A/N: This is my very first fanfiction so I hope you enjoy it. The idea for the story has been in my head for a while, so I figured it was time to start putting it down. I've read many stories where Hiashi and Hanabi are cold and uncaring towards Hinata and I'll tell you right now, that this will NOT be one of those stories. If I recall correctly, in the "Neji Chronicles" Hiashi shows up to help Neji when he's fighting the Kumogakure spectators that attempted to kidnap Hinata, and tells him that Hinata is his precious daughter and that he is a precious memento from his late brother. So see? He can't be all bad. Anyway, I'm gonna change a lot of things around in the story, since it is mine and I can do it. It will not be a short fiction I'll tell you that much right now. Main pairing is Sasuke and Hinata but there will also be others. For reference Hinata, Sasuke and the remaining Rookie 9 are the same age, with the exception of Neji, Lee, and Ten Ten who are a year older. Hanabi is two years younger than Hinata and Itachi is three years older than Sasuke. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto just my love for SasuHina.

I apologize for any grammatical errors ahead of time. I do not have a beta.

Rating: T for this chapter.

Title for the story and this chapter are courtesy of Trivium, one of my favorite bands.

Last edited: 6/11/13


Forsake Not the Dream
••••••••••••

They were standing in front of a house she had never been to before. Her father had told her that they were going to pay a visit to the leader of their rival clan and asked her caretaker to make her look presentable, who had dressed her in one of her best kimonos, a light purple silk kimono with a navy blue obi. Now they were standing at the front door waiting for someone to answer and she was so scared she was trembling. Her father had told her that it was very important for her to be at her best behavior, and since she was only four years old, she did not understand the significance of this meeting. She would listen to her father however, since at her young age she did understand the importance of clan business, she was after all the clan heiress.

After what seemed an eternity she heard someone walking towards the door to open it. Standing there she saw a beautiful woman with fair skin, black hair and the darkest eyes she had ever seen; she had grown accustomed to the white pupil less eyes of the Hyūga. She wasn't afraid of the dark eyed woman, instead of feeling fear when she looked into those eyes all she felt was warmth.

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Hyūga-sama," she said as she bowed when she realized who was standing at the door.

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Uchiha-san," her father replied to the nice lady.

"Please, just Mikoto will do Hyūga-sama," she said and turned to look at his side when she saw movement behind his robes. "Who do we have here?" She asked as she knelt down.

"This is my eldest, Hinata." He said as he put his hand on the back of the dark blue haired girl and gently pushed her forward so Mikoto could see her.

"O-ohayō gozaimasu Uchiha-sama," she said once she was standing in front of her.

"Ohayō, Hinata-san. Are you the heiress?" Mikoto said almost as an afterthought and the young girl nodded in response. "You are a beauty." She added with a warm smile and Hinata couldn't help but smile at the nice lady as a deep blush swept over her cheeks.

Mikoto heard footsteps coming from behind her and stood up straight; without having to turn around she knew it was her husband. Coming up to stand beside her, recognition flashed across his face when he saw who was standing at their door.

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Hyūga-sama," Uchiha Fugaku offered as a greeting with a slight bow of his head.

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Uchiha-sama," Hyūga Hiashi mirrored his actions.

Once greetings were out of the way, the man with the pronounced tear troughs turned to his wife and said, "Mikoto, Hyūga-sama and I have to go and settle some clan business. Can you watch over Hinata-san while we are away? More than likely it will take us all day, but I assured Hyūga-sama that she would not be in better care than with you."

She felt flattered at what Fugaku had said about her and couldn't help but blush. She knew that the fact that Fugaku and Hiashi were making the effort to end their clans' rivalry by working together was meant to show the rest of the people in both clans that they could settle their differences once and for all. She in turn was going to do everything she could to help them.

"Hai, she will be in good hands." She said as she looked down at the little one and gave her a warm smile.

With that both men bowed their head and walked off to work on establishing peace once and for all between the two feuding clans.

She looked at Hinata and couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her. The little girl was extremely nervous from what she could tell; she had her little hands in front of her and kept poking her index fingers together. Her face was such a vivid shade of red that she thought the little girl would pass out on her any second.

She knelt down so she could be at the same level as her. "Hinata-san, do you want to help me prepare lunch? I have two sons that I would love for you to meet and they will be coming home soon from training."

"H-hai Uchiha-sama," Hinata replied a little more at ease as her normal color slowly began to return.

"Just call me Mikoto. I have a feeling you and I will be spending a lot of time together from now on and I want you to become comfortable around me."

"H-hai M-Mikoto-sama," the young girl could only agree.

Mikoto grabbed her hand to lead her inside and closed the door behind them. Once inside they both took off their shoes and put on some slippers before Hinata was led even further inside the house. She could see the Uchiha's home was pretty large, and as she walked through the house she saw several pictures hanging on the walls. When she reached one that had two smiling boys she stopped to look. One was a little older than her and was hugging the other who looked to be around her age. The older of the two had black hair held back in a low ponytail up to his shoulders, and she could see faintly the tear troughs she had seen earlier on the Uchiha clan head starting to form on the boy's cheeks. The younger one had black hair as well, but it was shorter and shinier and he had a big smile on his face. They both shared the same dark eyes and it was a trait, she noticed, that both Mikoto and Fugaku had as well.

She smiled and turned to Mikoto. "A-are these your s-sons M-Mikoto-sama?"

Mikoto nodded and smiled gently at her. "The oldest is Itachi who is 7 and just graduated from the academy. The youngest is Sasuke who is 4 and I believe is your age." Hinata nodded and Mikoto continued to lead her towards the kitchen. "Come, you will meet them and maybe even get to play with them when they come home."

When they reached the kitchen Mikoto walked towards the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients she needed to make today's meal. She decided she would grill some beef, vegetables and onigiri to keep things simple that way she could have Hinata help her, and they could spend more time together. She wanted to talk to the young girl and get to know her.

Hinata looked around the kitchen; it was smaller then the one at the Hyūga compound but there were a lot more people living there. The kitchen was a very warm and welcoming shade of cream, with a wooden floor, counters along two of the walls and an island in the middle of it with six chairs. She was too busy looking about the kitchen that she didn't notice Mikoto walk behind her. She was startled when she felt hands on each side of her small waist and her feet left the ground. Before she could react she found herself sitting on one of the stools. She turned to look at the older woman and received a smile.

Mikoto looked at Hinata and couldn't help but marvel at the little one. She had dark blue hair cut short in the traditional hime style with two chin-length strands framing her face. She had the eyes the Hyūga were known for, pupil less white eyes, but when you looked directly at hers you could see there was a tinge of lavender in them. She did not have the traditional looks of the Hyūga since the clan had dark brown hair with white eyes. She definitely resembled her mother, Hyūga Hikari.

"Mikoto-sama is something wrong?" She questioned and tugged on her hand.

"No Hinata-san, I was just thinking about your mother and noticed that you look so much like her." She said with a trace of sadness in her voice.

Hinata's eyes widened at the revelation. "Y-you k-knew okā-san?"

"Hai, she was the sweetest woman I ever met," she replied as she stroked her dark blue hair. "Even though our clans were rivals she befriended me. Hikari became my best friend and she hoped that our being so close would show the rest of our clans that we could all live peacefully and without hate, except that our people weren't ready for change at the time. With her passing while giving birth to your little sister Hanabi, your father realized that he needed to do everything he could to realize your mother's dream, for your own good, the clans', and also Konoha's."

Hinata's eyes began to tear up as she listened to this new revelation about her mother. "W-why d-do the Uchiha and Hyūga h-hate each other, Mikoto-sama?"

"Nobody knows anymore Hinata-san. It all started so long ago that those who were alive when it all began are no longer around, but we speculate that it started when Konoha was founded."

"T-that's such a l-long t-time!" The little one exclaimed.

"Hai, and that is why Hiashi-sama and Fugaku are working together to bring an end to it all. Things won't change overnight especially since there's so many years' worth of hate to forgive, but we hope that this will pave the way for your generation and you all will learn from our mistakes."

After listening to their clans' history, Hinata was overwhelmed with emotion and threw her arms around Mikoto. She was caught off guard but she then hugged the young heiress just as tightly and put her chin on her head.

She wept as she hugged the Uchiha and cried even more when she felt her respond to the embrace. She was only four years old but she was growing up without her mother, and although her father tried as best he could to be there for his daughters he would never be able to fill that place that only a mother could. Now in the arms of Mikoto she felt safe and warm, but at the same time the absence of her mother hit her even more.

"I p-promise that I will do e-everything I can to create p-peace b-between our p-people Mikoto-sama! I w-will become s-strong and f-fulfill my mother's, yours, otō-sama's, Fugaku-sama's, and n-now my dream!"

"You will not be alone, Hinata," Mikoto said and neither of them noticing the lack of the honorific to her name. "My Itachi and Sasuke will be there to support you. They want nothing more than peace for our people, especially Itachi. He has already experienced war firsthand and does not want Sasuke to have to go through what he did."

With this said it seemed to calm the heiress down and Mikoto gave her a kiss on the forehead. As she held the girl in an embrace she felt the need to protect her and always be there for her. She hadn't been blessed with a daughter but she knew that the young heiress would be the daughter she never had. She would also be fulfilling the promise she made to Hikari, to be there for Hinata and Hanabi if she could not. Hinata was young, but because of the responsibilities that she had to bare as the eldest in the main family she would have to mature fast and with this revelation she was starting to show it. All she wanted to do was provide for her that escape from her obligations as heiress and give her a somewhat normal childhood. Hinata had a difficult childhood ahead of her.

"Hinata what do you say we finish lunch. Want to learn how to make onigiri?" Hinata nodded enthusiastically and smiled.

Mikoto was glad she was able to change the topic without much effort, the little one had captivated her heart after only a few hours of meeting her and she couldn't stand to see her sad. They both washed their hands and continued to prepare lunch. She took out some tomatoes, rinsed them and placed them on a bowl on the center of the table.

When Hinata gave her a quizzical look she said, "Sasuke loves tomatoes so we must always have plenty on hand; he's not like average children his age." Mikoto leaned down closer to her ear as if to confess a secret, "He hates sweets."

Hinata made a face, "How can he hate sweets? He doesn't know what he's missing! I love cinnamon rolls and could eat them all day!"

Mikoto laughed and committed her love for cinnamon rolls to memory. "Maybe we can make some cinnamon rolls later for dessert," she said as she tickled her.

The blue haired girl nearly jumped off the stool from the attack. Once Mikoto stopped tickling her and she caught her breath, she looked up at her and asked with hopeful eyes "R-really Mikoto-sama? I'll help you with a-anything you ask!"

Mikoto looked at her puppy eyes and couldn't deny her. From that moment she knew that whenever Hinata were to make "the eyes" as she would refer to them, nobody would be able to resist her.

"Alright, but let's finish making lunch. The boys will be done with their training soon."

曰向


曰向

Sasuke walked down the streets in Konoha with his hero, his big brother Itachi. He was so proud of him, he was only seven but he had already graduated from the academy and it had only taken him a year! Yes, he wanted to be just like his brother but more than anything he longed for his father's acceptance. Itachi was the prodigy of the Uchiha and he was the type of genius that only came around every once in a while, and because of that Sasuke felt the pressure to be as good as or if not better than him.

Regardless of the pressure that was put on the young boys, Sasuke did not hate his brother. He loved him dearly and wanted Itachi to feel just as proud of him as he was of the older Uchiha. They walked mostly in silence, since neither of the two were fond of unnecessary chatter and found the silence pleasant.

They had approached the Uchiha District and Sasuke realized how it was like a small village in itself within Konoha. They weren't very close to the center of the village, they were towards the outskirts but that's how they preferred it. The clan had always tried to keep to themselves and keep their business private; it was also because the Hyūga compound was on the other side of town and their ancestors had wanted nothing to do with their rivals. Neither he nor his brother understood why their clans had been rivals for years, but all he knew was that they would both do the impossible in order to obtain peace within the clans. It was what their parents wanted and had instilled in them. It was also their responsibility as the sons of the Head of the Clan.

When they reached their home, Itachi was the first to walk in. Once both were inside they took off their shoes put them off to the side. The house seemed more quiet than usual and Itachi was starting to get suspicious. How odd... okā-san always greets us when we come home for lunch. I wonder where she is...

As if reading his mind, Sasuke called out "Okā-san we're home! What's for lunch?" He proceeded to walk behind his brother towards the kitchen.

They both walked slowly and he could tell that Itachi was tense and alert— their mother had not received them at the door and that in and of itself was not normal. They were almost at the kitchen and that's when they heard it. From the kitchen they heard what sounded like... giggles? Sasuke almost ran the rest of the way, except he bumped into something or rather someone that stood at the doorway. He looked up to see his brother who appeared to be frozen on the spot and he was looking inside the kitchen and seemed as if in a trance. He moved to his right and around his brother to see what had caught his attention and that's when he saw her for the first time.

She was sitting on one of the stools next to his mom and they were both smiling and laughing. She had dark blue hair and a boyish haircut, which he wouldn't have liked on a girl but it seemed to actually look good on her. He was fascinated by the color of her hair, all Uchiha women had black hair and hers was a shade he had never seen before, a midnight blue. The little girl had fair porcelain-like skin and wore a light purple kimono with a navy blue obi around her waist that brought out the darkness of her hair and the fairness of her skin even more. Then she laughed at something his mom had said to her, and he wasn't able to catch it since he was too distracted by the almost music-like sound of her laughter. When he heard it he came to the realization that if he could help it he would do anything to hear that beautiful sound again and see that smile on her face. This discovery shocked him. He hated girls yet he felt drawn to this one. At four years old he had already started to attract the attention of fan girls and he found all females to be annoying, with the exception of his mom of course. He heard the mysterious girl giggle again and all he knew was that he wanted to know who she was, what she was doing in their home, and if he would continue to see her. Both females were forming onigiri balls, and were too fascinated by the task at hand to notice the two dark haired boys that had just walked in on them.

曰向


曰向

When they had walked into their home and his mother had been nowhere in sight, Itachi started to feel a sense of alarm. This was out of the ordinary; their mother was... predictable. As they got closer to the kitchen he started to hear voices coming from that direction and once he got to the doorway he stopped. He had imagined many different scenarios in his head; his mother being held at kunai point by a stranger, or anything involving her being in actual danger.

He had not, however, been expecting this. At the table sat a young girl, beautiful from what he could tell. She had dark blue hair in the traditional hime hairstyle and the fairest skin he had seen. She wore a silk light purple kimono with a navy blue obi and from the fine fabric he could tell she was someone of status. Is it... no it couldn't be.

He turned to look at his mother's face and saw that she wore a huge smile on her face when she looked at the little girl, she was happy. He tried to remember when was the last time he had seen utter joy reflected on her face and the sad thing was that he couldn't. Sure she was happy with the three males and loved them all to death, but he knew that his mother had always felt somewhat incomplete since she hadn't been blessed with a daughter. Whoever the girl was he was grateful she had stumbled upon them, for he had long wanted his mother to be truly happy.

He looked down when he felt something bump into his back and break him from his reverie. He was relieved to see it was only Sasuke. He had been too distracted by the sight in front of him that he forgot his little brother was right behind him. He continued to look at him as he went around him to see what was going on.

He watched in fascination as Sasuke's expression went from one of annoyance, to one of curiosity, and finally to one of complete and utter admiration when they heard her laugh. He had never seen his little brother show interest in anything other than training, especially not a girl. Hn... it seems Sasuke has met his weakness.


A/N: Well that's the end of the first chapter, and I hope that you at least found it somewhat entertaining. It will get a lot better, I promise! I have so many ideas for this story! I will finish it no matter what, and I will try to update regularly. I'm working on the second chapter already. If you do feel like you have to absolutely review the chapter, please don't be cruel. Like I said it's my first story and I have no beta... I will gladly accept constructive criticism, but no flames! I don't go around leaving hateful comments on the stories I take the time to actually review. So let me know what you think!

-Wyvern