Shoulder length light brown hair with dark green streaks framed a pale face with bright green eyes. Her long eyelashes gently brushed her cheek as she prepared to sing her final song. She focused all her thoughts on her sister to bring the proper amount of feeling to the song. The music struck the right beat and she began.

Playground school bell rings again
Rain clouds come to play again
Has no one told you she's not breathing?
Hello I am your mind giving you someone to talk to
Hello

If I smile and don't believe
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream
Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken
Hello I'm the lie living for you so you can hide
Don't cry

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping
Hello I'm still here
All that's left of yesterday
(1)

The music stopped, the video screen clicked off.

"And that was Yami Nikkou's new song, Hello. So, Nikkou, can you tell us what this song is about?" The reporter looked hopeful. Most of this singer's best songs were too close to her heart to share with the music world.

"Alas, I cannot. For to tell would reveal my most profound secret, and no one is ready for that." The reporter was surprised when the star's tone was actually apologetic.

"Oh, come now. Everyone wants the answer to the mystery. Your fans will be so disappointed." The reporter made a fake pout, which looked so ridiculous to Nikkou that she chuckled.

"Well, you know I just hate to disappoint, but to tell would break my manager's heart. Then she wouldn't meet all the famous interviewers who want to know who I am. Not to mention the end of the money from people who want to bribe her to tell." She smirked to her manager, whose hands were curled into fists.

"Well then, I guess I should just move on." There was that out of place pout again. "I hear through the grapevine that you are going to participate in the contest to, and I quote, "win a famous singer or model to be your boyfriend"." Nikkou made a face.

"Yes, and I regret agreeing even now. Not only does this mean that my fans won't see me as often, but it narrows down my chances of escaping with my secret identity still intact greatly." Shaking her head, she took a sip of water.

"So, shall we go through the possibilities?" Nikkou sighed, and once again made a hideous face.

"Fine, but don't expect my comments to be nice ones." She smirked, and even the people watching in the back could see the malicious glint in her eyes.

"There is: Haruno Sakura."

"Yes, I could just be making fun of myself to stop anyone from guessing who I am. But my IQ must have some how increased exponentially from yesterday. Did you see how much of a slut she was?"

"Yamnaka Ino."

"If you thought Sakura was stupid….."

"Tenten."

"I could be the famous female rapper. That is if I suddenly lost my ability to sing."

"Sabaku Temari."

"Right. Do you really think that I would model the kinds of clothes she does? I mean, really!"

"And Hyuuga Hinata."

"Sure. Because I could really be that docile. Just go on thinking that."

"Well, we're out of time. See you tomorrow where we will talk about the prizes."

"I just want to say, I'm not really this much of a jerk. But, in my defense, I am in a really bad mood. Wouldn't you be? When I walked in here, I was literally blind from all the camera flashes." And with a final smile, yes, a real smile, the show was over.

"What did you show us that for?" Naruto asked, confused and dazed. To hear that girl insult all those people, it reminded him of Sasuke, except…some how they weren't the same. There was a different glint in her eye.

"She's going to be here, in this house, as her real self. I want one of you to find out who she is." Kakashi's eye never left the book, his other covered by the official headband of the Konoha agency, which sponsored this contest and managed all of the "prizes".

"Why?" Everyone was surprised by Sasuke's voice. Usually the only ones who spoke during these meetings were Naruto and Kakashi. His gaze was still focused on the girl's face. There was something about it that bugged him, something that he just couldn't place.

"Because everyone wants to know who she is, and if we find out there are all kinds of ways we can exploit it. Besides, Tsunade wants to know."

No one spoke, all stared intently at the face smiling back at them.

'How can she smile like that?' Sasuke was still puzzled.

'What's so special about her?' Neji couldn't figure it out.

'How can she be so rude and still be nice?' Naruto was scratching his head.

'Why can't I find it in myself to hate her?' Gaara couldn't figure her out.

'Who is she?' They all wondered. The face just smiled back at them, keeping its secrets to itself.

Two Weeks Later

She stood before the huge mansion, slightly intimidated. It's not like she didn't live in one like it, but the only memories that she could retrieve at the sight were negative ones. Except for one. She hid her smile behind her hand and focused on that memory to keep her strong. 'Just channel her.' She kept thinking that over and over. Hesitantly, she took a step toward the house, and found her way in. She found her self in the company of at least fifteen others.

"Look another contestant." Sakura sneered. "Oops, my bad, it's just Hinata."

"Hello to you too, Haruno-san." She whispered, her mirth hidden by her bangs. 'If only she knew…'

"Hyuuga Hinata?" The man who asked had a headband covering one eye and was reading a book of very questionable content. Hinata assumed he was in charge.

"Y-yes." Kakashi examined this new contestant, and remembered the remark made by Nikkou. "As if I could be that docile." This girl couldn't possibly be Yami Nikkou, could she?

"I am Kakashi, I'm running this contest. You can go and find your room if you like, but if you stay here you might catch a glimpse of the prizes."

"Yes, thank you." Hinata bowed to him and left to go find a room. She looked through many, some were Egyptian, some where Elizabethan, some were Chinese. None appealed to her, so she kept looking. Finally, she came to a room with a patio with a beautiful view of the ocean. The rest of the room was plain, a single bed, icy blue walls, but the patio made it perfect. This was her room. She slowly unpacked her things, and sat down to read, bringing out her favorite book.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that a bell was ringing. Sighing, she closed her book and began to walk down to dinner, for it was surely that. Many of the doors to the rooms were still open, but a few were closed. So either some of the girls had given up and found rooms or they had caught sight of the 'prizes'. Sighing again, Hinata shook her head. Contests like this were so barbaric; love didn't play a part at all. Finding her way to the restaurant next door, she peeked around a corner and saw no one in the room. She crept down the stairs and took a seat at a table in the back of the room. She had barely opened her book when a crowd of people came rushing in, led by several very disgruntled stars. Sighing, she seemed to be doing a lot of that, and she hadn't even been in the house a day. She knew she wouldn't be reading anymore tonight, so she gently closed the book and put it down in front of her, gazing at the intricate picture on the cover. She almost went to open it again, but stopped herself in time. Suddenly there was a person sitting next to her. She recognized the opalescent skin and ebony hair of Uchiha Sasuke, who looked as if he was trying to fit under the table.

"Aren't you far too old to hide under the table?" She asked, head quirked sideways. Had he been anyone else he would have jumped.

"I thought this table was empty." He said coldly, glaring at her. The effect was diminished because of the tablecloth on his head.

"For all intensive purposes, it is." She answered, turning her attention back to her book.

"I have a perfectly logical reason to be hiding." His glare intensified so that she could feel it through table cloth now separating them.

"To tie shoelaces together?" She asked innocently, before kicking herself. 'I'm acting too much like her.'

He proceeded to ignore her, which was fine with both parties involved. She finally decided that fiction was far more interesting than paying attention to the Uchiha, and picked up her book.

He sat cross-legged, staring a the only interesting thing under the table. Her legs. It was either that or table or chair legs, and those weren't nearly as interesting. Unlike the other girls who had either worn extremely tight pants or really short skirts, but she was wearing loose black pants that hid the shape of her legs. Was it because she was fat, or because she was modest? Her comments were not ones he usually got, but-

His thoughts were interrupted when another pair of legs appeared at the table, he recognized them as Neji's.

"Hinata-sama." Neji's voice was cold and formal, as if Hiashi had ordered him to do this.

"Neji-nisan. You should be careful, Uchiha-san is hiding under the table." Why did she have to say that? He'd never live this down.

"Under the table, Sasuke? Was the bathroom taken?" Neji quirked an eyebrow.

"Shut up Hyuuga. She was sitting here and two people would draw attention." Sasuke's voice was muffled by the table cloth.

"I-I'm just waiting until dinner, and then I will leave, if I am bothering you." She whispered into her lap, thinking her self a nuisance. "What did you want, Neji-nisan?" This time Sasuke realized that she was calling him her brother. Brother? Where they related? Sasuke hadn't really gotten a good look at her face.

"Hiashi-sama told me to look after you, so I am following orders." Sasuke caught the small tremor of emotion in there, but it appeared that Hinata did not from the disappointment in her response. Sasuke was getting sick of sitting under the table, so he smoothly slid back up into a seat.

"Tired of playing little boy?" Neji mocked, but Hinata's expression was different.

"S-so, why were you hiding under there?" She asked, actually interested.

"Fangirls." That one word was all that cam from his mouth. She sighed.

"Well, I suppose if you really were tying shoelaces together you would have picked a different table." At this Neji smirked and cocked an eyebrow at Hinata, who was simply looking disappointed.

Their waiter arrived and they ordered. Sasuke ordered sushi, Neji ordered dango, and Hinata ordered moo shu pork, as it was the least expensive thing on the menu.

"You do know that the Konoha Agency is paying for the meal, right?" Neji's eyes were slightly softer than they normally were when he looked at Hinata.

"Yes, but I don't want to cause them that much trouble." She whispered to her lap, a habit that she could not break.

"How are you two related?" Sasuke grunted, asking the question that had been bugging him since Neji had randomly appeared.

"Hinata-sama is my cousin." Neji deadpanned. Hinata's gaze was unreadable, and turned toward the direction of the waiter, who had finally appeared with their food. Neji immediately began eating, and Sasuke dug in too. They were halfway through when Hinata rose from the table, done with her food without them ever noticing her moving.

"Good night, Uchiha-san, Neji-nisan." She bowed, picked up her book, and left. Watching her leave, Sasuke didn't understand why she was walking away from the door. That is, until she slipped out the side door, so as to remain unseen.

"Are you sure she's your cousin?"

As I made my way back to the mansion, I thought about the what Neji had said. "Hiashi-sama told me to look after you, so I am following orders." What a load of crap. He didn't even come to see me off. Neji came of his own accord, and she knew why. He used to hate her, until he learned the truth of the accidental murder of his father. Now he was just stupidly overprotective of her. And, no, it wasn't because he actually cared about her. The truth of it was, he pitied her. And that one thought made her hands curl into fists, and a rare flash of anger flit through her eyes. Who was he to pity her? She could take care of herself. But somewhere, a voice said she couldn't. That was why she existed. To voice those feelings otherwise left silent. So she focused on the one accursed blessing she had. The one though that kept her strong, that kept her going, despite the fact that it also made her more pathetic.

'I am Yami Nikkou.'

I'm sorry I haven't updated recently, but if I don't write this down I might go insane. Anyway, thank all of you for all the reviews. You must be very disappointed in me.

(1) I won't own most of the songs in here, so I'm only going to comment on the ones that I do own. If I don't say anything, just assume I don't own it, okay.

Oh, and I don't own Naruto, duh.

Bye!

P.S. I'm really sorry about the not updating thing.