A Magical Princess

Chapter 36

It took two days for them to give in and summon her. Hari took her time with her appearance, choosing a kimono in a bold red color and pulling her hair back into a severe bun. She painted her lips a bright red to match her kimono and applied a thick coat of eyeliner. Rai raised her eyebrow at Hari's appearance, but other than a low appreciative whistle didn't comment.

They walked slowly through the compound, earning smirks from the Nara that at least guessed where they were heading. When they arrived in the conference room in the administration building, it took all her remembered training to keep from laughing out loud. Sitting at the head of the table was an irate-looking Tsunade. On the side with the wall to their backs, facing the door, were four very angry Hyuuga. Very angry, and very, very green - and not with jealousy.

Their skin was tinged a light, spring grass color. Their lips and hair were an identical dark forest green. Their eyes, usually the color of pearls, were now a sickly puce. Rai choked back a laugh and went to stand behind the chair Hari had sat down in.

"You wanna tell me why the hell every elder member of one of our noble clans is green, Nara?" Tsunade snapped. She was terrifying, but Hari had faced down terrifying before.

"Do you need me to run some diagnostic spells, Lady Hokage?" she said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

"Do not play games with us," one of them spat. "We know you did this with your unnatural bloodline limit as some childish fit."

Hari raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You have proof of this?"

"Who else could it be?" another exploded. "We've heard of what you can do -"

"If you don't have any proof, then I don't see why I'm here," Hari said, and the man's cheeks to turn a darker green in rage.

"In the past two days," a surprisingly calm Hiashi said, "Three clans, including your own, have stopped all business with the Hyuuga. Half the merchants in the street won't sell to us. Did you have anything to do with that?"

Hari met his eyes squarely. "The only people you can blame for that are yourselves. You threatened the life of Nara Shikamaru's lover, who, from what I understand, is a war hero himself. What did you expect?"

The room erupted into yelling after that, and Hari simply sat back and glared at the men across from her. Finally, Tsunade slammed a hand down on the table, cracking it. "There's nothing I can do about the contracts with the other clans," she said frankly. "And Hari's right, there's no evidence that isn't circumstantial that points to her as the perpetrator of your...appearance." Tsunade's lips twitched, but other than that she kept her expression serious. "However, I wonder if there's anything you can do to fix it." She said this last bit to Hari, who hummed and took out her wand.

"If I may?" she said, and to her surprise Hiashi stood and walked over to her, ignoring the protests of his clan members while she waved a wand around him, allowing it to light up but not actually doing anything. After all, she already knew how to remove the green, and what caused it. She'd grown up with Fred and George Weasley, it was hard not to pick up a few things.

"I could probably return you back to normal," she said with a shrug.

Tsunade sighed. "Well? Are you going to do it?"

"Sure. As soon as they remove the seal from Neji and sign a marriage contract with Shikamaru."

"This is blackmail!"

"Preposterous!"

"Hokage, do something!"

The only one not yelling was Hiashi, whose lips were twitching. Hinata was right, he wanted Neji to be freed.

"Enough!" Tsunade raised her voice to be heard over them. "I cannot force Nara to use her powers. She's a civilian, and the wife of a clan head."

"Well," Hari said after a moment of stunned silence. "If you won't sign the contract and release Neji...I do hope for your sake that you're fond of the color green. I'm pretty sure it's permanent." She stood, smoothing her kimono and moving towards the door.

"If we do this, will you also reinstate your contracts with us?" Hiashi asked.

Hari turned to him, eyes narrowing. "Sure, though I can't speak for the other clans," she said bluntly.

Three days later, the Hyuuga clan elders were no longer green, and Shikamaru was officially engaged. He had pulled her into a tight hug and thanked her profusely. Neji had bowed deeply, his forehead seal and bandage free.

"I am honored to be joining your family, Lady Nara," he said.

For the first time in awhile, Hari felt like a hero.