She loves him. She knows he hates her in return, has known it for years. Her friends tell her, warn her about him, and inside she wants to laugh absurdly. Of course he hates her, he always has, but it doesn't matter. She'll always love him.

She loves him for his pale skin, his dark hair, so much longer than hers. She loves him for his slender hands and the way he makes her feel so small and delicate. She loves him for his white eyes and cold face, and, of course, she loves him for the fact that he hates her.

Her father watches her with disinterest. Sometimes, when she looks at him, it seems as though he's almost surprised to see her, to realize that she's still alive. He blinks, then turns away, attention already caught by something much more important than her. Her little sister shows even less interest in her. Instead, there's a cold vacancy of acknowledgement. It's alright, though, she's come to terms with her lack of touching upon the world. She's like glass, pretty and fragile and looked straight through. The only one who never looks through her is him, and that's why she loves him.

He hates her, and that burst of emotion makes her so happy, makes her feel so alive. She'll never be able to thank him enough, will never be able to explain exactly what he means to her, but that's best. She has a fear, a deep, irrational fear, that if he ever learned that she loved him, that he'd maybe, just maybe, love her back, and then what would she have? She doesn't want love, doesn't need it. It's his hate that she longs for, thirsts after.

The only thing she loves more than him, more than his hate, is what makes him hate her. This curse that courses through her blood and burns through his. Once, when she was little, she hated the blood of her family, the way it made her different. She hated it when others would look through her, their eyes ugly and hideous, distorting them into monsters. Now she loves it, because when he looks at her the veins distort and the blood burns and the hate grows and she loves it, loves it and loves it and loves it so much she's afraid her heart will burst.

And so maybe, just maybe, if she can become just a little bit stronger, he'll hate her a little bit more. He'll grow darker, angrier, more beautiful in his hate, and he'll be hers, all hers. He'll hate her the most, more than anyone else. Out of all the main house, he'll hate her, and out of all the branch house, she'll love him, and when he hates her and she loves him they'll be together, and no one will be able to pull them apart, ever. They'll always be together, and if there's tears and blood and screams then she'll be happy. This paradise is only a step away, and all she has to do is stand.

"Why do you stand...?

AN: Just thoughts on why. Why? Because I love Hinata. She's such a strong person, way, way underneath. And I love Neji and Hinata, everything about them, together.

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