Chapter I.
Questions.
"B-But father, I-I'm only e-eighteen years old…" The eldest daughter of Hiashi Hyuga's expression did not falter, although mentally she was screaming at her father. She had only recently turned an adult, a week ago and it was pretty obvious that her excitement was pretty short lived.
Hinata Hyuga being the eldest daughter of her father, and the heiress to the Hyuga Clan, she was well aware of the duties that would always weigh upon her wherever she went. Even as an adolescent, when her midnight blue hair had been but a short hime-cut, and when she had been admiring a certain blond haired ninja, Hinata was well aware that upon adulthood she would have to carry out her responsibilities as the heiress to the Hyuga Clan, and more importantly, as the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga. But she was only a child, at that time.
At eighteen, her responsibilities had started taking a distinct shape in her life. Hinata could say nothing, nor protest at the mercy of her father.
"It is done, Hinata." The head of the Hyuga Clan spoke very little, even less to his daughter, but when he did speak – no one protested. That was the power of the head.
With no further place to answer any prying questions, Hiashi retired from his daughter's presence, and locked himself in some unknown parts of the Hyuga estate.
Hinata had never had the chance to have a proper conversation with her father, and although she was mentally wanting to lunge at him and beg him to change the decision, she was fully aware that doing something like that would only cause more trouble than help. She had no option, but to bow down to the inevitable decision left by her father.
But at only eighteen, how could Hinata ever begin to accept her fate? How could she learn to adjust to the idea, and even worse, to the new environment? She could barely adjust to insignificant changes in her life presently, and to accept something like this. Did her father have no heart? Did Hiashi Hyuga really have no love for his daughter, that he was willing to ship her off to an alien place – not to mention, a completely different village?
Sunagakure.
There was something innately creepy about that name.
Hinata, in all her years as a ninja, was aware of the village and its infamous inhabitants. More importantly, she was well aware of the Sabaku siblings – especially the youngest Sabaku.
During the Chunin Exams, although she was not physically present at the time, Hinata had heard about Gaara's battle with his opponent, Rock Lee. Naruto Uzumaki, the blond haired ninja whom Hinata was so fond of, had knit the story very well. He left out the graphic scene of Rock Lee's arms and limbs being crushed and subsequently, broken by the redhead. But story made short, Hinata was aware of Sabaku Gaara's murderous ways. Everyone knew that he had been the host to the One Tailed Demon, Shukaku, which controlled him in ways. The demon within, was bloodthirsty and no amount of bloodshed was too much for it. For Shukaku, and for Gaara, killing in cold blood satiated the thirst for blood, and hatred for human kind respectively. Although he enjoyed killing, and earned several enemies being the son of Rasa, Gaara was always protected subconsciously by the sand that he controlled. Up until later, he had discovered that the sand protection was not the doing of the One Tailed Shukaku, but the doing of his mother, Karura who loved her child dearly and died giving birth to him.
Since the battle against Naruto, Gaara had changed his murderous ways, or so it seemed. He went on to become the Fifth Kazekage of Suna, and subsequently earned the respect of many in his village despite their long-lived fear.
Hinata had heard many rumors about Gaara still retaining his murderous ways – the battle of Oritake and Suna being the most significant evidence. The Kazekage was rumored to have given into the Shukaku, whom he had been caging for the past years, and he apparently swept his enemies completely in cold blood. No remorse, nothing.
Hinata shuddered at the thought of the massacre.
Has fate left nothing better for me? The pale eyed heiress mused gravely over the news just dropped by her father. Why would he have me ma-
"You haven't even started packing, Hinata" her thoughts were obviously interrupted by the appearance of her cousin Neji Hyuga. He was the epitome of a typical Hyuga, in the clan. He was everything Hinata was not, and that was what made them such an inseparable pair.
"B-Brother, did y-you know about t-this a-all this t-time?" Upon being nervous, Hinata only stuttered more than she wanted to. It was an abominable habit, which would never leave her. Yet, strangely, without her unique stutter, Hinata could never really be herself. It was an inseparable part of herself.
She noticed the twitch in his eyebrow, and the stiffness in his posture, but he did not falter much. Neji's pale eyes showed no emotion, but his expression was slightly pained. His relationship with Hinata was that of a hate/love nature. During the Chunin Exams, he openly voiced his distaste for the unsuitable heiress to the Hyuga Clan – he nearly killed her, in fact. It was driven by his jealousy that such an unsuitable person would be the head of their pride – when he was so suitable. He was jealous that he was not a part of the main family branch like his cousin was. Honestly, Neji found Hinata extremely weak and unsuitable to run as the head of their clan.
Much later, Neji made peace with his cousin and from there, they had been inseparable. It was true that they had a colossal difference amongst their personalities, but that did not come in the way of their sibling-affection.
"I'm sorry Hinata, but I had to follow protocol" Neji started quietly, as he glanced at his cousin, "I didn't think it would come to this. Uncle Hiashi made it clear that everything would be taken care of" He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh. This would not go well…
Quite frankly, Neji's answer was less than satisfactory.
"T-Taken care of? W-What do you m-mean, b-brother?" by this point, Hinata's anger subsequently died down but she was still extremely curious. Did something happen to father?
Neji was aware that this day would approach soon, but he could not fathom in his wildest dreams that this day would come so quickly. He took another long, heavy sigh, "I'm sorry, Hinata, I cannot discuss this with you at the moment." Neji started, quietly, "But please know that Uncle Hiashi did this for the best."
"M-My father is forcing my m-marriage to a s-stranger and t-this is the b-best explanation y-you give?" Although, the pale eyed heiress did not want to break down in front of her cousin, Hinata could not control her emotions. She wasn't to be blamed, anyway. She was merely eighteen and already her future was being decided, a future in which she had no say in.
How could she ever accept Gaara Sabaku as her husband? How could she leave her home - The only home she had ever known?
A/N : This one's too short, but questions will be answered soon in the following chapters! So please bear with me, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update ASAP! In the meantime, please feel free to criticize and review )lols.