Is Just To Love, and Be Loved In Return…

Summary: When Itachi decides to go all clan-killy on their family, Sasuke ends up getting adopted by the Hyuga family (FTW!), and when he hit's the age of 18, they decide on a marriage partner for him that best suits the family. However, Sasuke can't seem to stop chasing after a certain blonde dobe whom we all know and love! Then, suddenly when an uninvited guest decides to crash the rehearsal dinner, all hell breaks loose in Konoha! Will Sasuke be able to deal with the stress, or will the burden of responsibility crush him?


This IS a Yaoi! BoyxBoy love is to be expected. If there isn't any SasuNaru lovin', it just doesn't cut it. There will also be some sweet sibling love, but NOT incest (although I may not be able to resist matching up Neji with Hiniata. Again - FTW!). Know that the relationship between Sasuke and Hinata is purely a brother-sister bond, and nothing more.

By the way, if you absolutely loathe the SasuSaku coupling, I am totally there. I hate it too, but it's kind of necessary for this story. Besides, it's an arranged marriage, interrupting the beauty of boy-on-boy; you're supposed to hate it. ;P

Also, just a BIT of OOC Sasuke is involved. If you didn't read my Crashed The Wedding! story, then I guess you wouldn't really understand. The resigned nature of a strangely meek Sasuke just kind of stuck with me. I think it's cute =)


Something was wrong. It was nothing more than a dream, and he knew it… but something was definitely wrong.

Sasuke was an Uchiha after all, and even at the age of fourteen he was talented enough to know that he was dreaming, and sense the nature of his dreams. It would not be until later on in life that he would finally train himself to wake himself whenever he needed. Ninjas were supposed to sleep lightly, but he wasn't there quite yet.

Too bad he could not control his dreams, either. If he could, he would have stopped himself from taking that step forward, and then the other. In his dream, he was younger, a child, and a strange sound in the night had woken him. He was home again, in the Uchiha complex, but this was not the home that he recognized anymore. It was dark, and it was raining, but he was frightened, and he wanted to know what was going on. He progressed into the night, stepping cautiously and getting soaked. Mud and water squished in his sandals.

He would have stopped himself from moving forward any farther than that, because if Sasuke were awake and not dreaming, he would have known what late beyond the closed door that was suddenly in front of him. He would not have raised his tiny hand to push the wood forward. He would not have ever stepped inside that room. But being that this was a dream, the curiosity mingled with fear was what pushed him on. He opened the door, and just as it had been those some years ago, there was his once loving, kind, and thoughtful older brother… standing there above the bodies of their parents.

Sasuke shot out of bed, covered in sweat. Was it so unusual for a fourteen year old to have nightmares? Especially a fourteen year old who had witnessed the slaughtering of his entire family? Probably not, but he hated the dreams that kept haunting him. He hated not having the power to keep himself away from that closed door every night, even knowing full well while he was awake what would be beyond it.

He would not start berating himself until he was a little more awake, though, and so at the moment he was simply trying to catch his breath and keep the tears at bay. He did hate crying. And being that he was not fully awake was why the shadow separating itself from the darkness beyond his bed scared him so much. Sasuke's heart was pounding, but at least he held tight to his will not to scream. A weight pressed down on the left side of his bed. Something was in the room with him.

"Dreams again?" Hinata whispered from the darkness.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, but he would never admit to her that she had scared him half to death. "Hinata," he breathed. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was worried about you," she said, leaning forward so that her face could be seen in the moonlight from the window. Dark shadows threw themselves across the planes of her gentle face. "You told me you had bad dreams, and I heard you mumbling again so…."

It was so embarrassing. Sasuke never should have told her about the dreams. When she asked why she always heard him mumbling to himself at night, he should have told her that he was practicing jutsu on his own. However, it was a rare day when he could bring himself to lie to his adopted sister. She was too innocent, and she did not deserve the treatment that he reserved for everyone else. Yes, in the years since being adopted by the Hyuga family, one could say that he'd grown attached to Hinata. They'd had classes together at the academy, and had never once acknowledged one another until the tragedy, but somehow, a bond was formed between the two of them.

Hinata was quiet, and shy, as everyone knew. And Sasuke was quiet, and bitter. He taught her how to occasionally shake off her timid nature whenever she really needed to keep her back up, and she gave him insight into things about life that he never would have seen for himself. She had a way of looking at the world that was almost too innocent; too naïve. She taught him a great deal, but it was almost inevitable that one day her naivety would work against her, and someone would try to hurt or take advantage of her. And that's what Sasuke was there for.

At first, it had been a bit of an annoyance - to have to stick to this girl to make sure that she didn't hurt herself or get herself into trouble. After all, once being adopted by the Hyuga, he became her elder "brother," and he was told that it was his job to care for her. He'd looked at her that first day thinking, "This girl is so stupid and weak," but Hinata wasn't stupid, and she was only as weak as she allowed herself to be. What was once an annoyance became ritual, and ritual became… well, something that Sasuke enjoyed. Her company was comfortable, because she talked no more than he did, and her presence was soothing in a way that he didn't understand.

Sasuke sighed again. "You really don't need to worry about me so much," he said. "I can take care of myself, and a few bad dreams aren't anything to make a big deal about."

"I know," she whispered, looking down at the mussed bedspread. He must have kicked it around in his sleep. "Here. I wasn't sure when to give this to you." She placed a small drawstring pouch on his nightstand. Curious, Sasuke reached over, and opened it. "They're tealeaves. My mother… she always told me that they helped with bad dreams. Drink it before bed, and the monsters will go away. That's what she used to tell me…."

Again, Sasuke sighed. How could he possibly hold a grudge against that? Had anyone else given him the tealeaves, he would have seen it as a threat - being the image upholding kind of guy that he was - and he would have been seriously pissed. He hated seeming weak, but when someone like Hinata was being considerate, how could he ever be mad at her?

"I could make you some now…" she said reluctantly. Hinata knew his nature well. She already knew that he hated seeming weak. "I thought about it before but… I wanted to check on you first."

"No, that's really not necessary, Hinata."

"But what about your bad dreams?" she persisted, with worry in her eyes. "You'll just keep having them, won't you? You wont get a wink of good sleep tonight…."

"What did your mother do when she didn't give you the tealeaves and you had a nightmare?" Sasuke asked, throwing her off. He knew that it was the kind of thing he would never have said to anyone else - not in such a way - but that was just showing how much Hinata was rubbing off on him.

"Well… she would sit beside me until I fell back asleep. Sometimes she would sing…."

He made a vague gesture as if to say "well, that will do."

"You want me to sit by you?" she whispered. He shrugged. "I will."

Like a caring mother (and he probably would have scoffed at anyone else doing this for him; as it was, he blushed) Hinata straightened the covers over him and pulled them up to his shoulders. While Sasuke lay there, he watched her in the darkness, but he doubted that she could see his eyes were open. Hinata hesitated, but then one of her pale hands touched his arm, and gently rubbed him in a comforting sort of gesture.

Sasuke closed his eyes. At least she didn't sing to him. He probably wouldn't have minded, really. But he felt like he was being babied, and he was so thankful that there was no one else around to witness his shame. He soon fell asleep to Hinata's soft touch stroking his arm. He didn't dream once, for the rest of the night.


Hinata watched and listened as Sasuke closed his eyes (because her excellent eyesight allowed her to see his face in the darkness), his breathing slowed, and became deep. He was sleeping again. And his eyes were not moving beneath their lids, which meant that he was not dreaming - for now. She stayed by his side for what must have been a full thirty minutes. Hinata was patient, and she would wait to make sure that his dreams did not continue before leaving.

As she left his room, she found herself thinking about the way he had been watching her. She'd never quite seen a look like that on his face before. What had he been thinking? Oh… it was so difficult for her to read people like him. Actually, it was difficult for her to read people at all, but with him it was worse. She felt like she was always stepping lightly around Sasuke, afraid that he would one day explode, like he did with so many other people. She was so careful not to do anything to make him angry - but she wanted to be able to care for him too.

Sasuke was the stubborn type - choosing pride over what was best for him. She didn't try to make decisions for him, or push him into anything. She just wanted to show him that life was easier if one just accepted it for what it was.

Surprising as it was, Hinata truly loved her big brother. She did think of him as a brother - fully, not just one adopted. He was kinder to her. She liked to think that he was the rock that she clung to in the middle of a hurricane - whenever things were going badly, somehow he was always there to keep her feet on the ground and her head held high. Sasuke was strong, and she was weak. It was nice to have someone like him to cling to occasionally - though not so much literally clinging, as he probably wouldn't care too much for that.

She was lost in her own thoughts as she walked, barefoot, back to her bedroom, and that was why she did not even see Neji materialize out of the darkness in the hallway before her. He made her jump when his hands touched her arms to catch her attention. "Neji," she breathed.

He was looking at her curiously.

In many ways, Neji reminded her of Sasuke. In the way that Sasuke used to be indifferent toward her, Neji used to hate her, but now, he was kind to her. Or, at least, he did not completely loathe her. Sometimes, she was made to train with him, and he seemed to enjoy teaching her new things - in his own way. He was determined anyway. And he was starting to take his role of taking care of her seriously. He was of the Branch House of course, which meant that he lived to serve her - the daughter of the Main House. Hinata did not like the master-servant role that their clan forced upon them, but when Neji felt that he was bound to something, that something was his duty, there was no stopping him.

Sometime Neji and Sasuke trained together, but Hinata didn't like to be around during those times. They were much too aggressive with one another, and their fights were intense and frightening. She was always afraid that they were going to actually hurt one another.

"I saw you with him," Neji said, in his emotionless-Neji way. "What were you doing, Hinata? Sasuke Uchiha does not want to be taken care of by our family. He's not really one of us."

"Not one of us?" she said, looking up into his Hyuga eyes. "He doesn't have to be born into the Hyuga to be one of us, Neji. Sasuke needs a family. One to show him that you can trust the people you love."

Neji looked at her incredulously. "Don't you hear what you're saying?" he asked quietly, calmly. "If Sasuke were a woman, I'd say you're right, but he's just not that kind of guy Hinata. I have fought with him - and I know his true nature well. He will find strength on his own and move on when he's ready."

Hinata felt a stab of despair at his words. It was like her fears were finally being brought out into the open - that the care she showed for Sasuke was a waste, and he didn't need her. "You act as if the tragedy that happened with his family wasn't a big deal. What do you think you know about Sasuke true nature Neji? Just because you fought him…. " Hinata looked down at the floor in front of her feet. "Not everyone is as strong as they are in battle."

"And yet your nature is the same in battle or not." Hinata looked back up at him. Was he insulting her? And Neji inclined his head as if to say that he was not. "There is strength behind your pretty face whenever you want to show it. It is the same when you fight. You are only as strong as you want to be, Hinata, but you could be so much stronger." He started to walk away then, leaving her standing there in the darkness. "Think on what I've said."


The adoption of Sasuke Uchiha into the Hyuga family was… most definitely a complex situation. Nothing like it had happened in the history of the world for such a long, long time. Or, at least that was what the Hokage had said. One clan adopting the child of another was something that was certainly unheard of. Why would a clan ever give up one of their own to another? Clans like the Uchiha and the Hyuga show off their heirs and children and family members like prizes; pretty pieces to add to their collection, and rub in the faces of all the other clans out there. The stronger the child, the greater the reward, and reputation. Not even lesser clans would give up one of their own in such a manner.

However, when the entirety of the Uchiha clan was destroyed, it was a tragedy that the Leaf Village would remember for all of time. Itachi Uchiha fled the country, and eight year old Sasuke Uchiha was left on his own. Oh the child had plenty of money and the promise of power at his disposal - but also an empty house, and the reputation of a broken clan. He would forever be looked upon as the sole survivor of the terrible night that ended his clan's future. He was the only one not killed by the brother who had gone insane.

Itachi's wild night of slaughtering his own family members was a black mark on the Uchiha name to be sure, and everything that the clan stood for fell apart - dead with its members.

And yet there was this one child, with nowhere left to go but back home, to a place that was no longer his home. The Hokage was a generous man. He was not the Hokage for nothing, as he was wise and kind to those who deserved it. He was a hard man, right up until the moment that he died, and anointed Tsunade as his successor. The night of the tragedy, he knew he had to move quickly.

Villagers had heard the screams, and the bodies had been found. And there was one lone child, crying even in unconsciousness, laid out with the dead. The Hokage took the boy to the heart of the Leaf Village, to his very office. He examined the boy himself, and found nothing physically wrong with him other than the fact that he was unconscious. He was just about to have the boy cleaned up by the medic-nin who were waiting outside his office, when Sasuke awoke.

He must have felt the warmth of the fireplace on his skin, but it did not seem to reach his pale features. Sasuke was unresponsive when the Hokage questioned him. The medic-nin said that he was numb - it was a condition that many people retreated to after something terrible happened to them. The mind protects itself.

Sasuke was given clean clothes and something warm to eat, but he neither accepted nor rejected either. He was simply there, an eight year old who had seen far too much, sitting like a lifeless doll on the Hokage's chair.

It was not until some time well in the night, when Sasuke was sleeping quietly on a cot usually reserved for the Hokage himself on nights when he was working late, that the Hokage finally came up with the idea. So yes, he knew he had to move fast - Sasuke needed somewhere healthy to recover from this night of disaster, as quickly as possible. What he needed was somewhere familiar, but comforting, in an atmosphere that he was accustomed to, with the kind of people he really knew. The Hyuga clan was the one other outstanding clan in Konoha. Like the Uchiha, they were powerful and wealthy, and they had a lot of influence over the Council.

The Hokage summoned Hiashi Hyuga - the head of the Hyuga clan. This was some years after the incident in which Hiashi's brother - Hizashi - traded his own life for that of his brother's. Hiashi understood tragedies of his own, which made the situation somewhat better - in a disheartening way. Hiashi was incredulous at his proposition, of course, but the Hokage persuaded until he made the man listen.

Every clan dreams of having a powerful heir to pass the family name to. Hiashi had never had sons - only daughters - and his nephew Neji, of the Branch House, already surpassed the both of them. The Hokage did not mention these details, but he could see them playing out in Hiashi's mind as the man considered. A few times, those violet eyes wandered to where Sasuke was sleeping, likely a troubled sleep, on the Hokage's cot.

It took much more persuasion for the man to finally agree, but when the light of dawn appeared in the sky outside of the Hokage's window, the deal had finally been made. Sasuke woke, and for a moment he was disoriented. But when the boy looked up at the Hokage, the old man knew that he knew. The look in Sasuke's eyes was something that would haunt the Hokage for the rest of his years - that heart shattering, knowing look of an eight year old who knew that his family was dead, and that someone he had loved dearly just the day before was the cause of it.

Hiashi had held out his arm for the boy, and in a short matter of days, it was done. Sasuke was to be a part of the Hyuga clan now - still an Uchiha by his own rights, still with all his wealth and power, but he had a family again. Hinata and Hanabi were to be his younger sisters - by the Hokage's suggestion, it was Sasuke's job to care for the two girls as if they were truly his blood sisters. It was the elder brother's duty, and it would give Sasuke something to do to keep his mind from all the pain.

From what the Hokage heard in the weeks following, Sasuke was still not doing well. He had adjusted, somewhat, to his new location and family - because it was the kind of large, luxurious home that he was used to, surrounded by clan members who could be called family - but his mind had seemed to die with his heart. He was still strong, still smart. But he had lost motivation, and kept to himself for much of the time. Yes, he was sticking with Hinata and Hanabi, as he was directed, though mostly just Hinata, since Hanabi was the type to revolt against such a thing. He did what he was told without question or comment, but his heart wasn't in anything that he did.

Not that such a trivial matter was cause for alarm to Hiashi of course. The man was proud of Sasuke's strength. He thought that the boy's silence meant that he was already moving on, getting past the tragedy and continuing his life. He would be an asset to the Hyuga clan's Main House most definitely. The Hokage supposed that he should be pleased that the Hyuga were taking to Sasuke so quickly - it was what he had wanted, and yet… something about the situation was wrong. He felt it in his bones. Sasuke had found his place in this world since the destruction of his family, and that was a truly miraculous thing, but would he ever find love when he was bonded to the Hyuga in such a cold way?

The Hokage knew, Sasuke would allow himself to be one the Hyuga clan's many trophies. Sasuke would be displayed as the adopted son, the heir of the Hyuga, next to Hinata and Hanabi of course - the survivor of a strong and wealthy clan, adopted and refurbished by yet another strong and wealthy clan. Sasuke would allow it, he would accept his duties and his place. But it seemed like such an empty title. The Hokage only hoped that Sasuke would find love and compassion somewhere in his world, something that would steer him from the path of strictly what was right, and onto the path that he would truly want.

Oh how little the Hokage could know about Sasuke's future. If only that man could see into the future, to know how that fateful, possible happy ending would spin out. He might have died happy, glad to know that Sasuke would indeed find that love that the old man had wanted for him.