Chapter 46: Settlement With Head Honcho

Keitaro quickly and quietly made his way back to the gathering area. Given his payload, he was being extra careful not to get spotted as it would be quite difficult for him to explain why he was running around with an incapacitated Neji over one of his shoulders and a red-eyed Hinata who still had grass stains on her robes at his side. 

No matter how many lives he had, he knew full well that he wouldn't be able to survive the trouble that was bound to find him if he chose to appear in such a grandiose manner in front of just about every important individual in the village.

No, he had been fully prepared to just dump Neji in a bush somewhere nearby before releasing the nerve pinch that he had inflicted on him earlier. A technique that he had discovered and 'perfected' while experimenting on a frog while studying with Kazuki. 

There were a lot of minor medical techniques like that one that would be impossible to utilize in battle, but were quite handy for certain situations.

Yet he had barely rounded a corner, still being very careful not to be noticed by anyone important, when he was seemingly besieged by several Hyūga clansmen who 'politely' escorted him and his two captives off to a secluded room.

Once there, they had taken away Hinanta, presumably so that she could get cleaned up and changed but left him and Neji, who had still been bound and gagged the entire time, in the room with nothing but a table and a few chairs.

Keitaro had dumped Neji in one of the room's corners and had taken a seat at the table as he waited for what was to happen next. Sure he could have released him, but since none of the Hyūga members had asked him to do so, he was more than happy to leave Neji in his current predicament. 

Afterall, with their Byuakugans and excellent chakra control, it wouldn't have taken much for them to notice the cluster of foreign manna that was blocking the nerve cluster in Neji's Neck and disperse it. 

Since they hadn't done so, they must have deemed it to be unnecessary at the moment. 

Who was he to contradict their better judgment? 

Still, the absurdity of the situation aside, Keitaro was wondering what was supposed to happen now. 

Since he hadn't been crucified just yet, then the chances that he was in any serious trouble was pretty slim Though the fact that he was here at all most likely meant that there was still reason enough for him to be slightly concerned 

Of course Keiarto didn't have to wonder for long since not long after Hinata was taken away did one of the side doors slide aside to reveal a few people. 

Keitaro was surprised when he saw Tsume walk through the door followed closely behind by Hiashi and Hizashi. There were a few more stranglers behind them, most likely the elders of the Huyga clan given that a few of the elders of the Inuzuka clan were walking alongside them. 

The group surveyed the room as they entered the room and while some tossed a glance or two in Neji's direction, for the most part they didn't even bat an eye at the fact that he was seemingly tossed haphazardly into the corner 

Or at least that would have been the case if not for Hizashi's clear displeasure at seeing his son's current state. 

"What did you do to my son!" bellowed Hizashi Hyūga , Neji 's father, as he rushed to his son's side. 

Without a moment's hesitation he activated his Dōjutsu, and after a moment of observation he raised his eyebrow in surprise before tapping quickly at Neji's nape. No sooner had he did so did Neji's body begin to spasm slightly before Neji regained control of his body. After a moment of confusion Neji thanked his father before quickly standing behind him.

Now that he was certain that his son was fine, Hizashi turned his eyes towards the culprit for his son's predicament and glared angrily. 

"He kept trying to attack me, so I made it so he wouldn't be able to attack me. If anything he's to blame for not listening to me." Keitaro quickly said, not wanting to give Hizashi a reason to target him.

He was already certain the group was well aware of the confrontation that had occurred since he could remember that when Hinata was younger, she always had a security detail that followed her around all the time. 

Given that none of them looked particularly angry, he was confident that as long as he didn't do anything over the top, that things would be resolved quickly. 

He had already stood up and bowed respectfully towards Tsume and Hiashi, the two patrachs of the families and was now awkwardly standing in the middle of the room as the adults stood opposite to him. 

"A bit overkill don't you think?" asked Tsome as she watched as Neji had almost burst into tears when he'd finally regained his freedom.

Even though he had put on a tough guy act all this time, he was still a young child and the experience of being helpless while in the hands of an outsider wasn't an experience that he wanted to experience again any time soon.

"It was the simplest and easiest way to deal with him at the time, it's not my fault that he refused to listen to reason." replied Kietaro as he crossed his arms defiantly. 

The adults all took a double take at his words and all of them couldn't help but wonder if they had heard correctly?

Robbing another child of their ability to move was the easiest way to deal with the situation? 

Just how badly would things have gone if you had decided to take a more difficult path to deal with things, would Neji have ended up with a couple broken bones or something?

The one who was most flabbergasted of all was Neji himself who wanted to scream out in indignation. 

So just because I wanted to be careful and apprehend you in case you were a threat to the clan I deserved to be paralyzed and treated like a sack of potatoes? Not to mention the fact that you poisoned me first!

Fine this time is my loss but I definitely won't forget this!

Neji made sure to stare at Keitaro, committing his face to memory. If the chance presented itself in the future he would be certain to pay him back accordingly.

"Your way of doing things really does remind me of your mother, she used to be a handful as well at times" Tsume simply shook her head as she took a seat next to Keitaro. 

Keitaro took a mental note of the fact that Tsume and his mother seemed to have had some sort of relationship and shelved it for later. He turned to her and simply shrugged his shoulders as he explained his train of thought.

"It was either this or let him hit me with his gentle fist techniques. I simply chose the option that was less of a pain for me to endure."

Tsume shook her head as she sighed helplessly before turning to Haishi. 

"Well you heard what the kid had to say, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

Haishi, who had been silently watching from the opposite side of the table, also sighed before addressing Tsume.

"Neji was wrong in this matter, so for that I'll apologize. We won't be pursuing this matter any further and I hope that this doesn't affect our relationship with the Inuzuka." 

"Oh please, as if we'd be so shortsighted to have a falling out over such trivial things. Kids will be kids after all." said Tsume as she laughed 

Hiashi nodded and smiled at her before turning his attention to Keitaro. Even though he hadn't visibly activated his Byuakugan, Keitaro felt as if he was looking right through him.

"I also apologize to you young one, you were a guest under our roof and you've not been afforded the level of hospitality that should have been given to you."

"There's no need to apologize," Keitaro quickly replied "Neji was just doing what he thought was right at the time and even though it was a hassle I don't blame him or anything. It's all water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned."

"It's good to hear you say that. You have a great mentality that will serve you well in the future." Hiashi paused as he looked between Neji and Keitaro before he smiled to himself. 

"You know," he said tentatively, "Even though you don't see it as a problem, it is still a fact that you as a guest of ours were attacked unfairly. Why don't I let Neji accompany you for the rest of the day? You boys are about the same age and I'm sure now that since you've already exchanged fists that you both can become close friends."

Neji who had been quiet all this while immediately felt his heart sink. Not only had he been manhandled and poisoned by that bastard, but now he was supposed to act as a guide for him as well? 

Why did it feel as if he was being punished? If he could have it his way he'd want nothing more to do with Keitaro if possible!

Of course he didn't dare voice his opposition to the idea given his position, but he would definitely complain to his father later once they got home. 

"I wouldn't want to impose too much, I'm sure that Neji has other responsibilities that he has to deal with." Said Keitaro. 

In his opinion it would be rather awkward for the two of them to start getting along well so soon after their little confrontation, but it seemed that the other saw it differently.

"Oh please I insist, It would be a stain on our honor as one of the noble clans if we couldn't do this much at the very least." Hiashi said as a gentle smile graced his face. 

Keitaro was about to reject once more when he received a pinch to his side. Glancing at Tsume who was sitting next to him he realized that there was no avoiding it and simply decided to go with the flow. 

"In that case I would be happy to be accompanied by Neji for the rest of the day."

The rest of the meeting was pretty much just Tsume and Haishi talking about some joint ventures and opportunities that the clans were looking into. There was even an agreement for the Inuzuka to supply a few trained ninja hounds to the Hyūga for their own personal use.

Of course there were still other things that needed to be taken care of, so once the most pressing things had been addressed, Tsume and the Inuzuka clan elders that had been present were excused with Keitaro and a disgruntled Neji following behind him.