Current location:	the small couch
Current mood:	accomplished
Entry tags:	dvd commentary

[DVD Commentary] Oracle, Chapter Five: Fulcrum
squeakchan asked me to do commentary on Oracle. I told her to pick a chapter.



First of all, squeak, you should recognize the depth of my love that I’m doing commentary on six pages’ worth of writing. ♥

Neji bows, pressing his hands to the floor, forehead nearly touching the ground. He must show humility, must be humility, must make up for a decade of haughtiness and pride and scorn for the Main Family within these next minutes or it is all lost.

I am a huge fan of there being repercussions for Neji’s actions, and here it’s hitting him pretty hard that there is absolutely no reason for these people to listen to him. He’s not endeared himself to pretty much anyone in the clan, and it could bite him pretty hard here. Also, I really like that second sentence.


There are six other people in the room. Only two chakra signatures are familiar: one is the tight but fading strength of Hiroki, the second is the familiar power of his uncle. The other four are unknown, although he knows at least one of them--the one behind him--is no one important. Most likely it is a lower member of the Main Family, here to attend to the Elders at the meeting or to open and close doors. The Elders rotate nightly to serve on Hiashi’s council, and beyond Hiroki, Neji does not know which Elders are serving tonight.

I doubt it’ll come up again--though I may be able to work it in to chapter nine. This unnamed person behind Neji, most likely there “to attend to the Elders at the meeting” is actually the person that zaps him at the end. Yay fun trivia?


He can feel a seam beneath his hands where two tatami mats intersect. It is a subtle sensation, the smallest of cracks between one piece of flooring and the other. But it is there, another testament of his increasing dependency on touch. Part of him wonders just how much of the texture of the world he missed before, as focused as he was on sight.

Every now and then I like to make Neji briefly reflect on what he’s missing/is going to miss. Here’s a nice little moment that isn’t mentioned again, but I hope it stabbed you just a little.


Hiashi’s chakra is directly in front of him, which puts the Clan Head in the center of the arc of what has to be Elders. The furthest right is Hiroki, but the one in between and the two on the left are absolutely foreign. Neji has no doubt that if he saw them, he could identify the others. He will have to settle for not knowing.

His uncle allows several seconds to pass by, but Neji doubts it is to savor this moment of submission. He knows his uncle is not as petty a man as he once thought. The Elders are another matter entirely, and this moment is for them. Most of them, at least.

And here’s a brief moment to point out that Neji doesn’t hate Hiashi. Just wanted to make sure everyone was paying attention.


"We recognize your presence, Neji," Hiashi begins before the silence can stretch too thin.

Neji straightens from his bow, but stays kneeling. It is his turn to speak now, his only chance to make anything worthwhile from his blindness.

"I have considered my fate." Neji practiced this voice. It is not his customary confidence. It is humble, but it is not weak. "And I ask for just two things." He refuses to lets his hands grip the fabric over his knees. "I ask that I be allowed to reclaim my honor and bargain with you."

The silence is long enough for Neji to breathe in once. It is long enough for the Elders to exchange any number of glances and soundless signals.

Neji is not used to being like this, and he’s doing the best he can. He’s also rather anxious, because this is pretty much his only chance. And yet another reminder of how much it sucks for him to be blind because he can no longer depend on body language.


"What honor?" This voice is breathy, wheezing faintly from illness or the failing lungs of age. It comes from the chakra to the left of Hiashi. "None of the Cloud-nin that assaulted your team are at large. They are either dead or captured. Your honor has already been reclaimed."

Neji keeps his shoulders from tensing. "One of those captured was the one who blinded me. She did it while I was drugged." He remembers the pain, the fire flashing through his skull, the lightning flooding down his spine. He remembers screaming even though he had no breath to give it voice.

And here’s a little reminder of what exactly an activated seal does to him. Mmm, foreshadowing for the end of the chapter~


"You wish to kill her then?" A new voice, a sharp voice, but grating like broken pottery. "Or simply put out her eyes?" This voice is between Hiroki and Hiashi and is laced with scorn.

Neji does not remember taking breath, but he has breath enough to speak. "I ask that I be allowed to fight her. If I lose, I will die in battle. If I win, I will have my honor again before I die."

It’s important that Neji is not in this for revenge. He’s playing up the honor angle here because it’s something he thinks the Elder will understand, but what he really wants is what he tells Hinata at the end.


"Hokage-sama has not turned the Cloud-nin over to us." It is a woman's voice, unexpected and on the far left. "We don't know if we'll even obtain custody before your appointed day."

I really wanted a woman on the Elder’s council. So there she is. *waves to her*


"If you're trying to buy yourself more time," Sharp's voice breaks in, "this is a poor attempt. You are living on bargained time, and it is an honor beyond your station. You should have been dead already."

The beast, ever-coiled in his stomach, stirs. Neji does his best to keep his voice meek. "I ask for no extra time. All I ask is to bargain on the outcome of the fight."

"We will not overrule Hinata-sama's bargain," Woman says. "You cannot have her reinstated."

I’d like to point out that I was really pleased with myself for how I named these Elders.


“There is nothing I could do to repay the days I have been given.” Nothing he can do to change Hinata’s choice, her damning choice, her unwitting forsaking of his hope. She gave him time to--what?

I couldn’t just let you die.

But she will. Her bargain did not buy his life; it bought him only time. What does she expect him to do with this month? Just one month in exchange for her future. An absurd bargain even from her perspective, Neji realizes. How can his single month be worth more than all her future years and the potential to change this clan?

Look for the answer to this in chapter nine. ♥


It is something to ask her at a later time, when he is not gambling with his death. “If I win the match, I ask that Hotaru, daughter of Horyuu, have her lineage traced through her father--”

“--Hideaki, son of Hiroki.” Sharp’s voice is razor wire, invisible and deadly. “Do you really think to manipulate us so easily?”

Neji barely has time to contemplate tensing before Hiroki speaks. “It’s the better choice.”

“One which would transfer control of the Branch to your line instead of Hiashi-sama’s.”

Mmm, made-up-Hyuuga politics. They make me happy. They also allow Neji to indulge in a brief moment of self-reflection below.


The conversation shifts away from him, and Neji cannot help but feel relief from the ease of pressure. Relief, and shame that he needs the release, finds a strange comfort in the Elders ignoring him. As far as he knows, he is no longer the center of their attention, no longer the object of eyes he cannot see.

“Besides,” Woman says, “the girl is young and not especially talented. There is no reason she should be favored over other, more qualified candidates.”

“Like your great nephew?” Hiroki’s voice is amused. “Still chuunin at twenty and still far from advancing.”

The debate is close to erupting when Hiashi speaks. “Why Hotaru?”

Despite the simplicity of the question, Neji can feel the weight Hiashi gave the words. He knows that his answer will sway his uncle.

“She is between Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama in age,” Neji begins. He can feel the Elders’ eyes again, judging, searching for something to tear him apart with. “She would serve either well, no matter who was chosen as Heir.” The beast moves again, snaking tendrils around his insides. “There are many advantages to having the Heir’s protector be the same sex as the Heir.”

Neji refuses to soften his next words, despite the meekness of his affected voice. “And although she is not the best among the Branch, Hotaru-san would still surpass Hinata-sama as a protector for Hanabi-sama.”

It is an unkind assessment of Hinata’s skill. In time, Hinata could prove a competent protector, but he does not have the time to find out.

Neji’s scraped together enough of a plan that it might work out, but he doesn’t have the time to do it all subtle all the time. He’s playing on what he used to believe and what he thinks the Elders still believe--that Hinata is weak and would be a poor choice to protect anyone. This being said by the man that nearly killed Hinata, is, well, rather persuasive...


The silence lingers and Neji finds that the first finger of his right hand is beginning to trace tiny circles against his knee. He forces himself to still.

“My problem is not what you’re bargaining for.” The wheezing voice is speaking for a second time. “It’s that we have no incentive for agreeing.” There is a rustle of fabric and a faint creaking as weight is shifted. “If all goes well for you, Neji-kun, you will have reclaimed your honor and determined your replacement. If you lose your match, you will still have your honor . . . but we will have nothing.”

Neji keeps his shoulders from tensing. “I was told that any manner of death I requested would be approved.”

“Provided it was within reason.” There is no satisfaction or gloating in the whistling breath. “And expecting anyone to agree to a wager without the chance of winning something is not reasonable.”

Not all of the Elders think the prospect of Neji potentially humiliating himself in his last moments is enough of an incentive. “What is it that you would like to win?”

Mmm, bitter thoughts.


“Are you seriously considering bargaining with him?” Sharp asks with a now-familiar mixture of condescension and anger. “There is no possible way he could fight. We would gain nothing, and he would make this clan look weak.”

“Not unless it was a guarantee.” When no one interrupts, the Elder continues. “I, for one, would personally consider the continuation of Neji’s bloodline worth the price of his honor and the chance of Hiroki’s granddaughter leading the Branch family.”

The beast tries to strangle Neji’s breath.

“Even if we could decide on a woman to bear his child tonight,” the female voice says, “he has only twenty days left, beginning tomorrow. That’s hardly enough time to ensure conception.”

There was a few days where I seriously contemplated going this route because there really wasn’t any other option.

And then I realized that if Orochimaru could do half-hybrid-clone things, then why couldn’t Konoha have artificial insemination? Problem solved without too much embarrassment. >.>;


Hiroki speaks. “We could extend--”

“There’s no need for extensions.” Despite its pleasantry, the breathy voice is firm. “Godaime-sama and the hospital staff are fully capable of collecting . . . genetic samples and giving them to females we select. Shall we vote?”

There is a pause--Neji guesses that some sort of signal passed among them--and Hiroki is the first to speak. “I think this is a fair bargain and a suitable manner of death.”

“I don’t,” Sharp says. “This is nothing but a blatant attempt at manipulation, and I am not blind enough to fall for it.”

Neji doesn’t let his body react to the insult, although the beast roars inside, threatening to tear him apart. But he must be passive, must be silent, must quietly ignore the mocking of his death. He lived knowing he could die for a greater cause, and despite the inevitability in this case, it is no different.

He hears a whisper of fabric behind him, but the movement of an attendant is of no consequence when his fate is being decided.

Hey, look, it’s that nameless Main that’s going to zap him! :o

I really need to figure out how to work that in.


“I would vote for almost anything to have this bloodline continue.”

“And I think you’ve placed too much faith in his genetics,” says Woman. “There’s no way to tell how much of it was his ancestry and how much was his personality.”

It is a valid point, Neji realizes as the vote ties and his fragile hope sways. How much of his talent surfaced because of his hatred of the Main Family? How much of his strength came from his desire to surpass them all? Under other circumstances, could he be content with what Fate handed him, yet another Branch Hyuuga?

This is something I’ve wondered about. If Hizashi hadn’t died, how would Neji have turned out? Would he have actually been a well-adjusted young man? Mmm, I love what ifs.


“Are you being manipulated, Neji?” Hiashi, again, as solemn as he was before.

There is no hesitation. “No, Hiashi-sama.” He chose his fate: the chance to change the Hyuuga.

“Then I accept your bargain, provided we can gain custody of the Cloud-nin in time.”

Neji bows, pressing his forehead to the ground, pushing away all his feelings but the budding of hope. “Thank you.” The sincerest gratitude he ever expressed.

Hiashi dismisses him, and Neji rises to his feet. He hears the door open, the rubbing of wood against wood, and exits the room.

The door closes shut behind him. Immediately after, there is an explosion of murmuring. The last thing he hears is Sharp’s voice rising above the others as Neji strides out into the cooling night.

Just so you know, I hated this scene. >.>; So much talking with some many different people. ;_; But the most important things got answered, I think, so this scene did what it needed to do. And thank goodness I’m not ever going to have to deal with these people again.

-

He isn’t certain what time he wakes, other than it is early--earlier than usual. Neji remains still on his futon, listening. There are no noises outside his window, and he cannot sense foreign chakra in his room. He dismisses the thought of a dream--all his dreams are ones he could not forget--and expands his senses, searching for anything that will explain the sudden awakening.

There are four chakra signatures within ten meters: three stationary, one mobile. The mobile one is to his left, outside the walls of the Branch quarters. Most likely someone on patrol. Two of the stationary chakra are muted and where they always are when his neighbors sleep.

And here’s the reappearance of that anonymous Main. Anyhow. Let’s move on.


The other chakra is outside his room, to his right and in the hallway. It is right in front of his door, sitting against it undoubtedly, and it is familiar.

Neji soundlessly leaves his futon and crosses to the door. He doesn’t open it, but when he speaks he hears a faint gasp, the startled intake of breath. “You should be sleeping, Hinata-sama.” Part of him did not expect her to; he knows she found out about what happened.

“I-I know. I’m sorry.” She can move without much noise; he knows it is only because of his newly-acquired dependence on hearing that he catches the sound she makes as she stands and faces his door. “But I . . . I wanted to make sure I c-could talk to you. I’ve tried be-before, and . . .”

I think I’ve made Hinata stutter too much. *sighs* Hinata is not a character I’ve ever thought I could write well. I’m fairly confident with everyone else in the family expect for her.


He was either out with her teammates before their meeting, or else he was with his, training. “Would you like to come in?” Better to deal with this now than to tell her to wait and have her possibly follow him to his meeting with Kiba and Shino.

“Please.”

Neji opens the door and steps backwards, out of her way. He frowns a little when he senses her chakra come only a few centimeters in, barely far enough to close the door behind her. “What is it that you wish to talk about?” Moving to his table, he sits down on one of the cushions and is grateful when she follows his lead.

She is silent for a while, and Neji imagines her fidgeting although she makes no noise. He wonders how long she was outside his door and what time it is. The person on patrol wanders by again, closer than before. Neither of his neighbors are awake yet, or if they are, they’re good enough shinobi to pretend they aren’t.

Just ignore me cheating here with Neji’s blindness. >.>


“Why?”

It is a question he wants to ask her, but she asked it first. A single word with an answer that is more complicated than he knows how to fully express, but he tries. “I know you can change this clan, Hinata-sama.” He pauses and then, for the first time, voices the words he kept to himself. “And I will do anything to ensure that the Branch has no reason to breed another person as I used to be.”

A person with talent and motivation, yes. But a person overflowing with condescension and rage and bitterness and despair and hatred, every millimeter as arrogant and fate-bound as the worst of the Main Family. He sees himself a little clearer now, ever since his world began to change in the aftermath of his first Chuunin Exam. He can predict how that Neji would end, and the thought that he nearly became that way fills him with disgust and a hint of terror.

That is what the beast is, the thing threatening to consume him from the inside: the person he was before. The person without hope.

I think this is a big deal for Neji, being able to acknowledge how much he sucked before. For me, looking back and realizing your own flaws is the way you actually start to grow up.

Too bad these are the current conditions.



He falls silent; she knows almost as well as he does what he was like before.

There is a shaky breath--he has but a moment to wonder if she’s crying--before he realizes that the person on patrol is pressed right against his wall.

Neji is almost to his feet when the curse seal flares.

I really liked the idea of Neji getting caught off guard. I’m not sure why.

Oh, wait, I wanted to do this next bit.


He screams, hands reaching up to claw at the flames searing his eyes and charring his mind. He pitches to the side, but the pain of him landing on the table and falling to the floor does nothing to detract from the exquisite agony.

There is a roaring in his ears and he thinks he hears Hinata, but he’s jerking wildly, his bones are on fire and he chokes on his screams and there’s lightning in his blood and it won’t stop it can’t stop please just make it sto--

I don’t suppose I have to tell you how much I enjoyed these last two paragraphs. >.>

I was trying to mirror the description of his seal being activated from the choppy flashbacks in the first chapter--I think I did a pretty good job.

Random note: I really like exquisite for some reason when describing this pain. It just seemed to fit.

And that’s it for the commentary on chapter five! Opinions, questions, anyone?