Children of Sorrowful Fate

Prologue

AN: I do not own Naruto. However the original characters herein are mine, so please ask if you like them so much you want to use them.


He ran. The fires of his home blazed behind him, and he tried not to look, just kept pressing onwards. The small bundle he carried squirmed unhappily, and he adjusted his arms to carry the weight more comfortably.

Only a month ago everything had been alright. His cousin had given birth to the prettiest little girl he had seen born to the Hyuga, with pupil less eyes a pale blue instead of the white lavender the rest of the clan had. The infant's father was so happy too, buying presents for all of his friends, and proudly showing the girl off.

Then night came... and with it the first of the attacks.

A long time afterwards morning finally dawned, but by then the worse had happened... most of his family fled with some of the other citizens of Konoha to allied nations. Hinata had refused to go, instead wanting to wait on her husband to return home. She barely cared for her daughter, and Neji couldn't leave them. He took over as guardian for little Hitori, and watched for news.

Another night, another attack. It continued for a month in this way. Until one afternoon when Neji went to retrieve Hinata for dinner and found her slumped over in her chair where she had been watching the entry way for her husband, a bloody kunai on the floor falling from her lifeless hand.

That night when the attacks came, Neji didn't fight to protect his family, they were all gone but one. He picked her up, vaguely aware that the streets were empty, and then the fires started, the buildings collapsed...

Carrying his small niece, he ran with all his remaining strength to the only place he knew to be a safe haven.


Gaara looked over the reports of the day's missions when the door opened and his wife, Maya, entered the room, holding their six month old son.

"Has there been any news?" she asked quietly, concern shining in her emerald eyes.

"No. All the reports say the same thing they've said for a month... at night whatever it is that attacks is attacking and any and all shinobi who go against it either or killed or can't remember what it is they've been fighting." his eyes narrowed and he rubbed his temple, "The first night alone a good quarter of Konoha's forces were lost, the ones who stayed behind after that..." he frowned, he had hoped that the news wasn't correct, but the team that had returned today gave the same report as the refugees that had poured into the village.

Taran started to fuss, and Gaara looked at his son and wife, What of Naruto's child? Lee spoke as if she was born right before the attacks started.

He had been escorting civilians into the city, along with Temari and Shikamaru's team. Somehow the shinobi had managed to save and convince them to take their belongings and flee for safety until news came that the attacks had ceased. Unfortunately as of yet, no news came.

"Gaara?" Maya asked quietly.

"Three days... so much can change in the time it takes to travel between our two villages," he murmured, "Maybe I should go myself to..."

A clamor in the hallway interrupted his thoughts, cries of "No you can't go in there!" rang through the corridor heading to the Kazekage's office.

The door burst open and Neji flew in, followed by a good ten members of Suna's anbu.

"He's alright," Gaara said quietly as he rose from his desk and the Anbu vanished with no protest. He noted the sweat on Neji's face and fathomed that he must have been running non-stop.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Ko...konaha's been destroyed," Neji collapsed, somehow managing to place the blanketed bundle in Gaara's arms.


A day later he woke up in a warm bed, "Hitori!" he cried, sitting up and searching for the small infant.

"Shh," a woman with long dark hair swept into a loose bun spoke quietly, "She and Taran are sleeping."

He stared for a moment, "You're Maya aren't you?" at her nod, he smiled painfully, "Then I made it," he breathed a sigh of relief, "And she's alright... even after..."

Maya smiled softly, "She was a bit hungry, but other than that perfectly fine. Gaara's more worried about you." her smile turned sad for a moment, "I suppose..."

"Can I see her," Neji interrupted, not wanting to be reminded of why he had returned to Konoha from his position of diplomat, leaving it to Tenten. The marriage of convenience arranged by the elders between the Kazekage and the girl from the capitol still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Maya stared a moment at him with her emerald eyes, and nodded, "Come here," she said softly, "I don't want to wake them."

He walked over to her, and peered into the bassinet she was standing next to, and smiled at seeing Hitori swaddled up warmly and sleeping. He turned to see a crib behind Maya, and saw that there was another baby.

"Gaara's... son?" he asked haltingly, Maya nodded.

"I didn't think he would..."

"For a long time neither did I," she admitted, "He barely looked at me the first year of our marriage. Even now..." she blushed, "This is actually my room, so I can be near Taran, but we figured that you would be more comfortable if you saw Hitori as soon as you were able to."

A small smile crossed his lips, "Thank you. Is it alright if I trust her to your care for just a bit longer?"

"Gaara's in his study," she whispered, "And... thank you Neji."

He looked at her confused for a moment, "For what?"

She smiled up at him, "For coming here safely." He stared at her and nodded, leaving before he saw any tears come to her eyes. She shook her head, fighting the tears back. "I'm happy he's here," she reminded herself quietly. Hitori started to mewl and she turned to address the small infant.

"Besides, now Taran has such a pretty little friend," she cooed at the baby.


Gaara stood at the windows, staring towards the direction of Konoha. Neji walked in, and the Kazekage sighed, "You never did knock when you were here the first time."

"Maya led me to believe that you were expecting me," Neji gazed at him, "You haven't changed."

"It only seems that way," Gaara turned away from the window, "It's been five years since you left."

"Do you blame me?"

"No, I would have most likely left as well," the leader sat down at a small table and motioned for Neji to do the same, "Though I have noticed Maya's company isn't exactly distasteful. She's very good at keeping the council away for instance."

"I suppose when one is raised as a bureaucrat and not a shinobi, one would pick up a few things here and there," Neji mused.

"Between her and Grandfather Ebizo, I've hardly had any problems. Excepting of course the usual financial mess. But I'd rather have peace and suffer through the reconstruction missions than the wartimes and the missions that come with it. Though it would be nice if they paid better."

"That's the price we pay for peace it seems. Apparently Konoha was lucky in that the Sannin Jiraiya left the proceeds of his book to the villages coffers." Neji had a slight smirk on his face, "Something that I'm certain that our past Hokage would have punched him through a few walls for."

Gaara's eyes widened, and he bit his lower lip, an indication to Neji's eyes that he was trying extremely hard not to burst into laughter. Five years ago he would have pushed the matter, but today he simply let the Kazekage compose himself. After a few moments Gaara sighed and stared at his companion, "I need to ask you something."

Neji cocked his head to the side, "What is it?"

"Hitori. She had something on her forehead," the stare started to turn deadly, "You once told me that you weren't sealed until you were four years of age. Why does she have it when she's not even a full month old?"

"They gave it to her when the first attack happened," Neji said quietly, "Naruto and I had left to fight... and I'm not sure how they managed to convince Hinata, but recent events lead me to believe that it wasn't difficult. But when I returned, it was there." His eyes darkened, "What's more, is it's a stronger seal than the one I have."

"What happened to Naruto? You speak as if he didn't make it pass the first night."

"He didn't. He rushed headlong into the fight ahead of everyone else in our group. When we had tried to follow there was a blinding flash of light... and then... nothing. The attacks stopped and we couldn't find Naruto in the dead. But he never returned."

"If he were still alive he would have come back to his daughter," Gaara said quietly, having come to the same tragic conclusion Neji had a month ago, "Unless there was a greater danger that would have happened."

The other man nodded, "I should have came sooner, but I couldn't convince Hinata to leave, and I had promised Naruto..." he shook his head, "I couldn't do anything for her."

The Kazekage rested his hand on Neji's, and the Hyuga closed his eyes.

"Rest now," Gaara said, "I'll watch over Hitori for you while you get your strength back."


Two months passed before anyone could decide what to do of Konoha. The attacks seemed to have stopped with it's destruction, but no one was sure whether or not it was safe to return.

However, the council and Daimyo of the Land of Fire soon wanted the citizens of it's Hidden Village to come back and set up shop again.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed when he received the latest message, "But I suppose we'll just keep on rebuilding no matter how many times it gets destroyed."

The refugees started to leave that day to return to their home, all except for Neji.

"I'll cover for you," Tenten said, "But are you sure?"

He glanced over at Hitori, who was being lifted in the air by an energetic Lee, "I think she and I should stay here for a bit. Besides I almost killed her in the run here, she's much too young to make the journey again."

Tenten sighed, "And this has nothing to do with your family? Or the fact that they just last week sent a message demanding that you pledge allegiance to the new Head?"

"Hanabi will get along fine without my support. She already has the Hyuga council telling her every decision to make and her marriage will be taking place soon." Neji shook his head, "No. I won't be returning to them. Not until I can change the clan's fate," he took Hitori from Lee, "She deserves better than that."

"Well, alright then, I pass on my diplomatic title to you," Tenten grinned, "Hopefully the new Hokage will be alright with it."

After saying his farewells to Lee and Tenten he watched them head towards Konoha, then smiled and returned to the streets of Suna, heading towards the Kazekage tower.