Dakaratte

author: carla, aka cali-chan
rating: PG, so far. rating might go up, though, depending on my mood when writing later chapters.
genre: romance, drama, some humor.
pairings: sasusaku, naruhina, shikaino... possible nejiten.
canon: probably manga, since i can't exactly wait until i can catch the episodes... it's quicker to read the manga XD they're not THAT different, anyway.
summary: they live in a land where family strength and honor of the bloodline are the most important things. by that principle, uchiha sasuke finds himself in an arranged engagement to hyuuga hinata, and he intends to follow it through, to restore the uchiha clan. he doesn't know anything about girls, though, so he gets help from the only girl he can consider being remotely comfortable with... what happens when their 'practice' becomes so much more? and how will hinata deal with her family's pressure and her impending loveless marriage?

Dakaratte (だからって): jap exp. Even so; all the same; nevertheless; yes, but...
Prologue

There was a timid knock on the door of Hyuuga Hiashi's study. He looked up from the book he was reading as the door opened.

"Y-You wished to see me, Chichiue?" Hyuuga Hinata's trembling voice floated to his ears immediately.

He closed his eyes for a second and nodded his head. "Yes. Come in and have a seat, Hinata."

The young woman hesitantly did as told. They remained in silence, never looking at each other, until the head of the Hyuuga clan finally closed his book and resumed speaking. "You will be twenty-one in less than a month, Hinata." His daughter nodded. "You are aware of the implications."

Hinata nodded yet again. "I will be expected to t-take the title of heir of the C-clan," she stuttered, like she was signing her death sentence. This detail didn't escape Hiashi. She may have matured immensely, becoming more confident and strong-willed, but her relationship with her father would always be her Achilles' heel.

He hmm-ed his assent. "You are not ready."

Hinata almost choked. That was his conclusion? He hadn't even been to one of her training sessions lately...

Initially, Hinata had been scheduled for this ceremony when she turned eighteen. Hiashi had also deemed her not ready then, and had pulled strings in order to postpone it to her twenty-first birthday. Since then, she had been training endlessly, trying to learn new jutsus and skills that would allow her to get her father's approval. She would have to become Clan leader with or without it, but she, more than anything, wanted to be a good leader in her father's eyes. She liked to think her light now shone a little more on her father's mind but now she was being proven wrong... yet again.

"If you wish, w-we could postpone the ceremony a little longer... T-the elders would probably have no p-problem--"

"I do not think you ever will be ready."

Her heart fell to her stomach. After everything she had given, after she had poured her body and soul into being the best ninja she could be? Still he couldn't accept her? "I-I'm sure, that if I train harder--"

"It is not about training, Hinata," he interrupted her yet again. She dutifully stopped speaking to allow him to make his point, no matter how hard it was for her to hear it. That was the way it had always been in the Hyuuga family. "You think I have not seen it, but I am aware that you have matured as a person as well as a ninja." He looked not at her, his voice stern but sure, while he said all of this. "You have become strong, and as Clan Leader I am proud that you are a Hyuuga."

She didn't say anything, but her spirit lifted a little. Rarely did her father have words of encouragement for her and she would savor every second of this rarity. But still, she didn't understand-- if he thought her a capable ninja, why didn't he agree with her being Head of the Clan?

"But you do not have the right disposition to become the leader of the Hyuuga," her father continued, still not looking at her. "You are much too gentle to lead the family, Hinata. To be Head of the Clan you must put the honor and well-being of the family above everything, no matter what you must do. That is a ruthlessness you do not and will never have. And I wouldn't want you to have it."

He finally turned his head to look at her and Hinata could see that, while he still held his head regally high, his eyes held a softness that she had rarely seen in her life. For now she was looking into the eyes not of Hyuuga Hiashi, the Leader of the Hyuuga Clan, but those of Hyuuga Hiashi, the man she owed her life to. "Above being Head of the Clan, Hinata, I am your father, and my main concern is your happiness. Though it may not seem so at times, I only want the best for you. And if you have to take the hand that destiny dealt for you, I would wish that it does not change you for the worst."

Hinata felt tears in her eyes. "Chichiue... Arigatou... but this has already been decided since I was born, t-there is no other option..."

"There is one more option," he sentenced.

Hinata gasped. How was she not aware of this fact? Twenty-one years had passed since she had the weight of the Hyuuga Clan put on her shoulders, and she hadn't known she had one other alternative during all of that time? "T-there... is..."

"Though I fear you might not find it any better than the one you already know," Hiashi looked deeply into his daughter's eyes and watched as she caught her breath. "The only way for a Hyuuga heir to be released of his duty as Head of the Clan without tarnishing the family honor is if she is to be married to forge an alliance with the head of another Clan. The responsibility of leading the Hyuuga Clan would then pass to the next in line."

Her eyes were wide as saucers. "D-does... d-does t-that mean...?"

Hiashi nodded. "If you accept, you will be part of an arranged marriage."

Hinata couldn't breath. She couldn't believe what she was hearing-- she was being taken out of the stove and into the fire. She was going to be forced to do something she did not want to do, no matter what. How could she do this? She couldn't lead the Clan, but she couldn't marry someone if she didn't love him. Could this situation get any worse? This was her fate, if only for being born first. Maybe she should just try her best at being the Clan Head... at least she had been preparing for that her whole life.

"Hinata," he father called, and she whipped her head back to look at him. She was scared, she didn't want to be here anymore... it was too much to take... "You know that if there was any way I could take this burden off you, I would." As tears started rolling down her cheeks, he continued. And for the first time he didn't berate her tears as being a sign of weakness. She was being put through a hard test, and she would pull through, but she needed to go through every moment first. "It is precisely why I do not wish for you to take on my title. Just like me, you would have to put the Clan ahead of everything, including yourself. Including those you love the most. And in that, who you are might be destroyed." His eyes clouded and through the haze in her own, she could understand that he was thinking about his brother, who accepted his own death to save the family, and how he was forced to accept his brother's decision against his will. "I would feel less worried if you took this last option I have given you. That way I at least know you would not have to grieve all your life because one single decision made you lose yourself." By now she didn't want to look at him, she cried silently into her sleeves and he let her. "But it is your decision. You must to choose one of the two, for the family, but only you will be the one to choose."

She cried desperately for a few minutes more, Hiashi doing nothing more than looking at her. All was quiet save for her sobs. After a while she sobered up, realizing that she couldn't keep her father waiting for much longer. She was still forced by family honor to accept one of the two options, but she had accepted a long time ago that there was no other choice but to give up her happiness for the Hyuuga family. So after some consideration, she did decide.

She had been in love with one boy for her entire life, but she knew that as much as she hoped, it was unlikely he would ever love her back, so she couldn't reject the proposal based on that one fact. And she could learn to love the man who would become her husband; after all, her parent's marriage had been arranged as well and they had lived quite comfortably up until then. If there was every any suffering, she would be the only one taking part in it-- she wouldn't drag the Clan down with her. And of course, there was the fact that her father would prefer if she accepted the engagement. And his opinion mattered to her like almost no-one else's.

She took a deep breath before wiping her eyes and looking back at her father. "I choose to accept the alliance marriage."

Hiashi nodded at her. She could tell that he was sad she was cornered into such a fate, and she thanked him for understanding. But she could also see that he thought this was the best option. And she couldn't take back her words. "Very well. I will pass this on to the elders so they announce the engagement. You may go now."

She weakly nodded and got up to leave, and as she had her hand on the doorknob he heard her father's last words to her:

"In three months you will be married to Uchiha Sasuke."

just a wee bit of a note--

one thing, i admittedly don't know much about hinata's relationship with her father; thus, their personalities are probably greatly exaggerated. i quite like hiashi, i think he would be a good father even though he's pretty harsh in most of the scenes we've seen him in, but that's just his "head of the clan" persona acting up, i guess. i don't know, though, how he and hinata would address each other. i decided she would call him "chichiue" (ちちうえ), it being a respectful way of saying "father," if i'm not mistaken. "otousan" (おとうさん) seemed too informal. please correct me if i'm wrong about the meaning of those two. i don't know what she calls him in the manga and i can't remember if she ever said either word in the anime ;;; so please help me with that if you can.

errrr... spoilers, i guess. if you haven't read/watched up to the chuunin exam.