Karma
Summary: Two powerful clans clash as the fiery Uchihas and the prideful Hyuugas plan to unite. Unfortunately, trouble bumps in and the Hyuuga female heir is left confused and slapped in the face with self-destructive greed, disaster, and politics all around her. She tries to comfort her would-be fiance while a certain dangerous, onyx eyed Uchiha watches her from afar.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything related to Naruto, I am only a very little girl trying to live her fantasies through it by writing this fiction. Yay for pitiful me.
Timeline: The Uchiha massacre is put off. No flames! You'll see why, it's vital to the story.
Arrangements
"Silence," the head of the Uchiha clan ordered. Both his sons became quiet in an instant.
The Uchiha heir looked at his father. Confusion and anger burned in his eyes, his younger brother, still new to the nasty world of politics, tried to comprehend the basics of what had just been said.
The younger boy looked to his mother, she looked troubled, but held her tongue in the presence of her husband. She loved her children, but her duty as a wife and her respect for her husband were first in all aspects. The boys were used to such a scenario, but the eldest couldn't help but narrow his eyes at his mother.
The pregnant silence in the air made the younger Uchiha boy skittish, he tried to look around for something interesting while his older brother and his father had a silent war. The uncomfortable feelings were tangible in the air, and Sasuke nervously glanced around.
"Dismissed," Fugaku Uchiha finally said.
Itachi let his younger brother follow behind him as he left. He seemed to take his time, but Sasuke was eager to get out of the room.
Once safely out, Sasuke pulled on his brother's shirt timidly.
"What did father mean when he said that I have a duty to my clan?" he tried not to sound scared, but everything had happened so fast in the room that the little Uchiha did not know what to think at that point.
The Uchiha heir turned back around to face Sasuke. His face was hard to read, but his lips were in a thin line.
"Sasuke, listen to me," he grabbed the little boy's shoulders firmly. "The clan wants to join-no, merge with the Hyuuga clan," he explained.
Sasuke's eyes widened at the mentioning of the Hyuugas. His little ears could pick up a lot of gossip around the Uchiha compound, and nobody ever spoke in their favor. From what he could grasp, they were somewhat of a rival to his clan.
"Oh," Sasuke said nonchalantly. He tried to make a face to show his displeasure. Itachi did not look amused.
"I don't know what you heard from others, but they are incorrect. The main point is, you are engaged to their heir," he began to slow down at that point once he saw the bewildered look he was given.
"Wh-!" Sasuke began, but his brother clamped a hand on his mouth and jumped into the adjacent room.
Sasuke tried to struggle, but his brother had him in a choke-hold.
Two Uchiha men strolled by quietly in the place the two brothers were moments ago before Itachi continued.
"I know you have a lot of questions, but most will be answered in time, all I need to say is that soon something big is going to happen, and you need to be strong enough to handle it," he said with finality. Spinning on his heel, he left the room and did not look back once at his little brother. Sasuke was left speechless with what had just happened.
The animosity in the room was unsettling. Only two adults and a very small girl occupied it, but it was louder than any square in the entire Hyuuga mansion.
"B-but father-"
"How dare you talk back to me!" the head of the Hyuuga clan roared. His first born quivered in his fury. The gentle woman to his side looked back and forth between the two and bit her lip.
"Hyuuga-sama," the woman who was his daugher's nurse pleaded timidly. Hiashi Hyuuga shot a infuriated glare at her before raising his arm to strike the servant for trying to interrupt him. His daughter shrieked out in protest.
"No! Father I will marry Uchiha-san!" she cried. Her tiny, sweaty hands were balled up as she yelled at her father for the first time in her life.
Silence.
"Of course you will, that was not your choice at any point in time," he remained angry, but quit being verbally loud. The nurse relaxed her tense shoulders and Hinata just accepted her father's demands, as she always had. He turned away from the two women to let what had just been announced settle in.
Hinata held herself tenderly in her own arms.
She now had a betrothed, but all the little Hyuuga could think about was when she would have a strong husband to stand up to her father and save her nurse. The nurse did not dare to say a word to her mistress as Hinata left the room in tears.
Respectfully, she slid the doors shut and walked over to the thin part of the wall. She plastered herself to it, holding her breath.
The adults talked in whispers.
"Hyuuga-sama, I believe Hinata-sama will do exactly as you say if you present your ideas to her differently," her sweet nurse Amako said.
"I do not believe in modifying words for the sake of censorship to children, they are capable of understanding what we do," he refuted firmly.
"Yes Hyuuga-sama, but she is fragile, like a rare and sweet poppy, and she does not understand why or how the situation came about," she continued uncertainly.
"She is useless to me," his harsh words were like daggers in Hinata's young heart. "She cannot perform satsifactory Jyuuken, she cannot exert as much force in her palms as every capable Hyuuga can, she cannot perfect her Byakugan to the extent I could when I was her age, and she does not hold a candle to her mere branch house cousin Neji," he listed off her bad qualities with ease. Hinata choked back sobs in her throat.
The little girl felt like throwing up. It was an unhealthy habit she began to take on whenever she was near her father.
"Her duty is to the clan, and if she cannot lead it herself then she needs to marry to a strong man. It is the least she can do, and even if I do not approve of this alliance with the Uchihas, no one can deny that they are powerful in Konoha. You know as well as I that we currently have no allies outside of Konohagakure," he seemed to be bored with the conversation, as the rustling of his yukata gave away that he was moving to get up.
"Yes Hyuuga-sama," Amako obediently said. Hinata widened her eyes and bolted down the hall as the door to the room began to open. She covered her mouth to muffle the sound of her crying and blinked harshly to make the tears go away.
She couldn't wait to meet her husband, so that she could get out of the place she called home.
"Posture," Setsuko snapped at the blossoming Hyuuga heir.
Hinata straightened her back as she sipped her tea with grace, patience, and refined movements like she had been relentlessly taught by the new maid who took care of her.
Amako was gone, history. She went out of her place as a servant to criticize the way the head Hyuuga raised his daughter, and she was disposed of the next day. In a blink. In a flash.
The young Hinata did not even know what had happened until Setsuko arrived and her father introduced the older lady as her new nurse. The simple-minded girl asked where Amako was and she had been answered by silence.
That night she cried so much that her cousin Neji was woken up to sleep with her and calm her down.
The bitter taste in her mouth from the tea lingered as she smiled at Setsuko. She had learned to smile at everything. Not only during the rare moments when she was happy, but when she felt offended, mistreated, and even furious. If she just smiled, she could get through it, and nobody could say a word against her.
"Wrinkles," Setsuko's spidery hands pointed accusingly at Hinata's kimono. Hinata quickly smoothed the surfaces on her silky lavender formal wear. She looked around the traditional tea room. Her heart burned with anger because she knew things were going on outside Hyuuga doors, and she was ordered to quietly drink tea while the men took care of business.
She was still a student at the academy, but she had grown out of her childhood years. She was shy and innocent, but the world was thrown at her earlier than normal simply because she was an heir, and to a powerful clan at that. Hinata was spared no mercy as she was placed in the powerful world of shinobi. She stood out from her clan like a sore thumb. She did not live up to anyone's expectations, and she was constantly berated by her father with words of discouragement and belittling.
Her mind went to Neji, who had suddenly stopped talking to her. They were never particularly close, but Hinata loved her cousin. He was her only relative of the similar age, and he was not like the other Hyuuga members. He did not look at her with those condescending eyes. But time had pulled the two apart, and Hinata tried to mend their relationship to no avail.
"Good," Setsuko approved. Her face was old, but her wrinkles were fine. Too fine. Amako was no doubt the same age, but her happy crow's feet made her kindly and beautiful. Hinata was appalled by Setsuko's lack of facial expression in everything she did. The young Hyuuga thought to herself that being wrinkle-less was rather ugly.
"Excuse me," someone interrupted the ceremony. Setsuko shot a look at the man. He peeked in through the half opened door. "Hinata-sama is required at this immediate moment," he eyed the two women, mainly Setsuko. The maid harrumphed.
Hinata turned to Setsuko in surprise. Setsuko's face changed, but she remained stoic. The old maid stood up carefully and began to clear the tea, she nodded her approval to Hinata and the young heir got ready to leave.
"Coming," Hinata squeaked, she was frightened to know what awaited her when she went to visit her father, but those sort of feelings were not unusual. The man escorted her to the front of the compound and let her walk out to meet her father on her own.
A breeze flew up her kimono in a very uncomfortable way, and she walked stiffly towards her father. There were a few people gathered around, but Hinata's eyes only went to her father, who watched her with hypercritical eyes.
"Hinata, come here," he motioned for her to fasten her pace.
She obeyed and tried to look as graceful as she could while she took ridiculously small steps in her tight kimono.
"Father," she said in an inquiring voice. But when she looked to the men facing her, she knew what was going on.
She wasn't quite sure how she knew they were Uchihas, but their faces, demeanor, and how they stared at her were probably huge parts of it. In Hyuuga clan gossip, she heard many times that their eyes were bloodshot red, but Hinata knew that was only when they activated their bloodlines. Their uncanny black eyes seemed to look right through hers. Suddenly, she was quite self-conscious about her pale eyes. Would her husband think her not pretty because of them? Her eyes were very different from theirs after all.
"This is my daughter, Hinata Hyuuga," Hiashi announced. He had both of his hands on her petite shoulders.
Hinata refrained from making an unladylike noise, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking a bit. All eyes were on her, and she looked up at the unsmiling faces of several Uchiha men.
"P-pleased to meet you," she almost whispered. One Uchiha narrowed his eyes.
"Are you sure she will be fit to bear the Uchiha children?" he asked, scrutinizing Hinata's small form. "The heirs must be strong and powerful, the first generation of the greatly anticipated Hyuuga and Uchiha hybrid," he said. The way he talked about his future grandchildren made Hinata shiver. Not only because she now knew she was nothing to them expect a carrier for their clan dreams, but also because he talked about children like someone would about breeding dogs. Only the best and most purebred will mix to create a stronger, more durable dog. She realized she fit into the picture as the female bitch.
Hinata frowned, as did her father.
"Of course. She is the descendant of generations and generations of Hyuuga men and women. You cannot believe that she is not born to carry on that name, she is a true heiress," he boasted. But Hinata could not have felt more degraded. She lowered her gaze, but did not dare speak her mind at this point.
"Very well," the Uchiha man said. He looked down at Hinata once more. "My name is Fugaku Uchiha, I look... forward to seeing you again," he said. It looked like he was having trouble saying those words. No doubt he was feeling idiotic for introducing himself to such a child. Hinata smiled at his insulting attitude.
"I already consider you my father Uchiha-sama," she bowed politely. Her pretty smile was still on her face as she was shooed away, back into the house. She continued smiling until she was safe in her room before her face contorted and she began to cry. Her father-in-law did not even like her, and she was expected to play daughter to him?
The bleak future for herself made Hinata weep in horror. She hoped she never met her husband, because if all Uchihas were like that, then she most definitely did not want to marry one. A certain blond haired boy in her class came to her mind, and she cried even more at the thought that her small crush would never amount to anything because she was already sold to the highest bidder, the Uchihas. This auction reaped power, and Hinata was sick to her stomach.
Even her future as a ninja was greatly diminished now that she knew the Uchihas expected an heir so early. What if she never even passed the chuunin exams before she is forced to have her child and stay home and watch it?
Tears drenched her pillow as she dreaded meeting any Uchiha ever again.
A/N Note: Yes, yes, shame on me for subliminally directing you towards the golden state of California. Kudos and a shout out to those who caught it. Do you like it? Hate it? Want to eat it? Lol tell meeeeeeeee. BTW any OOC-ness must be pointed out immediately because I literally despise the word. I plan to go pretty far with this fic, and I'm taking a different approach to this. I am writing as I go instead of writing a fic until the very end and then procrastinating publishing it. So if the story is broken up or sounds funny, then you know why! R&R.