Hinata was brewing tea in the large hyuga kitchen, when she felt a familiar charka enter the room. "Hinata uncle wishes to speak to us, you may make the tea later." Neji cold voice never failed to send a shiver down her spine. Lifting a shaking hand to her black hair that framed her round face, "O-oh I see." Biting her bottom hinata follows neji to her father's sitting room. Once they were outside the door hinata couldn't help but hesitate, something told her that after this meeting her life would change completely. Neji could see it in hinata's large violet eyes, something was up. Opening the door to his uncle's office, neji leads a trembling hinata into the room to face their fate. Hinata takes her place on the cushion in front of her father; Neji was taking his place by the door when his uncle stopped him with a gesture of a hand. "Neji take the seat next to hinata this matter includes both of you." Bowing a little; neji takes a cushion beside to hinata who was now avoiding eye contact with neji. "As you both know hinata is to be the next heir of the clan," He paused and looked at hinata with disgust; she was so weak it was shameful to the hyuga name. "You also both know that hinata is not strong enough to take over the clan." Neji could see hinata flinch visibly, "f-father I um" Hinata was silenced by the look in her father's eyes. "How are you supposed to take over the clan if you can't even complete a sentence?" hinata let her head fall, knowing her father was right. "So you will marry neji tomorrow, I will be able to step down with the confidence that the clan will not fall in ruins because of a weak leader." There was no room to argue with him, his word was law and no one said other wise. "I understand" they both murmur in unison, bowing to him they both leave. Neji knew he should have tried to comfort hinata, but he could bring himself to say the words.
"I will be in the training area." Neji didn't mean to be cold; he didn't mean to hurt her in any way.
She stayed silent and let him brush past her. She knew neji no longer hated her and she never hated him, but she didn't want to marry him. Hinata should have known that her father would do this since she was 18 now and neji was 20. Letting out a weak sigh and walked to her large room, silently wondering if marrying neji would finally make her father proud. Trying to banish the thought from her mind Hinata crawls into bed, slowly drifting into a dreamless sleep.
"Rotation" Neji yells trying to stay in position, but his arms were shaking from the amount of charka that he was passing through his charka ways in his arms. He had been out in the grounds for hours, training trying to help him think through his feelings. But all he could feel was the same bitterness from eight years ago. The same questions running through head, But he felt betrayed in a new way. After the fight with that loud mouth blond headed kid, He had lived his life freely. For eight years he was a bird out of the hyuga cage. Neji felt dumb for ever believing in such lies there was no way to escape fate, He should have known better. Neji lays a shaking hand to his covered curse mark as a harsh reminder of the fate chosen for him. Now that he was in his cage again, he will have to be comfortable again. Slowly neji makes his way back to the compound; this would be his last night in his father's small second branch compound. Crawling into his bed neji silently wonders would it have been different if his father was around. Slowly neji falls into a fitful sleep.
Hinata felt numb as the maids pulled her hair, sticking numerous clips shaped like flowers. The maids tie the kimono that matches her purple eyes. Hinata didn't her the words of the ceremony, It didn't feel real.