hyūga and our riches. But if we were wed, I would give you your freedom. You could come and go as you pleased. I would bear our children. I would never force you into anything. I just, - "
"You need help."
Hanabi finally looks at her. Really looks at her. Moegi's gaze softens. She doesn't look like a child, but she does look young. Not desperate, but earnest. Like she's nearing the end of her rope and she's grasping at straws.
"My cousin Neji nearly died protecting my sister," Hanabi says. "When all his life, he wanted to prove he was just as good as the Main Branch, he nearly dies in service to it. He was brainwashed. And now he's - he's - ,"
There was still a measure of shame to having a disability in the shinobi world. Things that could be navigated around, like missing eyes or limbs were easily ignored. But unlike his sensei, Neji didn't have the Rokudaime for a life partner, or the prestige of beating down Uchiha Madara to force the respect of the other shinobi around him when he was in his wheelchair.
No. Neji was just one other almost-casualty. Totally unfit for combat. Moegi had heard through Umeko, about what had happened to him after the war. How the Hyūga had stopped paying for his medical bills for his long term hospital stay. How Nara Yoshino named him a ward of her clan, how Shikamaru had married him at his bedside.
Neji would never be able to run more than a mile for the rest of his natural born life. His heart was too weak for it now. The Hyūga didn't want a drain on their resources. Hinata had renounced her Hyūga heritage after the fact, had moved in with Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, further cementing her fall from her former clan's good graces.
And in Hanabi's eyes, Moegi can see the heartbreak that has been threatening to topple Moegi over.
"My father won't so much as speak my sister's name, and Hinata won't even walk on the same side of the street as clan members other than me," she says. Her cheeks redden not just with her embarrassment but now with her upset, with the sharp tang of tears that Hanabi has been raised too well to shed.
"I know nobody forced Neji to save Hinata, but he was conditioned over a lifetime. And knowing that there are other children, my little cousins - knowing that they're going to grow up willing to kill themselves because I tell them to - ,"
"I'll have to talk with my sister," Moegi says, cleanly interrupting. "And my clan head, about your proposal."
Hanabi stops, her breath coming quick. Moegi steps forward once, and then again. She reaches out and takes Hanabi's hands in hers. They're cool, and this close, Moegi can't really escape the soft cucumber and water feel of Hanabi's chakra. It's cool and light despite the static energy that marks the feeling of her nervousness, of her concern.
It would be harder than this. Much harder than a wedding and a power struggle, it had to be more difficult than that. Moegi wasn't a fool. But she's well aware that as her sister's heir, she could do a lot worse than a Hyūga. Not to mention she didn't even have to seek out this proposal. Umeko would be the one that had to land a catch.
Moegi rubs her thumb gently over Hanabi's knuckles and tries to give her a smile.
"But between you and me," Moegi says, well aware she's breaking several rules of propriety by saying so much, "I'll help you."
Hanabi's lips part and a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. It's hesitant, slow, but then it goes wide. She's lovely when she smiles, Moegi notices. Hanabi squeezes Moegi's hands. Moegi takes in a deep breath and wonders just how furious her sister will be with her. Or Tsunade for that matter.
"Just between you and me, I'll marry you."