For Honor

Hugging my knees against my chest, I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at my surroundings. The sky was painted orange, streaked with hues of pink and purple, and by the colors, I judged it was late afternoon. A soft breeze blew my dark bangs across my face, the ends brushing my cheeks. Past my bangs I could see my scraped knee, bleeding slightly and consumed by a small stinging sensation, which I reckoned, was from the dirt. I let out a small sigh, and then looked up at the pine I was leaning up against. "I really shouldn't have climbed that tree, at least not until I was ready..." I stopped and laughed a little at myself. "First I fall out of a tree and now I am talking to myself?" Behind me, a tiny voice giggled softly. Without a second thought, I turned and faced the pine, scanning the surrounding bushes and shrubs.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?"

I asked out loud, drawing a kunai from my leg pouch and holding it in front of me, in a defensive stance. The giggles continued, this time moving in a linear pattern around me until suddenly they just stopped. Confused, I turned left and right several times, in quick succession until my gaze met a pair of moons from behind a tree. From behind a pine she emerged, a girl about my age with skin as pale as snow and grey, pupil-less eyes. She wore a navy blue yukata whose sleeves were too long for her, and a pair of sandals that hid behind the crane pattern on it. Raven locks of pin straight hair fell on her forehead, creating a great amount of contrast against her eyes. Her mouth spread into a tiny, friendly smile and with it came a tiny voice. "Hello. What's your name?" she asked as she brought her sleeves up to her chin. Unable to reply, I stood there for a moment until reality kicked back in and words formed in my mouth. I finally replied "Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha. And You?" Bringing her hands down to adjust her Obi she replied "Hinata Hyuuga, daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga" Hinata stood there and observed my reaction to her name, which was little to none, and became slightly offended. "An Uchiha? Hmm, I'm not at all impressed..." she replied in a sarcastic tone as she grabbed a nearby twig and began doodling on the ground. I became aggravated by her tone, and without thinking it twice, replied. "I am Sasuke Uchiha, son of the leader of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku Uchiha. I suggest you behave more like you're supposed to and show me some respect." She stopped doodling to look up at me with a slight frown, straightened up, and developed a small scowl as she replied. "Oh, so the little boy who was crying a minute ago is now going to bark orders at people?" Hinata asked in a sarcastic tone as she put her hands on her hips. Suddenly, a deep voice called out from behind her, making Hinata turn on her heel.

"Hinata!" the voice called from a distance, the name echoing in the forest. Instantly her hands dropped from their overconfident stance at her hips and fell behind her, and with that her whole being changed. Hinata's breaths became softer and quicker, her eyes stopped sparkling, and her complete being changed, her essence becoming much colder than before. Foolishly, I thought that her change in essence was because of me, so I let out a triumphant 'humph' as I turned on my heel. But before turning completely, I noticed someone else staring at me intently, with a look that could kill. Little by little, I turned again to face Hinata and instead was met with a look of complete disgust. "An Uchiha, more specifically Sasuke Uchiha. A complete mockery of one of the great families of Konoha…" He paused, looked at Hinata, and continued addressing me "Whatever business it is you have with my daughter, I suggest it ends now, before things get out of hand." Hiashi's gaze shifted from me to Hinata's direction, who was trembling in fear at the sight of her father. "And as for you, you know better than to speak to such people, Hinata. You are the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, you should not be talking to such filth." Hiashi's words were dipped in poison, and somewhere deep within me anger began to build. I couldn't explain it, but it wasn't so much for what he had said about me, but for Hinata, who out of respect hadn't said even word. The great Hyuuga turned once more in my direction and asked "What business do you have with my daughter?". Taken aback, I opened my mouth, but no sounds were able to come out of it. "Speak, boy!" barked Hiashi at me. "Speak! Or do you not know how?" At that point I couldn't take it. A mixture of fury, anger, and pain had built up within me, and I could feel my fists clenching at my sides. Hiashi's look altered from hate to anger as he brought up a hand and opened a palm in front of him. And what happened next even I couldn't believe.