Title: The Butterfly Effect
Author: holmesfreak1412
Fandom: Naruto: Road To Ninja AU
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata (Charasuke x Bitch!Hinata)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: T
Summary: [RTN AU] The Butterfly Effect is a curious thing, where a minor fluctuation causes a major alteration like butterflies from miles away seemingly creating typhoons. In which Uchiha Sasuke finds himself observing the changes Hyuuga Hinata undergoes over the years and thereby falling in love with Konoha's tsundere. Hard.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Naruto Franchise
Author's Note: An introspective take to the trope of RTN SasuHina. Lol. So obviously OOC. RTN day is opposite day after all. Confusing timeline perhaps as well as I only wrote this as I went without much thought. It's a nice experiment of instinctual writing though albeit a bit of hard to follow if one doesn't read between the lines. I'm sort of one with excessive subtlety and that hardly ever benefits my writing endeavors these days. I think I have to go for a nap.
Anyway, on with the story.
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The Butterfly Effect
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ONE
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They all say that she is a bitch.
As derogatory as that address is, that is something the Hyuuga who acted like she has a long stick shoved up on her plump, delicious ass, doesn't really bother arguing about.
She would have though. Hell, as fierce as she is, she should. And yet, like fully embracing what they branded her as, Hinata goes on with life like she wasn't the one the whole civilian populace feared and sometimes, even wished ill-will for being the spoiled brat that they didn't like seeing. She was the village's pariah then—a big bully to those that crossed her and the despised one who managed to escape from her wrongdoing just because she was the Hyuuga Princess. As she explained though, she has long since lost the urge to care about such trivial perception. "They were just stupid commoners!" she would grumble in complaint to those who murmur of her shortcoming behind cupped hands, with a fiery glare and gnashing teeth. Scary. "I don't really fucking care what you think about me! You were all beneath me!"
At a denotative derivation of her scathing repartee, it would have sounded as though she indeed was as much as the spoiled brat as most people hated her for—insensitive, badmouthed, prideful, a certified textbook bitch… But Uchiha Sasuke, in the years he spent observing the hime of his wet dreams, knew it was only her unique way of saying how she didn't really see the point of having herself react to degradation from those who didn't even know her. To her, it was downright pointless.
They all say regretfully that perhaps in another universe where things weren't as bad as they had torturously been, Hyuuga Hinata would have never been the girl Konoha saw as she was now—for small changes as this and that would have made a difference at the very least, right? That, it seemed was what everyone yearned to believe, when in lonesome introspection they would dwell on what wasn't and should be despite the futility of such thoughts. Wasteful as those was, the idea was a predominant topic within circles where people were less likely to rat out to the subjects that were to inevitably pummel the gossipers to death. Hinata, is more than frequently nailed as such case.
Seemingly without a life, they all ask themselves: how could she have been, had she not experienced what she did? If she still had her parents to guide her—her father especially? Far from the stereotypical tsundere with the bad mouth and ill temper, the Hyuuga heiress, they extrapolated, could have been the ideal princess the Hyuuga clan was expected to have. Long-haired, shoji-loving, aristocratic noblemen after all, were supposed to bear well-mannered, polite and graceful children who could go through a tedious tea ceremony like it was second nature. She should probably have extraordinary amount of patience in order to refrain from acting like the spoiled brat in public that she really was and never flaunt it away like she didn't care lest she cause the mar that would stain her image as The Princess. They said that perhaps, she wouldn't be that perpetually frowning, obnoxious bitch that they were unfortunately stuck with. She would have been a real princess…
Trained that way, feigning a smile while still holding that stoic countenance should have been an easy feat so as to never lose temper over the most trivial things and thereby proceed to be notorious for their ill-will and not-so-gentle-fist. She would have dressed accordingly as well, in dark, modest kimonos like a real lady should be seen in. During missions she would have only garb herself with the standard Chuunin vest that at least made her look more respectable and authoritative as a kunoichi. She would have been universally loved instead of feared. She would have been Konoha's little angel. For blessed with a pleasant cherubic face and heavenly hair like that, it would have been fairly conceivable to easily be perceived as the resident sweetheart. And yet these were the several things, Hyuuga Hinata was not. If only her father didn't die actually, Hinata would have at least been more positively popular to those who didn't bother to know her well. But then again, being something like the much revered and well-loved Sakura, was not the foremost priority in Hinata's mind.
They all said Sakura was such a nice young lady… unlike Hinata.
Hinata, for as long as Uchiha Sasuke could remember, had blatantly resented the hero's daughter's guts. It was, after all, hardly the biggest secret.
When it started, nobody knew. The ferocious rivalry between the two girls was just something that seemed to have popped out of nowhere ever since the academy days, with Hinata seething at Sakura without much subtlety, much to the "poor" pink-haired girl's fearful cowering. Hinata had been less vocal about it back then though, preferring to be the angst-ridden brat that glared at everyone, kept to herself, trained like there was no tomorrow and conclusively excel in everything she did. While indeed, she wasn't really classified as a one-in-a-million genius, she showed enough promise to be admirable. Her determination and confidence was commendable. And it showed in every vein that popped on her temple during times you wouldn't want to be in proximity with her. In Iruka's words, Hinata would have been rookie of the year. If only she showed more willingness in cooperation and stuff that involved getting close to people that avoided her like plague, the spot wouldn't have been taken by Sasuke. But nevertheless Hinata was the ideal shinobi—aggressive and hellbent: a dangerous combination. Why she hated dead-last, gentle, untalented Sakura who only managed to enroll herself in the shinobi lifestyle because of her heritage, was anybody's guess though. To people, it certainly sounded irrational. How could someone hate this kindhearted, well-meaning, legacy the Fourth Hokage left, with such passion?
This animosity, for bold in tongue as she had grown to be, was something she didn't attempt to hide.
Sakura, on one hand had long since decided it for the norm and consequently ended up shrugging the matter off.
Sasuke would eventually learn that to Hinata, that was the point. Everybody practically forgave Sakura for not trying hard as a ninja, meanwhile putting her on a higher pedestal effortlessly from her part just because of her position as the hero's daughter while Hinata herself was trying so hard, only for others to put her sweat down the drain of the unacknowledged. To them, Sakura's reluctance for battle was wholly understandable—because didn't she lose her parents on a particularly hard one? Hinata's anger, on the other hand, was something the village didn't condone and instead went as far as to use against her. Her father died for the village as well… but with the hush, hush going on around Konoha, nobody even cared. Because, they said that it was her fault. Right? Taken for granted and immediately the black sheep, Hinata could only go as far as fit in the stereotype she was pigeonholed into and finally succumb to abhorring the goody-two-shoes who, despite what the report card said in her favor, was always seen as someone she should have aspired to.
Hinata had not always been like this.
She used to be the shy, cute mouse of a girl with the permanent blush that any mother would have squealed upon seeing—exactly the little girl expected to grow up as the perfect wife for their sons. Sasuke knew. Mikoto used to gush about the cute Hyuuga heiress with the stutter like his most ridiculous fangirl. He did meet her once like that when they were seven after all… before ultimately, the tides of life put her precariously into the crest of alteration and for what seemed like overnight to the hugely unprepared mass, she had changed.
Forever gone was the cultured Hyuuga princess. In her place, was a confused, angry, young girl who didn't understand why her own father had to die because she had let herself be kidnapped by some bunch of greedy Cloud-nins. Why was she just too weak at the time when she was already seven and should have been able to use Jyuuken like Neji could? To make things worse, she thought it was only appropriate for her to blame herself because she imagined others did as well. It was a silly notion but it did some miracles.
To this day, Sasuke can't see what had been so great with Sakura for people to be blinded away from Hinata's more than inspiring transformation. She was really quite a catch and she already was interesting even before that. From henceforth since what must be her life-changing epiphany, Hinata had made it an oath to no longer be a mere pushover just because she "unfortunately" looked like one. Shedding her wallflower skin, she became the scary cool kid no one would dare mess with, for her furious glare and fighting prowess was sufficient to chill one's spine. This time, unlike when she was as a child, she would never be an easy target. But then again, even that Dutch courage she got from so much anger was merely a collapsible façade. Maybe the time would come when it would inevitably crack, the brave mask melting away at the face of her fears. As conceited as he is, Sasuke often finds himself regarding the prospect of this rather selfishly appealing in context, something he can almost look forward to. Vulnerable Hinata is a concept that had been virtually unheard of ever since forever but that makes the idea of being a shoulder to cry on all the more melodramatically beautiful. She is no less silk as Ino is immediately judged to be so perhaps when he is there when she breaks, she would finally notice.
He likes to think that amidst the hard, formidable exterior she puts up to hide the more vulnerable side of her, she still retained a soft spot.
He doesn't know exactly when he started to feel that way about his koneko-chan actually—the fast beating of his heart whenever she defies her stereotype, the overwhelming, almost self- destructive desire to please her in the most unorthodox ways and even his overall toleration of her bodily abuse. But like a spell cast by fate that bonded soulmates together (for Sasuke is a romanticized person, thank you very much), it just happened. Why? Well, it just is.
He'd like to think it was probably when the first time they met, two little kids awkwardly being introduced as future allies as if they cared about being huge assholes when they grow up while having the more tantalizing idea of playtime. But that was too much of a cliché. They were never betrothed too. Although sometimes, he wished they were. He wouldn't have been the man he was now whilst he was pledged to his dearest.
Love at first sight is one of the romantic legends Sasuke wouldn't be overly reluctant to be applied to himself when it came to Hinata, as it would only prove to him how perfect they secretly are for each other, however apparently besotted she is for another. But as far as he is honestly concerned, that is far from the truth of the matter. Hinata as a child was admittedly pretty unmemorable and plainly insignificant with her uncanny ability to shapeshift and pretend she was the wall—precisely the reason why nobody outside her inner circle took her changes from the well-mannered shy to the angry bitch, remarkable. In the entire duration of their family's meeting when they were four, Hinata spent the time being as uninteresting as she could, obviously not wanting to draw attention to her person and went on hiding around posts the whole time that Sasuke, as tenacious as he was, eventually gave up coaxing her to play ninja. She blushed a lot that she would have almost looked cute if she wasn't just so pathetic in her endless stuttering. And what's more? She was so enamored in getting away she didn't even seem to notice he preferred being annoyed by her than consumed by the boredom of solitude! Sasuke wasn't so much of a big flirt back then to see her obliviousness to his charms as a challenge though. He didn't even know what it would do to his ego yet. I mean, come on. He was just four!
"Hey..." he had whined sulkily, seriously having enough of this game that wasn't even close to hide and seek since he knew exactly where she was. Seriously? "I don't really get why you're hiding like that from me. I don't bite… you know."
That was no good though.
That time, he remembers being a complete textbook jerk to her when she continued to be hugely unresponsive to his considerably friendly advances, pulling her hair out because it was shorter than his and all stuff she obviously didn't appreciate. But infuriating her with his new skills he got from the idiot Itachi-nii had gotten him nowhere because she had as much patience like the infallible Kami himself, sulking only in the corner instead of chasing him around with wildly flailing arms as he had hoped. She probably thought that would be wholly unlady-like. Later, she hadn't been as lenient to his punishment for his "impertinence" as The One Above though, unfortunately which caused him to snort derisively as he kept on badgering her with senseless antics. Stupid Hyuuga bitches who thought they were higher than the rest. Before they bid goodbye, he told her right out how stupid she was and that he would dread being in the same room with her ever again. She had big, fat tears in her wide, opalescent eyes at the time. Gladly though, he wasn't there long enough to witness what would likely be a crying episode, like every stupid girl would do after being franked upon. In retrospect, this was probably the reason why she never gave him the time of the day, even after proclaiming how he would willingly abandon his flock of girls to give her his life. Everyone knows the tsundere sure do hold the most grudges. Sasuke, it seems was of no exception.
Even back then, when she was still just that stuttering, flustered mess behind the Doric post, she treated him in the simple manner of not having him separated from the rest. Civil. Polite. With the necessary niceties that was her disposition. To her, he was just another person. Nothing special.
Today, she was as sarcastic to him as she was to everyone else.
But no, it wasn't love at first sight.
Her being different from the screaming banshees he had as "fangirls" was by no means an instant point in favor for his affections from her part. Sure, it was true that girls of her more headstrong kind were few but they weren't as rare as he would have preferred to think. What made her tick then when he had so blatantly decided she wasn't worthy of his passing glance in their first, disastrous get-together? Even his own parents thought so, or else, why would they refuse Hyuuga Hiashi's proposition for a betrothal between their children? Already, despite being the legal heiress of the clan, she had been deemed too weak, too gentle to be leading their prestigious clan. Definitely far from the wife material the ambitious Fugaku would seek for his pampered, younger son.
When she had finally changed for the better though, it was too late to get her back. The now headless Hyuuga clan was too busy of their own sorrows at Hiashi's less-than-noble death at the grubby hands of the Raikage's cohorts, to be interested with the Uchiha's attempts of a merger. Hinata herself, had grown enough spine to not be easily ordered around into an unwanted arrangement anyway. Morphing into a real Hyuuga was the signal for her to finally refrain from being the deplorable someone who let boys pull her hair and tell her she was stupid. She learned to hate as she in turn, was hated as well.
Not that Sasuke noticed all of that at the time though. He didn't even know she was kidnapped! Back then, he wasn't as in love with her as he is now so, one should understand, that he didn't care as of yet about the weird girl with the stupid bob-cut hair, right?
The next time he saw her again was during her father's funeral when without a corpse to mourn, the Hyuuga clan only relented on pouring their grief on a mere memorial stone, not only for a great clan head's untimely demise but more so for the loss of the Byakugan forever to the hands of those vile men who wanted it for their benefit. Hinata wasn't allowed to attend, lest she risk herself being a "burden" again and get herself harmed in ways that brought more consequences for her safety to be worth it. But she was there anyway, standing away from the crowd so as not to gain the attention she never wanted. Her head was downcast, teeth gritting and fists clenched. Her eyes were empty, because she knew everyone thought it was her fault. They said, Konoha was now in grave danger because of her. They said she was useless. Ostracized already because of something that was beyond any seven-year-old's control, they said she was to be eternally doomed.
This time around though as he calmly regarded the Hyuuga heiress from the tree obscuring her from the sight of her all-seeing relatives, Sasuke didn't dare fault her once for hiding.
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I adore reading RTN fics, even though the movie itself isn't very worth seeing. As I myself is pretty stimulated from all the laughs I am getting from this couple, well I decided to create a more angst-based RTN fic. (LOL. I know I have peculiar ways of coping with inspirations). I have the plot (which is little) pretty much mapped so I can continue this every time I have breaks in between my studies. But it could be hugely confusing and subtle so let me know if I have to stop this in order to polish my writing style further (which might be never since I am not very fond of my English). Things should spice up in the next chapter but for now, I would address my version of how Hinata is in here. Tsunderes, after all are always one who just desired attention. :D
I changed a lot of things in here (obviously) so as to fit in the character's background. So please do not be harsh about the alter-story. XD
Menma will appear in the next chappie. I love him actually so I seek to explain something about his character for once. He was very much sadly, unexplored.
Please review and tell me what you think. Suggestions are welcome as well.