Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.
Tragedy
Chapter 1
She knew there was a reason she didn't want to have a wedding on a large old church atop a pretty hill overlooking the sea.
Hinata, still in her white wedding dress with its infernal petticoats, clutched the stitch on her side. She felt like she had just participated in a marathon. The distance certainly felt like it.
Back at the church, it had seemed a good idea to run until she was sure no one would be following her. Now she knew it definitely wasn't the brightest.
Panting, she turned to look back. No one had followed her, which was good.
Only now, she didn't know where on earth she was, which was bad.
With shaky hands, she gingerly touched her swollen ankle. She had fallen earlier on her mad dash and twisted it. Running in high heeled shoes wearing a dress with a humungous skirt was no simple feat to accomplish. The movies made it look easy.
Then again, everything looked easy in the movies. It even made running from one's own wedding appear simple.
Runaway brides looked graceful in it, as they condemned their grooms to a lifetime of shame, to a lifetime of forever being branded as the tragically jilted; and they didn't look even a bit remorseful for it. In the movies, these brides always had somewhere to go to… Someone to run to.
A secret lover who was a magazine writer or even a superhero who dressed in tights.
But she, Hinata, looked and felt nothing like those brides in the movies.
For one thing, she didn't feel graceful. She knew she didn't make a great exit too. Not one minute into the run and she had fallen on her face. Now she had an ankle the size of a golf ball and she felt miserable.
To top it all off, she was hopelessly lost. The pretty hill top where the big old church was happened to be on some remote town she couldn't remember the name of.
A gust of cold wind blew past her, coming from the direction of the sea. Hinata shivered.
She had nowhere to go and no one to run to. The only person who had ever loved her probably hated her now. Maybe he didn't even want to ever lay eyes on her again. She had made a muck of things, all because she couldn't say two simple words.
Tears started falling from her eyes.
Guilt was pounding so mercilessly on her conscience she could hear it ringing in her ears. What had she done?
Sasuke hissed in annoyance as the black Labrador once again yanked on the leash he was holding. The pain shooting up his arm made him remember why he wasn't always keen on taking the dog out.
They were on their way home back from the town. His brother had called earlier to let him know of the package he needed to pick-up at the post office. He gave a thoughtful look at it, safely tucked under his arms. From the shape and size, it was probably another set of books his control freak of a brother wanted him to review for the company. It wasn't as if there was anything better to do in this town so he hadn't complained so far.
The red tiled roof of his small house came into view amidst the gathering dark clouds in the horizon. It was going to rain again, which was becoming more frequent as summer ended.
Sasuke hastened his footsteps, remembering the laundry he had set out to dry earlier. A gust of cold wind blew past him, coming from the direction of the sea. Absentmindedly, he turned to look out over the sandy beach.
It was at that instant, when the wind was at its strongest, that he saw her.
She was doing nothing; she wasn't even moving. She was there, standing, her back to him. He probably wouldn't have noticed her at all if not for her white dress which seemed to almost glow in the growing darkness caused by the oncoming storm.
It was an eerie sight to behold.
The girl in the gleaming white dress, her skirt billowing in the breeze-petticoats and all-just stood there and did nothing.
The image she portrayed tickled a memory buried deep in his mind. Belatedly, he realized that she was a bride.
Sasuke felt goosebumps pepper his skin. Is she planning to drown herself? He wondered.
More importantly, what was a bride even doing standing outside her wedding?
He pursed his lips. It wasn't his problem.
Shrugging, he continued on his way.
Hinata stared listlessly at the angry waves. The sound of it crashing against the shore calmed her frayed nerves. Here, the noise of the sea drowned out any sound echoing within her.
The shout of her guilt and the beat of her pounding heart were dulled. It was a false sense of peace. But she would take anything she could get.
The adrenaline from her mad flight earlier was gone from her veins. Now she just couldn't feel anymore. Her temples were throbbing, and she was sure her eyes looked swollen. It felt swollen.
More than that, her chest was constricting, contracting in itself. Her mind may no longer be bothering her with its screams of guilt but she was still feeling it.
She was feeling guilty and rotten all at once. Right now, she couldn't even compare to an insect.
For the hundredth time, she wondered why she had agreed to marry him.
She loved him.
But if that were true, why had she run away? In the end, regardless of any feelings she may have had for him, she couldn't go through with it.
A shuddering sob escaped her parted lips. Fresh hot tears fell from her eyes, the trail they left on her smooth cheeks immediately cooling with the breeze.
Her twisted ankle throbbed with pain and her tired stilettoed feet refused to hold her up anymore. Tiredly, she let herself drop on her bottom, the springy material on her gown cushioning her fall.
The loud roll of thunder went unnoticed by her, as was the sudden drop in temperature. Instead her mind was on how she should proceed. Where should she go? What could she do to make amends to Kiba? How must she apologize? Would he ever want to see her again?
Hinata bit her lip and covered her face with her gloved hands. Her shoulders shook. He probably wouldn't want to.
She didn't have anyone. Her father would surely disown her, now that she had finally disgraced the Hyuuga clan.
On her way out of the church, she had managed to get a glimpse of him. He had looked murderous. Half of the reason why she had ran like the devil was because she was afraid he'd run after her himself. She didn't even want to think of what would have happened if he had caught up to her.
A house to return to was also out of the question since she didn't have one of her own. Everything she possessed, from the clothing she wore everyday to the books she so loved to read, all came from her father's money. The only things that didn't come from him were the small trinkets Kiba had given her and the wedding gown she was now wearing. Even then, with the awful things she had done to Kiba, she had no right to claim his gifts.
She wasn't sure she had the courage to face him, much less have the guts to ask for his forgiveness. Certainly, she knew she didn't deserve to be forgiven.
She can't run to her friends because she didn't have any. The only 'friends' she had were the ones introduced by Kiba, so they weren't really her friends, but his.
Maybe her sister, Hanabi, might help her. But Hanabi was also reliant on their father, and young still. Hinata didn't want their father's ire directed towards her younger sister. Her cousin Neji would probably help her but he had gone away on an errand by her father. Then again, there was his girlfriend, Tenten, who Hinata rather got along with…
But she had no way of contacting them both (she just knew she should have memorized their numbers). Probably, she could send an email to them, but how? She didn't have money to speak of.
A distant rumble of the oncoming storm came from the sea.
What would she do with herself now?
It was the question of the century.
Sasuke poured himself a cup of hot coffee and settled down on his study. His brother had sent an unusually large number of books. He had better get started on those so he could send his report before a new batch of records arrives.
He took a swig of coffee, opened one of the thick volumes and began to read.
Well into reading, he noticed that his eyes were straining more than usual. Blinking, he realized that he had neglected to switch the study light on, again.
Cursing mildly, he groped around for the switch. The sudden onslaught of brightness made him squint until his eyes adjusted to the light.
Light reflecting on the surface of the book's white pages caught his attention. Unbidden, the image of the bride from earlier with her glowing white dress, flashed in his mind.
A bride without a groom.
The description his mind supplied made him scoff. For all he knew, she probably wasn't even a true bride. Maybe she was just some girl from town that decided stealing her mother's wedding gown would be fun.
It wasn't his business anyway. He had nothing to do with those kinds of things. Not anymore.
An image of another girl, also wearing a wedding gown, rose up from his mind. Her white train fluttering behind her…
Sasuke gritted his teeth. Don't even go there, he shook his head. Discarding all thoughts about gowns and brides from his mind, he concentrated on the book he had been reading with renewed effort.
He had succeeded too, until a whining sound came from the living room and disturbed his train of thought. He paused, wondering what the dog wanted but opted to ignore it for the moment. For a few minutes, Sasuke managed to continue with his work undisturbed.
The whining came again, this time accompanied with a scratching sound.
His patience snapped. "Fine," Sasuke stood up and went to the living room, "you got my attention."
The black Labrador was looking at him expectantly. "What do you want now?" Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms. It whined again and scratched the door.
"No, you can't go outside," The dog continued whining and scratching the door, all the while looking at him expectantly. Sasuke shook his head in disgust. "It's going to rain soon."
The dog ignored him.
He gave up and sighed. Dogs just don't live up to their reputation as man's best friend anymore. Walking to the kitchen, he started to pour another round of coffee. Outside, the continuous rumble of a brewing storm can be heard.
In the living room, the stupid mutt was still whining and scratching away on the door. It was odd behavior since the dog usually hid under Sasuke's bed whenever there were signs of oncoming storms. Now it wanted to go out? It had always been a sort of cowardly dog, so what's the problem?
The mug was halfway full when a thought occurred to him. There was the girl standing on the beach earlier…
He turned to look outside through the window. It was quickly getting dark because of the gathering rain clouds. She couldn't still be standing there.
Could she?
The incessant whimpering and scratching coming from the living room suddenly unsettled him. The seashore was a dangerous place during a storm. What if…?
Slamming his coffee mug down, Sasuke went upstairs and got his rain slicker. An onslaught of morbid curiosity assaulted him, making him hurry to get outside. Upon opening the door, his dog was out like a shot and quickly disappeared from his sight. Cursing, he locked his door. With quick strides, Sasuke traced his steps from earlier up to where he had seen the girl.
The current of air from the sea made it a bit hard to walk straight. He had had to hunch and brace himself against the wind to avoid falling sideways.
It was tough going but eventually, he arrived at the spot.
Sure enough, she was there. The glow of her white gown was like a beacon in the gloom. Goosebumps rose on his skin again. She really looked like a ghost and if not for the silhouette of his darn dog dancing around her like crazy, Sasuke could have sworn she was only a figment of his imagination.
All this time, she had remained rooted at that spot, even though it was evidently going to rain hard? Sasuke swore under his breath. The girl was insane.
Moreover, he was insane. She probably wanted to drown and die. He shouldn't interfere. But…
Damn it all to hell.
Gritting his teeth, he urged himself forward. He was here already so he might as well try to stop her.
She didn't move even when he was directly beside her. Her eyes were empty, as if their owner was far away. Tear streaks lined her porcelain cheeks.
The picture she made struck a chord in his mind. He had seen that look before but he couldn't remember where or from whom.
His Labrador whined and licked her face. Sasuke watched silently as a gloved hand slowly came up and touched a cheek. She blinked a few times, as if only then awakening from a dream.
The dog whined once more and thrust his muzzle on her chest, asking to be petted. Again, she reacted slowly and took her time to touch the furry head.
"You're not afraid of him." Sasuke couldn't help himself to say.
Her reaction was instantaneous. She was up and backing away faster than he could say 'die!' He raised an eyebrow. She wasn't afraid of a large dog, yet it would seem she was afraid of him.
A thunder clap exploded in the dark sky. Sasuke gazed over to the sea. It also appeared she wasn't afraid of storms.
Strange.
"W-who are y-you?"
He turned to her and noticed she had managed to put a considerable distance between them. Sasuke shrugged. "I could ask you the same. You're not from around here."
"I'm…"
She was conflicted, Sasuke saw. It was obvious she didn't want to say anything, which was fine because it wasn't really his business to know. Standing here and talking to her was already taking things too far. He didn't want to get further involved in whatever mess she was in.
He would just say his piece and leave quickly.
"A storm's coming." He stated briskly. "Unless you're planning on drowning yourself, you should go back home."
She flinched at the last word. "I c-can't."
The wind was picking up. It was getting hard to hear her. "Then go somewhere else. It's not safe here."
"Y-you don't u-understand," she began, "I c-can't go back."
He was going nowhere with this. Sasuke could feel his patience wearing thin. "Listen lady. A storm's coming," he repeated, "if you have a death wish then by all means, stay." He glared at his dog. "You. Come here."
The stupid dog whined and sat down near the girl's feet. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke stomped forward and grabbed the dog's collar. "We're going home. Now." He yanked.
The animal whimpered. Sasuke was succeeding at pulling the mutt along when the girl spoke.
"W-wait!"
He glanced back. She was slowly walking towards him, her white dress being whipped to and fro by the gusts of wind. Involuntarily, he felt a third wave of goosebumps on his skin.
When she was near enough, he raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"P-please take me with you." She said.
Sasuke could only blink.
What?
.
.
.
A/N:
And so, the first chapter is out. Finally. A great many thanks to all those who reviewed the prologue. I will endeavor not to disappoint you guys!
Special thanks and a mention goes to neonflux, a very close friend of mine. She was the one who persuaded me to get out of my self-imposed limbo and get on with it. Go check her stories out!
Review please!