Chapter 1: Setting the Stage
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Now that the obvious is out of the way, I have a confession to make: I am only about 80 episodes in at the moment. Yeah, I know I'm behind the times. As such, I am having my amazing husband be my beta to look for glaringly obvious mistakes but I'll be honest, as I am doing research *cough cough finding spoilers* not everything will be entirely accurate due to my own inability to handle character death well… thank you wiki for telling me that a character I have become fond of through various fics dies! I proclaim that Neji will live on to see another canonically inaccurate fanfic! Seriously, what the hell Kishimoto-san?
.oOo.
Sounds of exertion rang across the training ground. "One more time Akamaru!" Kiba shouted as he jumped back into position. Shino looked on, his face hidden within his collar, as always. He continued to observe the duo's training knowing that while the war had ended over a year ago, they couldn't afford to become complacent.
Kiba and Shino paused at Akamaru's warning bark, turning they saw a familiar face walking toward them.
"Hinata!" Kiba shouted, running toward his favorite Hyuga and sweeping her into a hug, "I've been missing you! You spend all your damned time with that blond idiot anymore!"
Hinata wiggled in his grasp, going limp at his last statement.
"What's wrong?" Shino inquired, noticing the change in his friend.
"Kiba doesn't have to worry about me spending all my time with Naruto anymore," she said, stepping away from Kiba. She scuffed the toe of her sandal through the dirt. "We are no longer involved."
Shino took a breath to ask another question as he moved to hug Hinata but Kiba beat him to it, ramming Shino out of his way.
"What do you mean, you're not involved? What did that bastard do to you?" he almost shouted, grabbing on to Hinata's shoulders. Akamaru whined and nuzzled Hinata's hand.
"Great question, Kiba. I'm sure you're the only one who cares." Shino spoke dryly, picking himself up from the ground where Kiba had shoved him in his mad grab for the taciturn Hyuga's shoulders.
Hinata managed a small half smile as Shino wrapped an arm around her protectively. "It was mutual," she said in a quiet voice, her face softening further as she scratched the chin of the huge white dog. "He was not who I had built him up to be all those years of watching as we grew up. And I was never able to match his energy in order to be a satisfying girlfriend."
Kiba and Shino's faces turned dark and this time Shino beat Kiba to saying what they were both thinking, "if he forced you to do something you did not want…" his voice trailed off but there was no mistaking the implied threat.
"N-no, no, nothing like that," Hinata managed, a deep blush blooming on her cheeks, "I simply meant that I do not enjoy the same things he does."
Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Same things in bed?"
"Kiba!" Hinata almost shouted, an unusual sound to come from the soft-spoken girl. "We never went that far! It would bring shame on my family were it to be discovered."
"Yeah, but you guys seemed so close, everyone thought you were going to get married anyway, what would it have hurt?" Hinata gave Kiba an incredulous look as he took a breath to continue, "Ouch! Damn it Shino, what was that for?"
Shino watched Kiba rub the back of his head a moment before answering.
"Obviously it would have been a problem were they to break up or had her family insisted on a proper check before allowing her to be married."
Hinata's blush deepened, moving down her cheeks to her neck. "Can we please stop talking about this? I would rather join you in training."
"Of course, Hinata" Shino said with a warning look at Kiba, who whined before settling into his fighting stance.
.oOo.
Hinata returned home late that evening, pleasantly sore from her training session. She could always rely on her teammates to be there for her, between Shino's quiet support and Kiba's well-meaning but exuberant self.
"Hinata-sama, your father requests you visit him before you settle in for the night. Although, you might want to freshen up a bit, you smell like a dog."
Hinata turned at the mildly teasing voice of her cousin. "Hai, Neji-nii-san. And the honesty is very much appreciated," she offered ruefully, shooting her cousin a tiny smile.
"Is something wrong, Hinata?" Neji asked with a frown.
"Naruto and I ended things today."
Neji blinked, not knowing exactly how to respond. Slowly, he reached out and awkwardly wrapped his arms around Hinata, pinning her arms at her side.
"Um, nii-san?" Hinata questioned a few moments later, standing somewhat rigidly in her cousins embrace.
"Hn?"
"What are you doing?" she asked with a tiny giggle.
"Hugging you." He paused. "Isn't that what one is supposed to do when another is heartbroken? Although, I would rather beat the idiot up if you desire it."
Hinata finally released a real laugh, while trying to move her arms so she could hug her cousin back. Failing to break his hold enough to move her arms, she sighed and told him what she had told Kiba and Shino: it was mutual, she wasn't heartbroken, and he didn't have to beat up his Hokage.
With a final sniff, Neji released her to take a quick shower. Hinata shoved him away with a smile, asking him to let her father know that she would be with him in ten minutes as she wouldn't want to offend him by smelling like an animal as Neji oh so thoughtfully claimed.
Ten minutes later, Hinata stood outside the door of her father's study.
"Enter" came the gruff reply to her soft knock.
"Sit."
Hinata settled herself on the ground in front of her father and waited for him to start.
"It has come to my attention that a certain… request has been made of this family."
Stiffening at her father's tone and inflection on the word, Hinata continued to stare at him in silence.
"This request carries with it a solution to a pressing problem of the clan as well as significant importance to Konohagakure and the Fire Country." Hiashi watched his eldest daughter, waiting for her to break the silence.
"What do you wish from me, otosan?"
"To do your duty and honor our clan regardless of your feelings." Hiashi said, handing her a formal looking scroll.
Hinata opened it and began to read, eyes widening as she skimmed the words.
Dear Hokage-sama, and the heads of the noble clans Hyuga, Akimichi, and Aburame.
The Council of the Elders of Suna wish to bring attention to the unrest along our border. The citizens there are uneasy with our peace treaty and have taken to outright hostility among themselves thinking the treaty is for show. As we are agreed within the treaty, since the border is closer to Sunagakure than Konohagakure, they are to approach our village with their missions, instead they travel to Konoha out of their dislike of the Wind Country and our mutual treaty. To remedy this, the Wind Daimyo's daughter will be wed to the son of your Daimyo upon her 13th birthday. As this is still 3 years away, Suna's Council seeks to ease both of our people's concerns about our treaty and wish for a marriage of status between Konoha and Suna. We reach out to the remaining three noble clans of Konoha with a request:
for each of you to present an eligible maiden between the ages of 13 and 35 to your Hokage. We request that they be capable kunoichi's of good breeding and versed in both political and military etiquette as they will be expected to be the liaison between your border people and the assignment of missions to our own teams. She should be able to classify the rank of the mission as well as gain an eventual understanding of which of our teams would be best suited to each request. It is also of the utmost importance that she be fertile and willing to birth a child within an agreed upon timeline to prove her devotion to both Suna and it's Kazekage. We also require her to be proven still pure through a medical check upon arrival as there can be no doubts with a marriage of this importance.
Upon your Hokage's selection of the best match to his friend, dispatch a messenger-bird a week before the kuonichi's scheduled arrival so that the wedding can be arranged for the day after she reaches Suna. Room and board will be provided for up to 10 guests who wish to be present for the wedding. We expect an answer within a month's time.
Arigato gozaimashita, the Suna Council
Hinata read the scroll again, and again a third time before looking up at her father. His mouth was set in a tight frown and his body was tense, she could tell he was waiting for some type of stuttered excuse or weak protest. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before speaking. "If this is what you wish for me, then I will honor the clan by accepting. Naruto-sama is no longer an obstacle."
"You are aware that you will be branded as part of the branch family?" A pause and a nod. "See to it that you are ready to accompany me to the Hokage's tower tomorrow at 2. The other heads and I have agreed to meet then. Goodnight, daughter."
Hinata rose, pausing at the door. "Goodnight, father. You should be happy, you no longer have to find a way for Hanabi to take my place."
.oOo.
Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly. It had been an exhausting day between his talk with Hinata and loosing himself in training. He was secretly worried that he had made the wrong decision and that they had more potential as a couple than they had explored. Naruto decided to give it a month before approaching her again, hopefully she would have come to the same realization. He headed to bed, thoughts of a certain Hyuga running through his head.
.oOo.
I just pulled up my story on the site to read and double check formatting and I found that my lines to divide time/POV weren't carried over from Word so I am going to go ahead and fix that... hopefully. BTW, thank you all who have followed/reviewed, it means the world! Next chapter will go up on Friday, although I can be persuaded to post it sooner should this story hit 10 reviews. Happy reading!