-AN: I don't own Naruto

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Chapter 1 - The Tale unfolds…

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What happened before…

In a kingdom, also known as Konoha, that is located in the heart of the Fire Country, lived a new strong, fair, and loyal king, Hiashi Hyuuga. His late brother, mysteriously killed himself, and Hiashi was appointed the throne, making his daughter the heiress to their lands. He lived with his daughter and the former prince, his year older nephew, along with two children he saved from starving on the streets that were the princess's age. Everything was fine, well until Orochimaru, a power hungry asshole, came and screwed everything up. Or that was the truth anyway. Orochimaru was the king's advisor and family friend. No one would of known that he would betray everyone, and bring the kingdom to its knees.

Orochimaru and his army of rogues and bandits took over the peaceful kingdom and killed Hiashi. Problem is, he disguised himself as the king's nephew as he led his army, through the streets of Konoha. At the time of the attack, the king's real nephew, Neji Hyuuga, was captured and imprisoned within Orochimaru's army. By the time Neji could escape, and enter the castle. He alone, witnessed his own uncle's death.

"Hiashi-san!" Neji yelled as he charged toward the murderer. The false Neji just smirked as he placed his hand under his chin. A cloud of smoke surrounded him as he got taller, and wore a different attire. He gripped onto some of what Neji thought was skin, and peeled off his mask, reveling a laughing devil.

"Hello, Neji, isn't this unfortunate." Orochimaru said as Neji unsheathed his sword and attempted to slash through the snake's heart. Orochimaru dodged it easily as he knocked the sword out of Neji's hands. Without wasting another second, Orochimaru gripped onto Neji's throat with his right hand, as he slowly lifted him off the ground. "Ku, ku, ku, my, where are your manners Neji? What have I taught you?" Orochimaru said. Neji did his best not to suffocate as he tried to pry the snake's hand off his throat. "Only thirteen years old, and already you're attempting murder. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Orochimaru said as he released his grip. Neji fell onto the floor gasping for air. Tears slid down his face as he breathed heavily. He once again grabbed his sword and aimed for Orochimaru.

"Die bastard!" Naeji yelled as he swung his sword at the traitor. The sword made contact and pierced Orochimaru. Orochimaru merely smirked as a cloud of smoke surrounded him. By the time the smoke disappeared, the citizens and guards in the castle arrived at the scene. They all gasped when they saw Neji holding a sword that pierced through the dead king's heart. "Replacement jutsu!" Neji thought as he released his grip on the sword. His hands trembled as he faced the eyes of the witnesses.

"Prince Neji…Ho-How could y-you!" The captain of the guards stuttered as he watched the terrified prince stare at them.

"N-no…..No!" Neji yelled.

"N-neji-kun….W-why?" Hinata, his cousin pleaded as tears fell rapidly down her cheeks.

"Neji….." Sakura said as she was about to approach her terrified step-brother, but Sai stopped her. She looked into her other step-brothers eyes, as Sai told her and Hinata to turn away from the gruesome scene.

"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sai-san……I didn't do it! It was-" Neji began.

"Arrest him men!" The captain ordered as he cut Neji off. The guards obeyed as the all unsheathed their weapons.

In panic, Neji ran and jumped out the window, shattering the glass, as he grabbed hold of a branch of a tree that was next to the window. He climbed down quickly as he ran for his life. Though a battle was going on between his knights and Orochimaru's army, he could hear some of the guards coming after him. Neji ran into the forest hoping to lose them, but found that it was a useless attempt. It was dark out, and the moon rose from behind the mountain peeks, giving whatever light that reflected from the sun into the forest. Neji continued to run with all his might. His heart was pounding, his muscles screaming to rest, but he couldn't stop. He knew that the guards would accuse him of murder, and might kill him right on the spot, if he were caught.

A deadly cool breeze was flowing through the forest as Neji continued his escape. His chest was aching, but he couldn't stop. He tried his best to keep up speed, but he knew he couldn't avoid the inevitable. He reached a cliff's edge, that had a river flowing down below it, hundreds of feet away. "Shit." he thought as he heard some of the guards voices coming closer. He was at a dead end, and Neji knew that soon, he would be a dead man.

"Over hear men! I think he went this way!" A guard yelled out, not too far from Neji's location.

"What do I do?" Neji said as he grabbed his head between his hands.

"Having fun Neji?" Orochimaru said, as he appeared from the darkness.

"You! How dare you betray our home!" Neji growled out.

"So strange that your father said the exact same thing before….My, my, I've said too much." Neji let out a gasp.

"…You….You killed my father!"

"Of course." Orochimaru answered passively. "Unfortunately, that council of ours chose your uncle to rule this land instead of me. I was the royal advisor, and I had more experience in the king's duties than Hiashi, but he got the position by blood. I always made the right decisions so, naturally, I decided that I should be king."

Neji clenched his fists. "Fuck you………Die you worthless snake!" Neji yelled as he charged forward and aimed a fist at the traitor's face, but Orochimaru dodged it easily, as he gave a punch of his own to the enraged prince, right in the stomach. The impact made Neji spit out blood as he fell to the ground.

"You're still a child. What a waste, you were my favorite among the others, I was even thinking of giving back your former claim on the throne after you've grown, but as fate would have it. You will never take your father or uncle's place."

Breathing heavily, Neji slowly stood up. "I…pant…Don't believe in fate." Neji said as he wiped the blood away from the side of his cheek.

Orochimaru smirked as he disappeared. Soon after a couple of guards appeared from be hind the trees. Each one armed with swords.

"You can't escape, murderer." The captain said as he stepped closer.

Neji matched his pace as he stepped back. He finally met with the edge, as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"Whatever you believe, I didn't kill my uncle." Neji said as he stared at the soldiers that were coming closer.

"The proof is too great, you highness. It's a shame you turned out this way."

"Don't you get what the hell's coming out of my mouth? I didn't do it! It was-"

"Enough! Arrest him!" as they approached Neji.

"Bastards, I'll be damned before I let you dumbfucks take me before I clear my name, and kill that snake." Neji said as he jumped backwards off the cliff.

"Idiot!" The captain yelled as he and his men looked off from the edge to see Neji plummet down the cliff and into the dark river below.

"This is it." Neji thought as he felt himself submerge into the depth of the cold river. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sai-san, we will meet again…" Neji felt himself float above the rushing river as he succumbed to the darkness around him.

Back in the castle

Everyone there was still shocked of what had just happened. Hinata, Sai, and Sakura hovered over their father's dead body, as tears of sorrow mixed with his cold blood.

"F-father….Please come back…" Hinat cried out as she hugged the king's unmoving form.

"Don't leave us, after…." Sakura wiped her tears, but more just came from her eyes. "After everything you did for us…"

"Good-bye father rest in peace…..Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, let go to our rooms." Sai said gently, as he slowly pried Sakura and Hinata's grasp off of his foster father's body. "Be strong f-for him…He wouldn't be happy if he saw us in this state in the middle of an attack.

As the battle raged on, Orochimaru took his cue as he pretended to negotiate with the 'enemy' army. He stopped the war, and made himself a hero. In which, he received the throne in gratitude of the council. He had the kingdom rebuilt, and set a new order.Almost eliminating all of the Hyuuga's former laws, he turned the country poor, as he rained over them, but since he was so sly, he blamed all of their economic loss on neighboring countries, which brought war. With his cunningness and talents, he made himself his people's icon and hero, except for the three children that lived in the castle.

Too bad for Orochimaru, he didn't expect that the council would insist that the children would be the inheritances to the throne after him. He let it slide, seeing that it was only a small price to pay, compared to ruling the land. He simply planned that he would either get rid of them, or set them in his image. He preferred the first option.

Inside Sai bedroom, the three siblings sat down and discussed in secret.

"Do you guys believe that Neji would kill father like that?" Sakura asked all of a sudden.

Both Sai and Hinata looked at her then at each other before shaking their heads.

"No way….but how did, why did?…" Sai began to question.

"We don't know either…..Maybe he was framed?" Hinata said.

"Yes definitely." Sakura thought. Sakura thought for a second before snapping her fingers. "Framed….Framed…." Sakura repeated.

"Come on genius, you suppose to be the Einstein here." Sai said, being impatient.

"Shut up!" Sakura retorted.

"I miss Neji-kun." Hinata muttered.

"He was gone for almost the whole day when that army attacked us, right?" Sai and Hinata nodded. "And we were hiding near the secret back door, while the soldiers fought in the front. Father was in the throne room with Orochimaru-san, and then…..and then…."

"A-and then w-we found Neji with father." Hinata muttered.

"So where the hell was Orochimaru-san? What did he do when he was there?" Sai asked.

There was silence, but soon, Sakura broke it. "That fucker killed father." Sakura growled out as she slammed he fists against the bed. "That bitch framed Neji-kun, and killed father!" She almost yelled out, gritting her teeth.

"I'll kill him." Sai hissed. "I'll kill him!"

"H-he won't get away w-with this…..But we don't have any proof, it's just our guess." Hinata stated.

"Until we find Neji-kun, and-" Sakura began.

"N-neji-kun?" Hinata stuttered. "Didn't they say he was…was-"

"He not dead!" Sai assured, cutting Hinata off. "He's too strong."

"Well, until we find him, we should double or effort in training, and get stronger…then we can leave." Sakura concluded.

"L-leave?" both Hinata and Sai asked in unison.

Sakura nodded. "When we train strong enough to match the top knights, we'll come back to set a new order.

"Top knights! They are the strongest of the fighters! They know all the jutsus, and they're powerful! Plus, we're only twelve, knight training starts at seven years of age!" Hinata said.

"Hmph, I always wanted to be a knight, or at least kick one's ass." Sai said with a smirk, completely ignorant to Hinata's warnings.

"That's good to hear. So who's in?" Sakura said, as she extended her arm out between the three.

"I'm game." Sai said as he place his hand over Sakura's. "To become knights, and grow stronger!" Hinata looked at the two worryingly, but then remembered her father, and grew determined.

"T-to stop Orochimaru, and find Neji-kun!" Hinata said as he placed her hand over Sai's.

"As knights, we'll save our kingdom, avenge father, and make a new order!" Sakura said.

"Right!" Sai and Hinata agreed.

"Promise?" Sakura asked as she grabbed both Sai's and Hinata's free hands, in each of her own.

"Promise!" the both agreed as they both reached out and held onto each other's hands.

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AN: Sry it's short….Hope you all liked it. Just think of the knights as weird versions of ninjas! ….sweat drop…..don't give me that look! Well anyways, couple and stuff will be in later chapters! Until then, cya! Oh, and thx for reading!