Chapter 45: An Annoying Busy Body

Hinata stared up at the kind stranger who had comforted her and couldn't help but to smile back at him as well. This was the first time that someone had spoken so kindly to her and she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the mess of emotions that she was trying her best to keep contained. 

She had expected him to tease her for crying all the time or about her weird looking eyes. After all that's what the other children did from time to time. Maybe she thought that he would have chastised her for being a clutz and for messing up the day's celebration, but instead he had comforted her. 

He had actually said that he thought that she was brave and strong! 

Words that had never been used to describe her even once before, and while she wasn't fully convinced by his words, she still took them to heart. 

By now her tears had stopped and Hinata, with a slight bit of embarrassment, separated herself from the strange boy's embrace as her embarrassment of losing her composure like that resurfaced. 

Keitaro on the other hand was just happy that he had managed to calm her down. He wasn't the best when it came to emotional things, but he would have never forgiven himself if he didn't do anything to comfort the hurting Hinata. 

He just told her the things that he wished someone had said to him all those years ago, and it seemed to have lifted her spirits quite a bit.

Another minute of comfortable silence passed between them both before Hinata began to play with her fingers. Hesitantly she asked a question that had been on her mind for a little while now and one that surprised Keitaro . 

"What is your name?"

Stunned, Keitaro paused for a moment as he realized that he hadn't in fact ever introduced himself but quickly got back his bearings.

"My name is Keitaro Inuzaka. I was invited to come here today with my brother and the other members of the Inuzuka Clan."

"I'm Hinata Huyga, heiress of the Hyūga clan." replied Hinata in turn. 

The two stared at each other for a moment before they both burst out in laughter. 

The two began to talk about each other, with Keitaro talking about the ninken of his clan and Hinata listening intently. The only thing that would have made it better would be if Keitaro had a ninken of his own for HInata to play with as they chatted. 

Sadly though, it wouldn't do for either him or Hinata to be missing for too long. Not to mention that the evening's competition would soon be underway and the both of them would need to be there for them. Keitaro, so that he could compete, and HInata so that she could continue to enjoy her birthday celebrations.

"I think we better head on back, don't you?" Keitaro finally said to Hinata as he climbed to his feet.

He brushed off the bits of grass that were stuck to his clothes and extended his hand out to Hinata so that he could help her to her feet. 

Nodding her head, Hinata gingerly took hold of Keitaro's extending hand and stood up as well. Maybe because of how she had been kneeling, the robe that she had been wearing was now also covered with grass stains.

Something that once she noticed seemed to make her rather upset since her eyes immediately started to water again.

"Hey, no need to cry. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have enough time to change into something else once you get back. Let's hurry before your Father notices anything."

With Hinata's hand in his, Keitaro quickly began to lead her out of the garden area.. Of course he quickly came to the realization that he actually wasn't sure of where he needed to go and quickly came to a stop. 

Thankfully Hinata seemed to notice his dilemma and pointed to one of the pathways that lead off into the distance. Grateful for the assist, Keitaro once more began to lead Hinata out of the garden area. 

They hadn't even gotten a few feet away from the garden area when Keitaro felt a shiver run down his spine, and in a moment of pure instinct, he jumped the side while dragging the unsuspecting Hinata with him.

No sooner had he did so, did a figure drop out of one of the trees. Their fist connected with the ground and a cloud of dust lifted up from the ground thanks to the amount of force that they had used. 

Confused, and on high alert, Keitaro wearily watched as the dust cleared while he kept the whimpering Hinata behind him. Yet he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the sight of Neji Huyga being revealed as his assailant.

"You've got quite a lot of nerve thinking you could get away with kidnapping Lady Hinata like that. Unfortunately for you, I'm not letting you go any farther." 

Neji stared down at Keitaro, the raised veins at the side of his eyes a clear indication that his byakugan was active. He waved his arms as he got into a fighting stance that caused the hair on Keitaro's arm to stand on end.

"Wait a minute I wasn't kidnapping anyo-" Keirato tried to explain the situation but he quickly closed his mouth as he was forced to dodge as Neji stuck at him with his palm. 

Whether or not Neji had mastered the Hyūga clan's renowned Gentle fist Taijutsu style at such a young age was up for debate, but regardless Keitaro had no intention of being hit by him in the slightest. 

"Can you just listen to me for a moment you retard!" Screamed Keitaro as he ducked and weaved to the best of his abilities. 

He couldn't help but thank Kazuki for forcing him to focus on running all the time since it really came in handy for him now as he kept being forced to run away. 

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of space, and there was only so much he could do to avoid being hit, and given that Neji seemed hell bent on taking him out, He would definitely not be walking away without a scratch.

Of course the headstrong Neji wasn't willing to entertain Keitaro in the slightest and only intensified his attempts to take him down.

"There is nothing for me to listen to, I saw you dragging around Lady Hinata and that's more than enough proof to prove your guilt. The more you struggle the more suffering you'll have to endure later." 

Gritting his teeth, Keitaro could only curse his luck as he couldn't help but wonder about what had gotten into Neji.

Wasn't he supposed to have a burning hatred for the main family for sealing his fate and stealing away his autonomy?

Wasn't he supposed to despise Hinata for having been branded by the caged bird seal? 

Hadn't he almost killed her when they faced each other in the Chini exams?

What was up with this stalwart defender act that he was putting on all of a sudden?!

He didn't have much time to be bothered with his thoughts for long though as he knew he wouldn't be able to keep dodging for long. While he was able to use his natural flexibility to mount a meager resistance so far, all it would take was one hit for him to enter a world of pain. 

Remembering the small ninja bag that his father had given to him before he left home that morning he reached into the bag and pulled out a small pellet that he had been experimenting with a few weeks prior and quickly threw it on the ground while covering his face with a cloth that he also pulled out of his bag.

With an exaggerated puff, a cloud cover of smoke was immediately created and plunged both Neji and Keitaro into darkness. Though Neji simply smirked and laughed at his opponents' futile actions.

"It looks like you underestimate the potency of the Huyga Clan's Dōjutsu. A little smoke screen screen like this won't be able to help you!" 

Immediately after his exclamation, Neji dove forward, managing to clip the side of Keitaro's waist as he barely managed to dodge the attack. The two soon exited the smoke screen and were back out into the open. 

Neji once more took on a combat ready stance as he narrowed his eyes. While he didn't show it, he was starting to get annoyed at the fact that he hadn't been able to take down the boy before him. 

From what he could tell, he and the boy were of similar ages and while he didn't want to honk his own horn, he was sure that there wasn't anyone else his age that would have been able to hold him back for so long.

He flinched when he noticed movement from Keitaro, though instead of continuing to run, Keitaro simply lowered the cloth that had been covering his mouth and nose and spat out angrily. 

"Don't you think I know that you'd be able to see me even through the smoke screen? The point of the smoke screen wasn't to blind you, but to let you lower your guard. You should be feeling a little dizzy right about now right?"

No sooner had he said so, did Neji stumble forward a bit. His eyes opened in horror as he realized that the world was beginning to spin, and with his Byakugan open, it was even worse since his vision was extended all around him. 

"What did you do to me?" Naji asked as he struggled to stay standing. 

"Nothing much, just a little something I whipped up while studying common poisons. It just causes paralysis and visual hallucinations." 

"It's best administered directly to the bloodstream, but can also be quite fast acting if inhaled. Of course since it usually has a very distinct smell, most would notice something off and avoid inhaling it. So I thought mixing it in with a smoke bomb that also tends to have a very distinctive smell would be a good way to utilize it."

Keitaro rummaged around in his ninja bag once more and quickly pulled out another pellet and quickly swallowed it. Only after doing so did he start to close the gap between him and Neji.

"Of course that also means that it could affect my allies and myself as well since we'd all be in the poisoned smoke areas of effect, but as long as I have the antidote then it's not that much of a problem."

By now Neji was kneeling as he struggled to push down the dizziness that was asailing him. He couldn't help but feel disgusted by keitaro's use of poison in such a blatant way but he had little room for regrets now.

"Even if you manage to take me out, you'll never get away with this. The Huyga will hunt you down mark-"

"Can you just shut up and think for a minute? I already told you that I was never trying to Kidnap Hinata in the first place! If you had bothered to ask me what I was doing with Hinata, instead of attacking me out of nowhere then you might have realized that already." 

Kietaro walked up to the incapacitated Neji and with quick movements, he poked him hard in the stomach. Reflexively Neji opened his mouth as he started to retch, only for Keiaro to immediately stick another pellet that he had taken from his ninja bag into Neji's unsuspecting mouth before slapping the bottom of his chin. 

The pellet was swallowed before Neji could even process what was happening, but when his brain managed to catch up with what had happened, he could do nothing but glare at Keitaro with an aggressive look still in his eyes. 

"What was that? Another poison? No matter what you do to me, I won't allow you to use me to sully the Hyūga name!"

"Oh calm down, it was just the antidote. I figured you wouldn't trust me enough to take it and while it isn't harmful, I'm sure that the grown ups wouldn't be too pleased to see you drugged and stumbling around like a fool." said Keitaro as he rolled his eyes.

His thoughts and the respect that he had for Neji were slowly fading as he was starting to grow annoyed with dealing with such a stubborn person.

Neji on the other hand didn't respond, but he still kept his guard up. 

"What are you even doing around here anyway? Shouldn't you have been preparing to compete in the games this evening?" Asked Keitaro

"Hmph, the patriarch asked me to find Hinata who seemed to have disappeared. That's when I came across you dragging her around and treating her like your captive."

"For the last time, I was not kidnapping Hinata you blockhead!"

Keitaro was tempted to stuff a few of his other experimental 'poisons' into Neji's mouth if only to relieve some of the anger that his presence was causing at this point.

"If you weren't kidnapping Lady Hinata then what were you doing?" Neji finally asked as he sat on the ground. 

"I was taking her back to the celebration area. I found her crying by herself and after calming her down and chatting for a bit we realized it was getting late and that someone might have been looking for her since she hadn't told anyone where she was going to be."

"A likely story, but I can't trust you. You are still suspicious as far as I am concerned." 

Keitaro slapped his forehead in frustration. How was he suspicious? Wasn't he just trying to be a good person by comforting a crying child? Hell he was a guest that should have been enjoying the food and drinks yet here he was being attacked by an overzealous bigheaded brat. 

Before he could say anything else though, a soft voice interrupted them.

"He's telling the truth brother Neji. We were heading back to the main house just now and he was even going to help me find someone to help me change my robe since it was stained. He's not a bad person."

Hinata, who had been partially forgotten in all of the excitement, had finally managed to catch up to the two of them. 

She had been so surprised by Neji's sudden appearance and accusations that she hadn't been able to interject before, and by the time she had been ready to explain both Neji and Keitaro had already started running away as they fought.

Heitaro couldn't help but smile when he heard Hinata backing him up. His choice to comfort her had been a blessing in disguise, wouldn't his name be cleared as long as she spoke up for him? 

Sadly Keitaro should have realized that reality never went the way he wanted it too and even though Hinata kept deafening him, Neji kept ignoring her pleas and kept insisting that Keitaro was too suspicious.

"Lady Hinata you don't have to lie for that miscreant. I'm sure you're too afraid of what he might do to you but you needn't be afraid of him!" Shouted Neji as he tried to scramble to his feet, but since he had inhaled quite a lot of the paralyzing smoke, he just ended up falling back onto the ground instead.

By now Keitaro was done with the whole fiasco and seeing how Neji was hell bent on blowing things out of proportion he simply decided to take an even more extreme measure. Without saying a word, he approached the still downed Neji and pinched him in his upper shoulder. A quick stream of chakra was injected and soon Nejo found himself losing all sensation below his neck. 

"There's only so much of this nonsense that I'm willing to endure and you've already reached the limits of my tolerance. I still want to see and take part in the competitions and I'm not going to miss them because you're too stubborn to acknowledge that you were wrong."

Neji tried to say something, but Keitaro simply pulled out a piece of cloth from his ninja bag and stuffed it into his mouth. Pleased that his improvised gag had done its job, Keitaro quickly looked around to make sure that no one had seen anything. 

Once he was sure, Keitaro picked up the limp Neji and slung him over his shoulder without much thought. Even though they were both only five years old, thanks to his fathers genetics, Keitaro was rather large for his size and given the training that he'd been doing he had no problems with hauling around Neji.

"Is that really alright?" asked Hinata as she watched Keitaro hesitantly. 

While she could understand Keitaro's frustration, she wasn't fully able to excuse the way that he chose to deal with the situation. Especially since it was her own cousin who was being manhandled in such a way.

"At this point I have half a mind to just leave him here floundering around like a fool, but I also don't want to deal with the aftermath of that either so this is the best compromise." Said Keitaro as he shrugged his shoulders. 

"Let's hurry up and head on back." 

Keitaro held out his hand to Hinata who still took it, though with a bit of hesitation now that she realized that Keitaro was much more dangerous than she had originally thought. 

With Hinata's hand held, and Neji's limp body slung over his shoulder Keitaro quickly made his way down the winding pathway and towards the sounds of music off in the distance. 

Not long after the three had disappeared from sight, with a silent flicker several figures revealed themselves. They had been present throughout the entire confrontation but hadn't intervened since they hadn't sensed any ill intent from Keitaro's actions. 

They were the protectors that had been assigned to watch Hinata from the shadows at all times. While she wasn't as talented as Hiashi would have liked, she was still the heiress of the Huyga Clan and would be treated as such. 

Of course while their purpose was to protect her, they were especially instructed not to coddle her in any way shape or form. They were only to intervene in situations where Hinata was at serious risk of bodily harm. Of course such a threat almost didn't exist within the village so they were mostly observers for the most part.

Even if she was being bullied by other children in the village, as long as they didn't try to do something ridiculous like try to stab her, then these hidden protectors wouldn't move to assist her. 

"That kid's got a lot of guts to be playing around with poisons at his age. He's lucky that Lady Hinata wasn't caught up in his attack or things would have gone differently for him." 

One of the observers said as he bent down to collect the smoke pellet shell that Kietaro had thrown earlier. Even if it wasn't anything serious, there could be possible secrets that could still be gleaned like the way that the Inuzuka synthesized poisons, the way that their pellets worked and all sorts of other things. 

"I think he was pretty good. He was cognizant of the fact that he couldn't face Neji in close combat and instead chose to deal with him by retreating. You can tell he hasn't received a lot of combat training but he's quick on his feet."

"He even utilized the known effects of our Dōjutsu's ability to see through objects to fool Neji into thinking that the smokescreens only purpose was to confuse him, when in fact it was to serve as a distraction from the poison that he used. That's not something that you'd expect to see from the Inuzaka bunch."

"Should we bring it to the Patriarches attention?"

"He's already been informed of everything that's happened here and will decide on the best course of action. While the Inuzuka brat did poison Neji, it was Neji who attacked him first. It's best if things are dealt with in private"

With them all having seemingly come to an agreement they all nodded their heads before disappearing with another flicker.