Author's Note:

Please make sure you read the A/N at the bottom of this chapter when you're done, it's very important! I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out when this chapter takes place, so I won't bother saying it now. As for romance, I don't have a set pairing yet, but I think I'm leaning towards making this a potential SasuHina. I tell you guys this now so that you guys can't blame me if you still choose to read this and don't like the pairing. I warned you. The story and plot itself will progress slowly, so if you get bored with some scenes, feel free to drop this story and read something else. Everything has a purpose and I'm not writing anything without a reason. Keep that in mind! Also, please overlook any grammar/spelling errors, since I have no beta. They'll be fixed, eventually.

Disclaimer: I will only say this once for the entire story as a whole. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

—

CURSED

—

by: Lecs

Summary: AU. We all know Orochimaru's curse seal was what pushed Sasuke to ultimately run away for power. Instead of sealing the youngest Uchiha though, what if he sealed the Hyuuga heiress instead?

I. Struggles

The cool tiles actually felt good on her heated skin as she lay on her back, chest heaving up and down in an attempt to catch her breath. The match had only started half an hour ago, and yet she had already fallen twice. This was her third time.

"Get up, aneki," her sister ushered to her under her breath. Hanabi stared at her unmoving fallen sister, wondering if she heard her or if she just chose to give up.

While only a couple of minutes passed by in reality, it felt like hours in Hinata's head as she resumed laying on the ground, motionless. A part of her, the selfish part of her, wanted to stop pretending. At times like this, she really did wish she wasn't born a Hyuuga and wasn't burdened with its wretched curse to place power and honor above humanity. It hurt more sometimes to restrain herself than the physical pain countless fights like this inflicted. Every spar, every fight, every battle from verbal to physical was a test to her will; a test to uphold her responsibilities as an older sister.

And a daughter.

Everyone valued their pride, and even Hinata was not an exception to that fact. It was inept to feel a sort of arrogance — or rather confidence, in what you do, and only natural to feel like you need to back it up when someone challenges you and says otherwise. It was exemplified in multiple people, from her cousin Neji to her father, to Sasuke and the Uchihas before him, and even on her crush with the Kyuubi vessel. The hyperactive blonde was probably the strongest example of someone who wouldn't let you degrade him any less than what he really was, always fighting and trying to prove people wrong. His determination was one of the things Hinata admired; but unlike him, she was used to taming that pride. She had been suppressing it for nearly five years now, ever since she was but seven years old.

Though pride was valuable, some things were even more precious.

"Hinata?"

Slowly opening her eyes, she was met with similar eyes staring back into her own. Dressed in similar loose black sparring clothes, Hanabi stood before her sister to check if she was okay. Hinata nodded and smiled a little, sitting up and wincing a bit as she felt the sting from Hanabi's blow linger on the right side of her abdomen. The younger Hyuuga offered a hand, which Hinata was thankful for as she was brought back up onto her feet. The persistent silence of the room was far from peaceful and relaxing as Hinata surveyed the rest of the dojo with diligent eyes. Sensing her sister's intentions, Hanabi answered her unspoken mental question, hesitating for a moment before speaking.

"Father left when you fell... he said he had other things to take care of and had to get it done soon."

While younger Hinata in the past would have lowered her eyes in shame and disappointment, this Hinata simply nodded, externally masking her face to one of indifference and acceptance.

She was used to this, too.

She smiled to herself at Hanabi's excuse to try and downgrade the real reason of why their father departed. She had her suspicions that while it may be true her sister was probably sympathetic and pitied her, she was certain her sister was also one of the only few among others — being Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai-sensei — that truly did love and care for her. Though she wasn't obvious or direct with her feelings, she could read Hanabi's subtle signs through the little things she did each day. From her special smile — one that she'd only share with her — when they'd acknowledge each other in the hallways, to when she'd be seen patiently waiting for her by her room after a mission, with the intentions of asking her how it went and if she was injured. The only person in her family who bothered to ask.

When she knew that her love and affection with her sister was mutually reciprocated, it made the burden in her heart bearable; Hanabi reminded her of her promise, and what she was striving to protect.

"I see..."

Hanabi turned her head away, unable to deal with looking at her sister's face while a range of emotions were eating her up on the inside.

Anger...

Triumph...

Guilt...

Fear...

Unbeknownst to her older sister, Hanabi often blamed herself for putting her in her situation. And unbeknownst to her younger sister, Hinata often blamed the clan.

They always did say blood was thicker than water...

Jumping off the elevated sparring stage and slowly making her way to the exit, Hanabi snapped out of her own thoughts and spoke up just as her hands grazed the cool brass handle of the dark cherry-wood doors, causing her to pause.

"He said to come meet him later tonight, when his business was taken care of."

Turning the handle and pushing outwards, Hinata mumbled a soft "Hai," as she gracefully slid though the doors and never looked back, leaving one contemplative Hanabi Hyuuga behind to stare at the spot where she was once standing.

...but water tastes better.

— X —

She was still loosely clutching her side by the time she made it outside, walking along the path that would lead her back to the main house building. The sun was about two-thirds of the way from it's starting point in the east, signifying that it was just past 5 in the afternoon. As she continued walking, a bright blue bird chirping caught her eyes as she followed it's path towards the colorful cluster of flowers and plants. In the center of the plants were smooth rocks in various shades of grays and browns, organized around a small man-made lake with clear water as blue as the skies.

Her mother's garden.

It's been a while since she's actually went there to relax and spend her free time just admiring the flowers. Missions and training have been consuming a lot of her time lately, which ultimately led her to ask fellow Hyuuga servants to take on her role of watering any dry plants and pulling out unwanted weeds. Hinata missed doing simple chores like that, on the contrary general belief that girls hated getting dirty and sweaty from being outside with boring old plants. The only other girl that would probably protest that assumption was Ino Yamanaka herself, Hinata mused.

Gardening was more than just a hobby for the Hyuuga heiress; it was an obligation, and a way to connect with her mother that enjoyed it just as much.

With a few hours left until night time, Hinata made her mind up and promised herself to stop by sometime in the future to come back and enjoy the garden on her own time, when she didn't have other matters to attend to. Team 8 had it's own training session a little less than an hour away at their usual training grounds, and she still had to change back into her normal ninja attire and gather her weapons pouch filled with the standard kunai and shiruken.

Resuming her quiet walk back to her room, she made her way up mahogany steps as she turned at the appropriate corridor. Because it was nearly silent throughout her whole walk, she nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise when she heard a door suddenly sliding open just ahead of her path, and heated eyes narrowed upon spotting her before simmering down into a cold glare.

"Hinata-sama."

Even with the formal suffix that was supposed to be respectful, Hinata could still feel the sense of loathing and mockery beneath the way he said her name; but again, she was used to it. And she honestly couldn't blame him.

"Hello, Neji-nii-san," Hinata softly greeted back, and offered him a sad, yet sincere smile.

Neji made no further attempts to respond back verbally, or let alone nod. Turning his gaze away from her face and towards the path in front of him, he passed her by without another word. She could hear his footsteps gradually fade away as he descended down the same steps she took to get up here.

Slumping her shoulders, she let out a sigh as she continued her trek to her room and slid the door open. Even if she was used to Neji's cold attitude towards her, it didn't mean she wasn't still hurt by it.

Power and riches really were nothing if it meant you had to sacrifice bonds with the ones you love — or rather for, those people. The name Hyuuga was truly a curse, indeed...

— X —

Roughly 15 minutes later, she was back in her standard cream colored jacket and navy slacks, already more than halfway in distance from leaving the Hyuuga Compound. With still over half an hour left before she was due to meet with her team, she decided she'd arrive early and get some last minute solo training by herself.

Arriving at the training grounds, Hinata made sure to stretch out before walking to one of the worn out wooden posts, where she'd normally practice. Forming a series of hand seals, she muttered a soft "Byakugan!" as chakra filled veins pulsated and protruded against the outside of her lavender eyes. Facing the wooden post in standard Jyuuken style stance, she began her assault and moved to raise one chakra laced palm.

— X —

Running a hand through long pink locks, Sakura sighed in frustration as she willed herself to not bash Naruto in the head for being too loud and drawing unwanted attention their way from the various civilians passing them by. From her peripheral view, she could see Sasuke pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, indicating that she wasn't the only one getting a headache from the blonde's constant shouting.

"Naruto, quit yelling already before I make you!" Sakura threatened menacingly, raising one of her hands in a fist in an attempt to back up her words.

"Ne, but Sakura-chan, it's been two hours already and Kakashi-sensei's still not here! And I have to go find Kiba!" Naruto whined in a slightly quieter voice with his hands in front of his face, as some sort of useless protection against Sakura's incoming punch.

"Tch. You should know Kakashi by now, baka." The Uchiha grunted from his leaning position against the bridge, both arms back behind the railings and eyes closed.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as his yelling went back to its original volume. "What was that, teme? Try saying that again to my face!"

"I just did." Sasuke calmly retorted. Before the blonde could shout anymore replies and make his way to his raven-haired team mate to instigate a fight, Sakura quickly cut him off by hitting him in the head.

"Enough already, Naruto! Save it for training later!" the pinkette scolded, cracking her knuckles and mentally patting her back in a job well done with her punch. A weeping Naruto held his head in his hands, as he began to protest yet again.

"Oww, that really hurt Sakura-chan..." Naruto rubbed the spot on his head where no doubt a big pink lump would form. "I just wish sensei would hurry up already..."

"What do you need to see Kiba for, anyways?" Sakura questioned, partially out of boredom and also from curiosity. Naruto wasn't one to usually have plans, aside from going out to eat at Ichiraku's or doing who knows what in his apartment. A grin quickly enveloped the blonde's face as he began to explain.

"We made a bet a while ago on who's team is better, and I gotta find him to see how many missions their team's done!" exclaimed Naruto. "Whoever wins gets to rub it in the other's face, and they can't do anything about it. Plus, winner and his team is treated by the loser at Ichiraku's!"

Sakura couldn't help but sigh, as Sasuke snorted beside her. It was very Naruto, and oh so very... typical.

In that moment, a spontaneous poof of gray swirls erupted in front of the three genin as the smoke slowly cleared to reveal their tardy silver-haired sensei. "Yo. Sorry to keep you guys waiting, I had to carry out a last minute request for a pretty lady while she had some other things to do."

"Liar!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled out, with fingers pointed at there sensei in accusation. Sasuke merely blinked, still unmoving from his spot against the bridge railing.

Kakashi sweat dropped at his team's lack of trust in his words. "No, really. I had to talk with Kurenai who was called on a sudden mission as a replacement for one of the other jounin, and she asked me to handle her team's training practice — "

"Wait wait, hold on," Naruto interrupted, "but you're supposed to be training with us!"

"I was getting to that, Naruto," the jounin sighed, "as you pointed out, since I'm scheduled to have training with you guys, I'll actually be making this a joint team training session today with Team 8."

At hearing his words, a grin easily came over the blonde again as he cheered. "Alright! Finally something new from the same old boring routine!"

Beside him, Sakura merely nodded as Sasuke remained indifferent, though his eyebrow was raised slightly. Kakashi continued. "Since Team 8 doesn't know about the sudden change, we're going to train at their training grounds instead since they were told to meet up there around 6. It's still early, but we might as well head there now so they're not confused and we can explain the deal to them."

With that said, all four shinobi made their way towards the forest in direction of Team 8's training grounds. Along the way, Naruto kept happily talking about how exciting this was going to be as Sakura nodded to signify she was listening, also pointing out to him that he didn't need to find Kiba anymore since he'd be there with us. To the side, Sasuke remained silent, though he mentally agreed with the dobe's point that this should at least be interesting. This meant new sparring partners, and more people to test his skills on. Trailing a few steps behind the three 12 year olds, Kakashi kept silent, too busy to make a comment as Naruto dragged the Uchiha into the conversation by suddenly proclaiming a race to their destination. Tuning the rest of the kyuubi vessel's words out, he turned his attention back to reading his favorite orange book.

Little did anyone know, beneath his mask was a smile.

— X —

"Hey, Hinata!"

Breathing deeply and somewhat similar to the match with her sister from earlier on, Hinata turned from her post to see a familiar figure running towards her with his trademark toothy grin on his face. Inside his coat, she could make out the white puff of fur that was Akamaru protruding from his chest.

"Hello, Kiba!" The pale-eyed kunoichi greeted him as he finally made his way to where she was standing, Akamaru jumping out of his jacket and landing on the ground to his side with his tail wagging happily.

"I'm surprised you're here too, I thought I was gonna be the one to get here first," the Inuzuka began, eyeing the post Hinata had just been training on. "Doing some solo training?"

Hinata blushed a bit and mutely nodded, as Kiba observed the post again, noting the newly indented depressions. "That's some serious hits there, just wait until we kick some butt at the exams!"

Hinata smiled wearily, shaking her head a little. "Thank you Kiba-kun... b-but I still need to perfect some of my moves with the tenketsu..."

"Don't worry about it Hinata, we still have a little less than 2 months left until it starts. We have plenty of time to train and perfect anything that's needed in the mean time," Kiba reassured her, as Akamaru barked in agreement. Hinata merely nodded, as her thoughts told her otherwise...

Before she had the chance to go into further contemplation, a sudden shout was heard in the distance from the direction Kiba had just come from. Looking at each other for a second to confirm that the other had heard it as well, both genin turned their heads in the direction of the yelling as it grew louder, almost as if the person was heading towards them. When other voices accompanied the distinct high-pitched male one, it grew obvious that there were at least 3 people coming there way.

"Bastard, get back here!"

"You idiot, slow down!" someone yelled, in a voice that was distinctly female. Judging from the differences in volume, the female was most likely lagging behind chasing the other.

At first Hinata thought it was just her imagination, but at clearly hearing the familiar voice again, her heart grew louder and pounded harder in her chest as he approached closer. What was he doing here?

"You're just too slow," came the reply of a deeper male voice. All too quickly, in a mere blink of her eyes, a body materialized in front of Hinata as she regarded a heavily breathing Sasuke Uchiha before her. A few seconds later, Naruto made an appearance as he took the spot beside Sasuke, breathing even more heavily with a scowl on his face.

"Teme, you cheated! You were supposed to wait until I said go!" Naruto accused the Uchiha, pointing a finger at him as the brunette in turn simply scoffed.

"You said to go on the count of three, dobe. You didn't specify."

Before Naruto could retort, Kiba interrupted and jumped in. "Hey hey hey, what's the big idea? And why are you guys here on our training grounds?" The Inuzuka questioned, gesturing towards himself and his fellow team mate.

"Oh, hey there Kiba!" Turning his head, he nodded with a big smile on his face to the Hyuuga heiress, his anger and accusations towards the Uchiha temporarily forgotten. "Hi there Hinata-chan!"

Hinata couldn't help but remain silent for a few seconds after his greeting, too dumbfounded on the fact that he was actually talking to her! As red colored her cheeks, she mustered up some sort of reply back as she willed herself to calm down. "H-hello, N-Naruto-kun!"

Sasuke made no attempt to spout a greeting as he turned his attention away from the dobe and onto the dog boy and the stuttering girl in front of him. All of a sudden, disappointment washed over him as he realized that maybe this wouldn't be so interesting, after all. He was confident that he could beat the Inuzuka, in a lot of ways he was like the brunette version of Naruto; just get the idiot riled up with some smack talk, and his temper and rashness would be his downfall. The Hyuuga on the other hand was probably worth something, though he doubted it by the way she carried herself. Soft. Diffident. Fragile. He'd be surprised if she could even beat Sakura, who had just arrived panting on his other side. If he were lucky, maybe the bug boy who had yet to arrive would put up a challenge for him.

"You still didn't answer my question yet, Uzumaki," Kiba pointed out, while Akamaru barked after him for emphasis.

Saving Naruto from replying, Kakashi answered for him as he just arrived, casually strolling towards the spot in the center before the genin. Facing the two confused members of Team 8, the jounin began to explain. "Your sensei was called out on a last minute mission, and I agreed to watch over you guys until she came back. We'll be having a joint training session today."

The differences in the other's reaction to the silver-haired man's words was quite obvious, as a grin almost immediately formed upon Kiba's face and Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and slight nervousness. Training, with Team 7? With Naruto? Her stomach was doing flips!

"Heh, this 'oughta be fun. Eh, Akamaru?" the Inuzuka beckoned to the dog, who barked in agreement. Hinata remained silent as she nodded once, still trying to will her blush to go away.

Checking the sun's distance across the sky, Kakashi spoke up again. "I realize that we're all a bit early, but do you think your team mate will be arriving soon by the time we're supposed to start?"

"Ano, S-Shino won't b-be joining us, he left to go on a mission with his father yesterday... it was j-just supposed to be us and Kurenai-sensei... " Hinata replied.

Nodding in understanding, Kakashi tucked his infamous little book away in the safety of his jounin vest as he silently eyed each of the genin before him. 'Well, since it's an odd number, I guess I'm forced to spar with somebody...' he mentally concluded, partially upset that he won't be able to give his full attention to the next scene in Icha Icha Paradise. Wanting to give each member of his team a chance to work with someone new, he thought of the potential outcomes he could have for the spar.

Eyeing the blushing Hyuuga who was still staring at the hyperactive knucklehead, who was in turn trying to get Sakura's attention, he concluded that pairing her up with the blonde was probably too mean. She probably wouldn't be able to concentrate. As for Sakura, he had been meaning to give some attention to her since he was always busy with Sasuke or Naruto. Approving of his logic without any second thoughts, he voiced out the pairings.

"Sakura, you'll be sparring with me. Naruto, you're up against Kiba. Sasuke, you'll be with Hinata."

The kunoichi of the group were visibly upset with their partners — Sakura frowning while Hinata sighed — as Naruto eyed a grinning Kiba in a taunting manner. Sasuke said nothing as his hands remained in his pockets, expressionless as ever on the outside albeit a slight frown marring his face.

Breaking up into their assigned pairs, each couple spread out onto different sections on the grass. Choosing the center area since Kakashi and Sakura occupied the one to her right, Hinata eyed the blonde and her team mate make their way towards the left side of the field, engrossed in conversation with one another and catching tidbits of their rather loud conversation about bets and missions. A cough broke her out of her thoughts as she turned to give her attention to the brunette before her, who merely narrowed his eyes at her behavior.

"Keep your focus here, Hyuuga," the Uchiha demanded more so than suggested. With his hands out of his pockets and out to his sides, and his feet spaced out in preparation to move, Hinata gulped as she hesitantly took the standard Hyuuga style stance. Left hand and left foot facing out in front of her right one, with her right arm bent and close to her chest.

Though he wasn't too happy with his assigned partner, Sasuke told himself to treat it like it was a teaching lesson, which in a sense, was true. Though he's seen it been used in action before thanks to training exercises Iruka would give them from their Academy days, he's never fought a Byakugan user hand to hand in a fight. Sure, maybe he would've preferred someone stronger with the doujutsu like this girl's well-known older cousin, but Sasuke wasn't going to complain. He was going to take what he could get.

Taking a moment to recall anything he knew about the Hyuuga before him as they awaited Kakashi's signal to commence, little to nothing came to mind as he eyed her. If he was honest about it, he hadn't even recalled her name prior to this unexpected joint team mash up. All he knew was that she was heiress to her clan, and — thankfully — one of the few girls who had no interest in him whatsoever. Instead, she had a crush on the dobe, which she made obvious just a few seconds ago with her openly staring at him.

Broken out of his train of thoughts, he was turned back to reality as Kakashi suddenly gave them the signal to start the spar. Smirking slightly, he closed his eyes momentarily and reopened them, waiting for the Hyuuga to make her move.

Red eyes stared back at her as she calculated what to do in her head. Like Sasuke and the Byakugan, she has never had the experience of fighting someone with the Sharingan. Biting her lip, she performed the hand seals needed before activating her own doujutsu, taking in the abundance of chakra circulating his system and passing through the various chakra points that she could clearly see. Knowing that he was waiting for her to initiate something, she gave in and made the first move by charging at him, chakra laced palm out and ready to strike.

Shifting to his left when she drew closer, he easily avoided her attack as he moved to keep dodging, wanting to test and see her fighting style. She moved in an expected pattern, from striking left, to right, to jabbing left two more times and repeating. After a few minutes of evading, he grew bored of her antics and finally made a move to counterstrike, blocking one of her hits with his forearm as he grabbed her wrist to twist it behind her back.

"You're too predictable," he calmly stated, with his iron grip still on her wrists and back towards his front. "It's pathetic. I expected more of a challenge."

Not one to be effected by words, Hinata struggled in his grasp as he all but obliged to let her go, eyeing her cautiously as she settled back into the standard Hyuuga stance. Being the good shinobi that he was, he didn't miss the post marred by heavy dents behind the girl when he first saw her and the dog boy. Sure she was slow, but he was faster than the average genin. The girl obviously still had the strength and potential; so where was it now?

"Are you only good when you're hitting a log, or is that really the best you can do? Either way, you need to step your game up."

At hearing his words, Hinata struggled to not let anything on her face show. Memories of the fight that took place with her sister that morning all of a sudden rushed through her mind, along with various other flashbacks to other fights she'd been in; some with Neji, and some with her father. It was hard; proving yourself was one thing... but trying to uphold a facade was another.

With no response to his comment, she settled for a different approach as she back flipped away from him, putting some distance in between them. Reaching into her weapons pouch while in midair during her third flip, she quickly drew out and threw several shuriken in his direction, which he easily counteracted by throwing his own kunai. Accurately knocking off their targets, loud clings of metal to metal resounded in the air as kunai and shiruken clashed before falling to the ground. She watched as the Uchiha closed his eyes, noting him make some sort of mental decision before he opened his eyes again, this time in a glare towards her.

With the speed she witnessed — or rather, failed to witness — during his race with Team 7, he disappeared and reappeared in front of her face before she even had time to react, punching her in the chest so that she stumbled back a few feet. Still standing, the Hyuuga barely had time to defensively raise her arms in front of her chest as Sasuke relentlessly sent punch after kick at her, her stance weakening with every hit.

"If you won't really put up a fight, then fine. I'll just make you."

With eyes widened at his threat, Hinata struggled to focus on merely eluding his hits, not wanting to fight back — refusing to counter. The boy in turn did not miss the way her eyes widened, and how her palms clenched into fists as if she were preparing to attack back with a punch. Where she had anticipated him to high kick her where her chest was, the brunette switched tactics as he unexpectedly dropped down to the ground and swung a low kick to her legs, making her trip and land on her backside.

The Uchiha kicked hard, Hinata thought with tightly closed eyes and a grimace on her face. She let out a low muffled cry as she felt pain shoot up her back, but stubbornly refused herself to just lay there and lose like this. Attempting to push herself to sit up on her elbows, she found herself unable to move as a heavy weight gripped her arms and held her down. Opening her eyes, she found Sasuke staring very closely at her face. He was so close, that she could clearly see the three tomoe spinning wildly in his red eyes, as well as the scowl adorned on his features.

"I don't know why you're holding back, Hyuuga. But if this was a real fight, you would've been dead a long time ago."

Since it was obvious he was stronger than her and that wiggling free was not going make him loosen his grip on her arms, Hinata turned her head away to the side as she closed her eyes. Was she really that obvious? How could he just call her out like that? Regardless of what he said, he didn't know the situation she was in. He had no right.

"You're h-hurting m-me, Uchiha-san..." she barely said above a breath underneath him. Were it not for the close proximity, he probably wouldn't have heard her. While she couldn't see his glare, Hinata could still very well feel it as he refused to budge.

"Hn. I don't see why you bother to get up." he ignored her previous statement. "If you're not going to fight, you might as well stay down, like the pathetic excuse of a kunoichi that you are."

While Hinata prided herself in being strong in a concealed and non-overt way, she wasn't that strong; and she could only take so much fire before she erupted into flames and exploded. At hearing his words, she felt the pent up frustration and anger course through her veins as she decided on the moment, just for this one time, that it was okay to let down her guard. She's had enough.

While he effectively held her arms down and prevented them from moving, the Uchiha failed to secure her legs, and as such, was surprised when he felt a kick towards his lower areas. Immediately releasing his hold on her, he remained hunched over for a few moments with arms crossing over his abdomen in a kneeling position as Hinata freely slid out of his grasp. Back to standing upon her two feet, with head bowed down, she spoke up again in a quiet, yet stern voice.

"You don't know me, Uchiha-san."

At hearing her words, Sasuke rose to slowly stand, still grasping his lower stomach. When he looked up, all he could make out was the dark blue hues of her large indigo fringe covering the spot where her pale pupiless eyes should be. He heard the change of tone and voice when she said those four little words; it intrigued him to an extent, yet it left him with a feeling of confusion. After a few more moments of silence ensued, someone spoke up somewhere to the side before he could get the chance to say anything further.

"Haha, man Sasuke, she got you with that last move when she sent you that kick!"

Releasing his hold on his abdomen, he turned his head to meet the annoying grin of a blonde with a sour looking Inuzuka beside him. In the current moment, he could empathize with the dog nin.

"Shut up, idiot." The Uchiha grunted, as a scowl enveloped his face. Before he was tempted to go over there and make the continuously laughing blonde shut up, Kakashi spoke up from behind him as all four genin turned to face the jounin. "That was a pretty good kick, Hinata. It didn't seem like he expected it."

While Sasuke continued to frown, the Hyuuga girl uttered a soft 'thanks' as Naruto's happy expression quickly changed into a worried one. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! What's wrong with Sakura-chan!" The blonde pointed to the unconscious pink-haired girl lying on the grass. No visible signs of physical injury were present, and if someone weren't to know any better, it looked like the girl was simply taking a nap on the ground. Kakashi smiled slightly beneath his mask.

"Oh, I just put her in some genjutsu is all. She'll come to it in a little bit, no worries."

Though his sensei reassured him, the blonde still maintained a skeptical look as he regarded his fallen team mate. When he heard his stomach suddenly grumble in a loud fashion though, his expression quickly turned back to happy again as he grabbed Kiba by the shoulders, placing him under an arm. "Man, all this sparring sure worked me up an appetite! I hope you have enough money there on ya, Kiba!" Naruto smiled slyly, as the Inuzuka grimaced. From the inside of his jacket, Akamaru whined as he snuggled closer to Kiba's chest.

"Yeah yeah, whatever..." he sighed in defeat. Turning his head to look away, his eyes landed on Hinata's figure. "Yo, Hinata, wanna come eat at Ichiraku's? It's on me, I'm treating everybody."

The indigo-haired heiress shook her head, "I-I'd really like to, but I really should be getting home..." she politely declined, glancing at the darkened sky and the setting sun. It was probably nearing 7 PM if it wasn't already, and she still had to meet with her father. Hinata mentally sighed at the fact.

"Ah, that's too bad. Alrighty then, maybe next time," Kiba smiled at her, though a part of him was selfishly happy that it was one less person to pay for. Damn that Naruto.

"Well, what about you teme? You in? The bet included the whole team," Naruto explained. Sasuke in turn merely closed his eyes, turning so that his back faced them. "No. I have other things to do."

Naruto frowned. "Aw, come on! It's free!" he put extra emphasis on the last word. When the Uchiha failed to respond, Naruto let him be and didn't bother to ask a third time. If he didn't want any ramen, it was his loss. There would be simply more for him, then! Turning his head towards his sensei, Naruto asked him the same question.

"Thanks but no thanks," he began, "but I have my own business to attend to as well." he stated while fingering the little orange book within his vest. "Plus, I need to drop off Sakura at her place so she won't freak out when she wakes up later alone in the forest at night." Moving to pick up the unconscious pink-haired kunoichi and slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, he reminded their team that they'd have training at the same time at their usual place before making a hand sign and disappearing in a poof of grey swirls.

With nothing else to do, Hinata moved to start on her trek back home, bidding Naruto and Kiba a good evening before she left. She didn't see Sasuke anywhere after Kakashi was done speaking, so she assumed he already went ahead and went to wherever it was he intended to go to. Walking in the direction out of the training grounds, she began to lose herself in thoughts as the silence of the night hung in the air, creating a rather pensive environment around her. Thoughts on Hanabi, her mother, the clan, and her recent spar with the Uchiha occupied her mind as she neared the crossroad at the end of the forest. It truly did unnerve her that he was able to almost clearly see through her; she couldn't afford to slip up on her part. Too much was at stake for any mistakes, and she just had to be more careful. Turning left, she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice inquisitive dark eyes following her retreating figure from behind. Shaking his head once, he stuffed his hands in his pockets before continuing to walk in the opposite direction.

Author's Note:

Hey guys. So yes, I'm aware I'm starting a new story even though I have yet to update and finish my other ones, but I couldn't help but get this concept out of my head so I naturally just had to write it and post it to get it out of my system! Do not fret though, as I have said before and will assure you again, all of my stories will be completed at one point or another. I'm not giving up on anything.

On the other hand, before posting this chapter up, I did a search on FF stories for anything similar to my concept and have found that there's already a story identical to this called 'Snake Heiress' by Acumichi. I've never read the story before, and I've already P/M'ed her saying that it's not my intention to steal any concept she's already written — and if it were the case, I assure you, it's by pure coincidence. Just to save you guys from any misunderstandings/accusations, there ya go.

With that said, please leave a review and let me know what you think! I was going to include Hinata and her father's meeting included here, but I figured I'd save it for next time since this chapter turned out to be really long. I wrote this all in two sittings by the way, so yeah. I'm tired lol. This was also my first time writing out a battle/fight scene, so hopefully I didn't do too bad! This story relates a lot to Hyuuga clan politics, so naturally as I said before, everything's slow-paced for the most part. I don't really know how to say anymore without giving too much away, so if you still want me to be specific I guess you can shoot me a P/M. Until next chapter!

— Lecs