NaruHina: Duty

Chapter 19: Pieces

It was a debriefing for his own mission. Naruto was alone with Tsunade in the office, but he was filled with roiling emotions. He should have controlled his feelings, composed himself before he'd even set foot in the Hokage Tower, but he was dissatisfied with the way his relationship with Hinata was going.

That night with Hinata had broken him, when he'd told her he loved her for the second time but had only encountered stark silence from her again.

He was frustrated with her, but mostly with himself.

He was spoiling for a fight and he'd picked the biggest, baddest bitch, the worst possible opponent because Tsunade's punch could probably send him crashing against the wall.

So here he was, overreacting, murderous with rage and glaring at the Hokage when all she'd said was, "Thank you, Naruto. Good work. That's all for today. You're dismissed."

Instead of leaving, he planted his feet firmly in front of her desk and bit out, "Why is she still going out on these solo missions?"

Tsunade didn't bother pretending not to know what he was talking about. "Because it's her job."

He snorted. "Bullshit. There are other people just as capable."

Her eyes glinting coolly, she said, "That may be, but we've had this arrangement with her since she was fifteen. There's nothing we can do about it."

"Fuck that," he replied just as coldly. "You're the Hokage! Are you telling me that you're powerless against her clan?"

The killing intent she sent him was real, and for the first time since he'd been in her office, he felt the full force of her power, making him realize too late that she was Hokage for a good reason.

"Do you know how hard it is to change a system that's been in place for centuries?" she began with a feral smile. "These ties that bind clans to duties were forged in blood. If a promise is broken, it usually results in death. That is what the Hyuugas have paid for their power, the blood of their people. These contracts to Konoha cannot be changed so easily, Naruto."

He looked miserable, understanding fully what she was saying. But he didn't see the clan, he only saw Hinata suffering silently.

Tsunade relented. "Look, to be honest, we're all working on it. We're just waiting for her grandfather to die," she said bluntly. "He's the worst person hanging on to all this clan crap. His sons are ready to break it, are quietly researching to see if they could change this somehow, but Shingen Hyuuga is still stubbornly clinging to life because he wants to maintain this power for the clan."

His eyes were haunted, accusing. "You've known this for a long time, but I don't see you doing more for her."

"Don't lecture me, child," Tsunade said, her voice vibrating with rage as she tried to rein in her control.

But she failed, and Tsunade banged a powerful hand on the table, cracking it in half. She made an irritated sound in her throat and glared at him. "Do you know how many times Hinata came back from a mission bloody, with cuts all over her body, her eyes swollen from god knows what they did to her?!"

He shook his head, his stomach churning because he could easily imagine it.

She was up out of her chair, yelling now, not even bothering to lower her voice. "And Hokage that I am, all I could do was heal her, grit my teeth, say thank you, and then send her back out there?! Can you imagine dealing with that?!"

He only stared at her mutely.

"Exactly. You don't know," she said with a jeer. "Every, fucking, time, Naruto!"