A/N: Basically, I challenged myself to do a fic of all the pairings I dislike and write the stories of their children in a world with no Akatsuki. This is the result. Oddly, I have fallen in love with my OC's pairing. Sadly, it is not possible without their parents being together :(
PM me any questions, requests, or challenges. This will be my last A/N until the prologue/end and I do not have time to respond to reviews. They do help speed up the update time, though ;)
Also, the title should translate to "No Dawn In Leaf Village" This may pertain to the plot, but mostly is just a reference to the fact that I saw somewhere 'Akatsuki' meant 'Dawn'.
Characters may not use the correct name suffixes when addressing people, since I read the manga in a very English translation and watched the anime in a horrible translation. What speech patterns I pick up, I pick up from the actual Japanese voice, and I haven't been watching anime long enough to memorize certain characters speech traits without focusing on that and missing out on half the episode. So if a certain character tends to address another character always as 'san', I probably missed it and you can point it out to me in a review and I may or may not fix it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Applies to all future chapters.
Hinata shakily tucked a loose strand of hair from her elaborate style, breathing heavily.
"I... I don't think I can go through with this." She said, gripping the edge of her dressing table tightly.
"Hinata." The assertive voice of Hanabi, reminding her of her duty as the Hyuuga ex-heiress. Hinata sighed and glanced up at the mirror; her sister's silver eyes stared at her, adding pressure to the already overwhelmed kunoichi.
"Tell father.. t-tell him I'm coming in a few minutes, please?" Hanabi nodded and left Hinata's room, closing the door. A soft click singled that Hinata was finally alone, and the sound of Hanabi's soft, graceful footsteps padding away into silence that wrapped around the poor, purple-haired girl. Tears filled her eyes and clung to her long, dark lashes before she quickly dabbed them with a handkerchief. She couldn't let herself appear upset, or mess up her appearance. The dreadful, fastly approaching event may have been brought about by her uselessness, but Hinata was not a total failure. She would prove that she could complete this task without incident, and prove her worth to her father, clan, and Konoha.
Hinata stood, placed one foot forward, and took a step. The travel across the room was slow, leaving plenty of times for doubts. She slid the door open and lost her way in her thoughts as her body automatically walked outside.
Everyone turned to face her as she glided over. One face, farther back, stood out among the crowd. Deep black eyes, beneath which lay the precious sharingan, kekkei-genkei of the Uchiha, met her own silver Byakugan. The two ocular powers would create the next secret weapon of Konoha. This was a union of pure duty, an arranged marriage of sorts. Sasuke Uchiha, the lone possessor of the sharingan -besides Kakashi Hatake's gift- and Hinata Hyuuga with her byakugan of the purest bloodline would produce the ultimate ocular power, surpassing even that of the rinnegan, or so was the plan.
Nevermind that Hinata had taken an interest in the jinchuuriki of Konoha, who was entirely absorbed in his kunoichi teammate. Nevermind that Sasuke had no interests in romance and regarded Hinata coldly, only seeking to restore his clan, and perhaps even improve it. Nevermind all the factors pointing to an unhappy marriage for the two young adults: the elders and council had suggested it, Hiashi Hyuuga saw it was wise, and Hinata and Sasuke had admitted the logic. That alone was enough for Sasuke, pressure from Hiashi quited any of Hinata's objections.
The ceremony was short and cheerless. As the new couple kissed, Hinata again felt tears prick her eyes and cling to her eyelashes before falling on her pale cheeks, only outmatched by her husbands porcelain complexion. Her first kiss, on the day of her wedding, to the rival of the man of her dreams who she believed would be the next Hokage. The irony of it and all the lost chances flashed before her eyes as she wondered why he wasn't there, why he hadn't cheered her on to put up a fight...
Sasuke drew away first, expressionless, and Hinata was too sad to blush. Naruto had given her hope, and although she was stronger, she wasn't strong enough. He hadn't been there for her, didn't give her that hope that she could change who she was, the hope she couldn't give herself. Hinata may have proved her worth to everyone else, but she had failed herself.
The Uchiha survivor turned away from his bride, ignoring the tears in her eyes and their trails glistening on her face. That was the first and last time Sasuke Uchiha kissed his wife.
[meanwhile]
"Naruto, I'm sorry."
"Sakura-chan." The blonde looked up at his teammate. Her white, delicate skin was tinged with red. She was blushing.
"Thank you... thank you for saving me." The other thank you, unspoken, was caught by Naruto. Thank you for bringing him back, for bringing him to me, and still being there for me.
"Your welcome." He said, still leaning over the railing of the old bridge that was just the perfect place for his rare spouts of thinking. He looked back at the lily pad-filled pond, and she turned to go, probably to give the mission report to Tsunade, now that her single wound was tended to.
"I'll always be there for you." He said, quietly, almost to himself. Sakura barely caught the words, but she froze, the sound of her boots on the wooden bridge no longer disturbing the frogs and fish living beneath it.
"Naruto..."
"No matter what happens. I'll always be there for you, Sakura-chan."
"I... I can't... thank you Naruto, but I don't deserve it." She remembered his rescue during the mission; how she had stubbornly used her greater knowledge of the shinobi arts to convince him to take a step his instincts were strongly against, how she had gotten herself captured, and how he had rescued her without a thought for himself and managed to break his leg and still carry her unconcsious body away from the battle. Naruto was strong, she was weak... story of her life.
"You don't have to deserve it. You're precious to me, Sakura, and I will care for you forever." A pang struck through her. Could she ever make a promise like that to him? Naruto, so devoted, and so caring... she sickened herself! How could she only ever have had feelings for Sasuke Uchiha? He treated her like a piece of useless trash, left her and the village, performed crimes for which he barely answered for after he returned from getting his revenge on Itachi, and had even agreed to marry Hinata Hyuuga -a classmate he must have spoken to once in his entire life, if that!
"Naruto, I'm not worth it." Even though she admired him, he was not Sasuke. She did not love him.
"He might think you're not worth it, but you mean the world to me. Sakura, I'm sorry you can't fulfill your dream." Sakura turned around, saw the blonde head hunched over the bridge railing, and walked back over to him, embracing him.
"Naruto..."
"Sakura... chan...?"
"I know your dream. And maybe I have a new dream. Let's make them come true." He wrapped on arm around her and Sakura smiled on the outside, and berated herself on the inside. Such a small sacrifice for the sake of Naruto was no problem, but she knew that no good could come of lying like that.
It felt so good, though, to be held in his arms, and to be secure in his love. Sakura didn't want to move.
The wind blew throught the trees and brought leaves to dance and swirl through the air and land in Sakura's silky pink tresses as the two connected; one honest and with a pure joy, the other content but riddled with deceit. That moment was one of the very few happy spots in their relationship, destined to be difficult by the lies it was built on.
[years later]
Kaori flipped her bright yellow hair over her shoulder, grabbed the kunai knife, and hurled it at the target.
"Very good, Kaori!" Said the teacher. Kaori smiled triumphantly.
"You go, Uzumaki-san!" Cheered the half of the class that were her friends. She ran back to her best friends and sat down under a tree with them. Misaki Nara with her short, fluffy brown hair smiled lazily at her friend while she lounged on the ground.
"Kaori-chan!" Misaki's younger sister and Kaori's other best friend, Teiko, greeted the orange-clad arrival by swinging upside down from a tree. Her cute blonde hair was pulled back and her big hazel eyes were bright and happy. She hung down from the tree branch and barely scraped the ground with her fingertips. "I saw you hit the target dead center! Good job!"
"I didn't see, but you always do well with anything physical." Kaori laughed at Misaki's dry words. True, she was one of the worst in the class when it came to anything involving textbooks and studying, but she was the fastest runner and excelled at most ninjutsu. In that way, she had been gifted with her mother's academic success in her father's areas of talent.
"And you'd do good too, if you would just do work instead of sitting there lazily!" Misaki peered up at her through her hair with an amused smirk.
"Misa can't do anything without complaining except stare star-eyed after Shun!" Teiko mischievously taunted.
"Hey! I like tending the deer!" Misaki objected.
Kaori wrinkled her nose. "I don't know why you like Shun, Misaki. He always smells like dogs, even though he doesn't have one."
"He's an Inuzuka!" Misaki said. "His whole family, except his mom, have dogs!"
"And he's always messing around." Kaori continued, ignoring Misaki.
"That's the only thing I like about him." Teiko said, finally dropping down from the branch and turning a somersault in mid-air before landing nimbly on her feet. "School is so boring, and he's so good at sneaking out. Even I don't know where he goes off to all the time."
"Enough about Shun. What did you bring for lunch, Kaori?" Misaki changed the subject and the three sat under the tree and talked until the teacher called them back into class for another lesson on the shinobi code of conduct. The three friends giggled and passed notes, oblivious to the shadow seated far in the back of the classroom.
[meanwhile]
The teacher droned on and on, but barely any of the words reached Isamu's ears. He could hear the sounds of the insects crawling in and on the member of the Aburame clan seated to his left, hear every whispered word and giggle of the girls in the middle of the classroom, and all of that was distracting him from the lesson. Not that he didn't know just about everything the teacher was lecturing about; Isamu had been taught by his mother and father before he even entered the ninja academy.
Isamu rested his head on his folded hands, elbows leaning against his desk as he once again caught snippets of the conversation three girls were having. Boys, school, and where they should stop by on their way home. Their happiness reached something inside Isamu, stirred up a longing for friends like that.
"Kaori! Misaki! Keiko! Stop distracting the rest of the class." Their teacher called. The girls were quiet for a minute longer while the teacher continued his lesson uninterrupted, but before long, they were back at it, their whispers only a smidge quieter.
Isamu sighed and gave up on concentrating on the lesson. It was bad enough he couldn't see -he was blind since birth- but now he couldn't hear, or focus on hearing. In fact, all the noise the three girls were making was giving him a headache. Isamu leaned back in his seat and reached up to rub his temple.
"Good! Isamu, please explain the answer to the class." His teacher's frustrated voice. Isamu's hand froze.
"What was the question?"
"Isamu, please, don't raise your hand unless you know the answer? Ah, Kimi, please give us the answer."
"The ninja should hide and conceal his presence, waiting for the perfect moment to substitute the hostage, taking care to notice any rogue ninja in the bandits and discover any barriers." A girl from the front of the classroom said.
"Very good. Now, please turn your attention to the board." The teacher read the exercise for Isamu and those who weren't paying attention's benefit. The day continued, humdrum as usual. and only after school let out did Isamu's day turn interesting -regretably so.
"Hey, you." Isamu paused in the middle of the road, turning towards the voice. He had heard several different footsteps following him and couldn't match the voice to any of themm. He didn't recognize it as any of his classmates whose voice he knew well, though that number was pitifully small and the pitch and timbre of the voice was young enough to be one of his classmates.
"Are you talking to me?" Isamu had to ask, even though it was painfully obvious the words were shouted directly at him -none of the voice's friends were positioned to be facing the shouter.
"Yeah, dummy!" The same boy cried as his friends laughed. Isamu heard four distinct voices chiming in with their taunting snickers.
"I'm sorry. Can I help you?" Isamu kept his voice cooly polite.
"Heh, listen to the blind dummy. Too cool for us, you snob?" A different voice accompanied by arms that pushed Isamu down.
"Ahh!" He cried as he fell through the air.
"Haha, what a crybaby!" Someone kicked him in the side. Isamu instinctively curled up.
"Coward! Dummy! Crybaby!" The voices teased in chorus. Another kick to his side. He could hear the scuffles, their laughter, but was too emotionally overwhelmed to pinpoint their positions and try to defend himself from the attacks. How long it continued, he didn't know. Eventually, they left. He listened to their footsteps walk away, their voices still calling to each other. He lay there until they were out of hearing, and then lay there a little longer, listening for any other footsteps. He knew it was ridiculous and unreasonable to think one had stayed behind and he hadn't noticed, but he couldn't help it.
Isamu slowly stretched his legs out, groaning. His lips were dry and he licked them, tasting blood. He leaned his weight on the arm that hurt the least and pushed himself up. His body protested at every move he made. He was so slight in build, his many attackers so physically different... even if he had known of their intentions the result would be the same.
Isamu made his way home through the streets, aware that it was dusk by the sound of insects on frogs singing farewell to the sun. He stumbled over a rock sticking out of the road and managed to catch himself. His breathing was heavy and the taste of his own blood clung to his tongue and coated his throat. He righted himself and continued home.
"Isamu! Isamu, there you are! Isamu, I was so worried." His mother's voice and the sound of her running footsteps were welcome sounds to Isamu's tired ears. He heard her getting closer, felt her arms wrap around him, more gentle than normal. He could feel her heartbeat, a bit faster than normal.
"Isamu," He heard the careful control in her voice. "What happened?"
"I tripped over a rock." He felt her stiffen, and wondered why he hadn't told the full story. He knew she knew, and wondered if she would understand.
"HInata, is he home yet?" His father's biting voice. He was angry. Isamu's mother stopped hugging him so tightly and let a space come between them.
"Isamu, go inside, please. Supper is on the table." Isamu nodded, and made his way into the house. He sat down at the table, knowing that his mother wanted to speak to his father privately. They stepped out of what they thought was Isamu's hearing, but he could still catch the occasional whispered word.
He heard them come in, close the door, take their places at the table. He smiled a little, feeling safe in their concern.
[meanwhile]
Kaori gripped her older brother's shirt. "Hiroto... nii-san..." She sobbed. Her usually happy face had tears streaking down it. Her brother's normally cross face was worried, his perpetual frown gone.
"Shh, it's alright, Kaori. Everything will be okay." Something crashed and shattered against the floor as the angry voices of their parents floated out the windows of the Hokage's home. Naruto and Sakura Uzumaki: model parents and couple to Konoha, fueding spouses to their children.
"I... I'm scared."