A/N: For malfoypridedxh, who amuses me greatly and is usually a good person to follow when looking for a good LJ community, even though for some reason her icons always seem to show up 'x'-ed out on my home computer. O_o;; It puzzles me . . .

One-sided Hanabi/Hinata, meaning incestuous yuri thoughts but not incestuous yuri actions. Mind you, Hanabi's about what- five, eight? So this isn't exactly sexual, but it is a little dark, because kids and Hyugas both can be bastards that way. Chuunin exam arc; set between the prelims for the third test and the actual occurrence of said third test. Spoilers for the Hyugas' history, Hinata's fight with Neji, and the bird in the cage.

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"Bird Kitten Doll"

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Hinata's injuries are not healing well.

Hanabi watches Hinata.

Hanabi watches Hinata fall down.

This is nothing new.

So Hinata hits the ground like a dead weight and Hanabi keeps watching, waiting for her to get back up again. Which she always does.

Hinata is her precious sister.

But she's not.

Father says Hinata is weak is not a true Hyuga don't want her as our heir so weak no good to us.

Hanabi wants her, though. Hanabi wants Hinata very much.

She would take very good care of her. She would brush her hair and get her nice clothes and protect her from the confrontations she so dreads. Hinata could sleep in her room, and if she had a bad dream, Hanabi would make it go away, and if Neji picked on her again, Hanabi would make HIM go away.

She'd make him go away for good, the way Father taught her.

Hinata always looks afraid. This displeases Hanabi. She likes it better when Hinata smiles, but that usually only happens when Hinata is alone with her teammates.

Hanabi overheard, though, from a messenger sent to her father, how Hinata did when she fought that Neji in the chuunin exam. How Hinata's smile was a smirk, how she fought 'til the end and past it. And when Hanabi heard that, she got so excited. She wanted to go find Hinata and tell her that she was wonderful (but her father would have killed her) and then she wanted to go find Neji and make him go away (but she decided to leave that up to Naruto when she heard how he'd sworn on Hinata's blood to make Neji pay).

Hanabi has heard a lot of things that she shouldn't have.

One of those things involved the Nine Tails.

She hopes that Naruto will eat Neji very slowly. She is looking forward to watching their fight. Maybe Naruto will only eat Neji a bite at a time, so he can savor him a bit. Maybe he will play with him like a kitty.

Hanabi likes kitties.

She pretends that the small, tricky one that lives in the alley down the street is Naruto and that its kitten is Hinata, and watches proudly as they both gnaw on a squealing Neji-rat. Then she takes Hinata-kitten home and gives her lots of cream and milk and pets her and cleans her up, and she is the most beautiful Hinata-kitten in the world, Hanabi is sure of it.

Hinata-kitten falls over and gets up again. Hanabi picks her up and kisses her and tells her how good she is and how special and precious and pretty and brave. Then she takes her to her room and puts her on the bed and brushes her fur for an hour while Hinata-kitten mewls piteously for her Naruto-kitty mama.

Hanabi likes Naruto a lot. From what she's seen of him, he's a bit of a dork, but she knows that Hinata likes him so she's sure he has secret places and tricks. Besides, he has that fox inside of him, so he must be strong if it's been there all this time and not escaped and only does as Naruto says.

Hanabi does not like Neji, though, because he hurt Hinata and- she saw this once when she was hiding- he looks at Hinata funny, like he wants to eat her up. Like he can't decide whether to punish or protect her.

Hinata is not Neji's to punish or protect though. She is Hanabi's precious sister.

And someday Hanabi is going to take Hinata back and play with her forever. She'll pet her and brush her and dress her up nicely, like the best doll in the world (Hanabi's father won't let her have dolls; he says they are for children and she is not a child she is a Hyuga and a shinobi), and take the best care of her. Hinata is Hanabi's precious sister/pet/toy.

Ever since Hanabi beat Hinata, she has known that she has to protect her onee-sama, because Hinata cannot protect herself.

The bird in the cage that marks Neji . . . that is safety. That is knowing who you are and what you are destined to be.

Hinata has nothing like that. She does not possess the strength to achieve her "destiny," so Hanabi is going to have to do it for her.

It will, Hanabi thinks, be interesting. Perhaps she should give Hinata something like the bird in the cage too someday, so that she will know what she is forever and ever and every time she looks in the mirror.

Hinata-kitten is still crying for her Naruto-mama. Hanabi is still brushing her fur. She likes having a doll.

The real Hinata, she is sure, will be even better.

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. : i keep my birds in my hands : .