*happies all over the screen*

[askerian]

res_judicata wrote Teamwork drabbles for me! She likes hinata and well, I really love HER hinata, so mcuh that i wonder if i'm not going to poke mine into looking a little bit more like hers. because wheeee! gentle-but-steely!hinata? just. so. much. love.

These are not really canon, but they still fit, or /could/ fit with a little tweaking, and they make me very happy, because eee, fanfic for my fanfic? i rule I love the Hyuuga clan and its fuckedupness, and need to drag it into Teamwork, at least just to make the world a little richer. :3

seeing as her lj is friendslocked, i'm reposting everything her with her permission. *loveloves*

res_judicata: Hello, Askerian's Teamwork Universe. I would like to play with you.

Askerian's Teamwork Universe: Oh fuck.


The image Hinata rocking the baby on her hip and mucking about in her garden wouldn't leave me alone. I'll probably write something more later. But this wanted to be written, so here it is. And, yeah, Neji/Hinata is a ship I like. Mostly because I think they would have an interesting dynamic, should Hinata be officially declared heir.



"I really do not think it would be appropriate to ask the heir of the main family of the Hyuga to babysit--"

Neji broke off mid-sentence as Hinata reached out and gently took the squirming infant from Sasuke's tense grip. Naruto beamed at her. It has been his idea, after all, to ask that Hinata babysit his kid--cub came the growling voice from deep inside his mind--while they trained. They needed someone to be able to take the baby for a couple of hours out of everyday. Someone safe, someone calm, and most importantly someone nuetral that no one would argue or yell about. No one yelled at Hinata any more. Yelling at Hinata was a bad idea.

Hinata drew a finger a long the smooth cheek of the baby. The baby responded by cooing and then trying to chew on Hinata's finger. She smiled. Neji sighed.

"It's really not right," he tried again.

"We'll be in the garden," Hinata said calmly, ignoring her older cousin's exasperated look at her. "I think we'll be just fine."

"Thanks again, Hinata," Naruto said, bouncing on his toes. He liked it when his ideas worked out. Especially when his ideas working out meant less of Sakura stressing about her mother.

"I have a bag with the bottle, and nappies, and the toys," Sakura explained, opening the compartments to show where everything is. Hinata nodded. Neji sighed again and took the bag.

"Have a good practice, Naruto-kun," Hinata's voice was calm, gentle, and serene. Naruto liked it. Liked the way it made Sasuke's shoulders relaxed, liked the way it made the lines around Sakura's eyes fade, liked the way it made the low growling deep inside him settle down. It was hard not to trust Hinata with the baby.

"We will, Hinata-chan," Naruto replied, and Kyuubi noticed with amusement at how Neji bristled at the familiar address.

Hinata nodded again, and turned away. He watched, feeling relieved and vindicated, as she walked into the vast expanse of the Hyuuga main house, her hips doing that unconcious female rocking to comfort the baby. Neji cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable and displeased. Neji tended to take, as Sakura had pointed out, his role as advisor to his younger cousin very seriously.

"Not more than four hours," Neji tried to look detached and official, but instead looked pained, "She has duties to which she must attend."

Naruto intervined before Sasuke could bristle at the tone or Sakura could start to fuss. He had noticed--no one ever took his observational skills seriously--that she had gotten a lot more ... nervous about Hinata ever since the other girl had been declared heir to the main house of Hyuuga. "We'll be back before then. Thanks again."

Neji nodded, still looking pained. He glanced back at the shadowed doors of the Hyuuga clan compound with a bemused expression. "They'll be waiting for you in the garden."

+





She balanced the baby on one hip as if she had always known how to balance a baby and still carefully the nightshade leaves for the poisons to go on her little sister's kunai. Surrounded by the high walls of the Hyuuga compound and the flowering abundance of her garden Hinata looked like a delicate princess. A princess that knew over a thousand different recipes for poisons, had an uncanny ability for long term strategy, and was an impressive--though imperfect--fighter herself. Neji watched, unsure if he should intrude, as Hinata held a delicate crocus blossom up to the baby, careful to keep it away from grabbing hands. He imagined that she was explaining its use; how the flowers could be boiled into a deadly, painful poison that would eat its way through the body and killing the victim in less than 48 hours.

"Hinata-sama."

She placed the blossom in her basket, careful not to bruise the delicate flower, before turning to face him. Ever since that fight, during his first Chunnin exam, she had subtly and carefully distanced herself even more from him and the rest of her family. He watched, passive and inoffensive, as she settled the baby amongs the flowering hyacinths. (wide brimmed petals that could be crushed into teas to cause comas).

"Neji-kun," she acknowledged him quietly, her hands folded in front of her demurely, but he recognized the stance as the opening position of 'the snake'--a sinious, devious kata that suited her form well. She never quite let her guard down around him. Not any more. "Has Naruto-kun returned?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama," he paused hesistant and aware of his place. "I am not sure it is wise to...." He searched for a diplomatic way to phrase his words.

"To have clearly demonstrated our support for Naruto-kun?" She asked quietly. He tried not to flinch under that calm, unforgiving stare. "To have obviously allied ourself with our village's salvation?"

with your salvation, he heard the words even if she did not speak them.

"It will be difficult."

She smiled gently. "The right choices always are."
~~~

Naruto fidgeted. Sasuke was radiating irritation and tension, clear signs of distress. He should have realized that being in the Hyuuga clan's compound would bring back uncomfortable memories. He could kill Itachi, but he couldn't kill the demons that lurked in Sasuke's mind. Sakura sat on his otherside, clearly as uncomfortable with her surroundings as the Bastard. Where was Hinata anyway.

"Neji has gone to tell Hinata-sama that you have returned," said the dark haired, too serious girl in front of him. He knew that underneath the head band that kept back her long hair there would be a complex rune.

"Why do you call your sister 'sama'?" Sakura asked before Naruto could stop her. She gave him that 'what is your problem' look when he made subtle gestures not to ask.

The girl cocked her head. "Because my sister is heir to the main house. She will be the head of the Hyuuga clan, one day."

Sasuke gave the girl a look that Naruto didn't understand. "Don't you like your sister?" Do you resent her? Do you hate her for being the first was question that was asked in the undertones. The girl's expression, if possible, became even more stony.

"My sister is everything." None of them knew what to do with that statement. They had a moment of sharing looks that said they were all confused as to what was going on with the Hyuuga family and their funny family politics.

"So, um," Naruto loved Sakura, but sometimes he really hated her desire to fill in every awkward silence with more uncomfortable words. "Does Neji love Hinata, because, um, it seemed like they were really close..." She shut up when both Sasuke and Naruto stomped on her foot. Even he understood that sometimes there were questions that you just didn't ask. Especially to the girl in question's little sister.

Hinata's sister bit her lower lip. "Neji has been declared my sister's official advisor, so they spend a lot of time together." She looked at them for a long while, assessing them; though it wasn't as one shinobi assessing another, she had already done that, but a different sort of assessing that he had to do with clans and politcs and all the things that threatened to take everything away from him. he didn't like that look. "Neji loves Hinata like a flower loves the sun, like the earth loves the water."

He could see Sakura being swept away by the romance of it, and Sasuke dismissing the statements as too silly, but he knew Neji. And he knew, sort of, this house. "Has Hinata forgiven Neji?" Well, he thought to himself, if they were going to get stuck in this conversation, they might as well get really stuck.

"My sister--"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said quietly as she stepped into the room and all of Naruto's attention spun down to the cooing bundle in her arms trying very hard to nibble on her finger. Cub, said Kyuubi. Yeah, yeah, the kid's okay, so hush up already, furball. he said back, but was just as relieved. "Imouto, I have salves for Sakura-kun for the baby's teeth, could you get them, please?"

The girl bowed, low and respectful, and then blushed when Hinata caught one of her hands. "Hanabi! Your hands are all scratched up! You're supposed to tell me when you reopen the cuts when trainning," Hinata scolded.

"Branch family," the younger girl began.

Hinata drew herself up to her full 5'2'' height and managed to look both regal and cute. "You're my sister. Branch family or no, you are my sister, and you should come to me when you hurt your hands!" Hinata scowled, and then rocked the baby who had begun to fuss. "There is a healing salve on the top second shelf in my shed, it should be done, you should use that. You can get it when you pick up the things for Sakura-kun."

The girl bowed again, and then not quite ran out of the room with Hinata still scowling after her.

"Hinata-kun," Sakura began, "You really didn't have to--"

"The baby has started teething early, so I made some salves to help ease the pain a little," Hinata said to Naruto, quietly overriding Sakura. He saw Sakura struggle between feeling irritated at getting ignored and being baffled. He was relieved to Sakura settle when Hinata handed back the baby and the two of them started the talk that girls always do when there are babies around. He spotted Neji watching Hinata. like the earth loves rain Neji's gaze only flickered from Hinata long enough to glower at Sasuke who was still radiating tension and irritation. He thought, maybe, it wasn't quite a good thing.

"Sasuke-kun." Naruto fidgeted when Hinata planted herself infront of Sasuke. He knew his dark haired lover didn't take well to confrontation. Especially when he was already nervous.

Hinata either ignored or was oblivious to Sasuke's glower of doom. "Please feel free to leave the baby with me at any time, and if any of my medicines would be of use, please ask."

She held Sasuke's dark, suspicious gaze for a long time, and Naruto was sure some sort of understanding went between them. An understanding that only two children of ancient, powerful aristocratic clans would have. Sasuke nodded.

"Thanks again, Hinata-chan," he said, suddenly eager to get out from the huge house and its dark corridors.

He didn't look back until they were well down the road. Then he did look back at the Hyuuga clan's compound and wonder just what it cost Hinata to do a couple of hours of babysitting.