Love at First Sight

Enjoy.

Hinata sat in the 6 foot deep and 10 feet long hot tub, filled with lavender petals and droplets of vanilla extract as two servants washed her hair and cleaned her nails. In just two weeks, she will be meeting the Emperor, so there was an order from her father to groom and pamper her every single day. It was quite exhausting, to be honest, to be flooded with maids and servants attending to her body at almost every hour of the day...she had little privacy and it pained her that even her last moments of being a princess could not be in peace and solidarity.

Ever since she stated so boldly in front of the throne that the Hyuuga kingdom would all bow to her, she has not stepped foot outside of her room. It felt absolutely glorious to her in the moment, but as soon as she retreated back to her room, all the fearful emotions washed over her again.

Hinata let out a deep sigh and shut her eyes tightly, trying to let the steam and warm water calm her mind. She did not regret it, though...she meant every word she said. All the memories that she's ever had of her family, of this palace, brought nothing but pain and heartache.

She remembered that as young as 4 years old, her mother was never affectionate to her or Hinabi. Hinata always felt a longing for a motherly, affectionate figure to look up to, but her mother proved opposite of that. Hinabi took it a lot better, of course, and grew up to be a fierce warrior to the point where Hiashi entrusted her to be second in command of the palace soldiers.

Hinata always fell short in combat against Hinabi. She just...didn't want to hurt her little sister. Though Hinabi had no problem fighting with all her might, Hinata always held back.

It was at that moment, when they were being trained to fight at 7 years old, that Hinata could see Hiashi's attitude towards her changing. It was almost as if he looked at her like he regretted having her as a daughter...like he despised her.

And once he started treating her like she was a burden, everyone else in the palace treated her like it as well. Though she was envied as the most beautiful princess in all the kingdoms, she was also gossiped as the most useless and weakest one. She was too shy, too quiet, too lenient and too kind - far from what the Hyuuga family wanted in their first-born princess.

That's why, she was going to make it her life mission from now on to turn that perspective around. She was going to make everyone see that she was capable. She knew it was going to take a lot of work...her personality would have to do a full 180 degree turn for her to be able to rule as empress.

Empress.

That word made her tremble. It was such a dominant position, literally second in command of the all 8 kingdoms. The fact that she would be reigning supreme with the Emperor and have authority over her own father made her think of sweet, sweet, revenge...but not the kind of revenge that was cruel or hateful.

Success. Killing them with kindness. Seeing them lower their eyes and bow their heads in shame for how they looked down on her...that was the best revenge.

Kindness - she wasn't going to change that aspect of herself. She wasn't going to become some cold-blooded or ruthless woman who would hurt her own family. As much as they rejected and hurt her, she still had pride as a Hyuuga family member and though they treated her as unworthy, she still had a deep respect for them.

Definitely not love, though. She didn't even know what that word meant or felt like. The closest thing to love she's ever known, was caring for Hinabi. She knew she would do anything for her little sister, even though inevitably, in the face of danger, Hinabi would probably be the one to protect her instead.

Her eyes fluttered open again and she stuck out her hand, where a towel was immediately placed in her grasp. She dismissed the two servants before getting out to dry herself and then walked back to her room, where two other servants awaited by her large vanity mirror, holding up her outfit for the day. She unwrapped the towel around her and slipped into the silky lavender dress that flowed beautifully down to her feet.

"Thank you." She smiled faintly at the servants before they bowed to her and left the room.

She sat down in front of the vanity mirror and stared at herself. For a couple of days now, she's been wondering how the Emperor even saw her. She was absolutely sure that they have never met in person before. He must've heard the gossips about her beauty, or seen her from afar while visiting the Hyuuga kingdom at some point in time.

She also wondered...would he be a good husband? Her heart pounded rigorously at the thought that she would have to lay in bed next to a man. A very powerful man, at that. What kind of relationship would they have, aside from the fact that they were going to be legally married to each other? Would they eventually come to love each other?

Hinata's mind always hit a brick wall whenever it came to love. Her whole life, she couldn't recall seeing her parents displaying any acts of affection. They always just sat on the throne, with those stoic expressions full of pride and prestige, and if they were out in public together, the only physical contact that happened was her mother linking one arm around Hiashi's.

She was so curious and dumbfounded as to how they could live like that, with no ounce of affection or warmth for each other. Or maybe they did love each other, but only displayed their feelings behind closed doors. She doubted that, though. The thought of Hiashi being all lovey-dovey with her mother made her cringe.

If, in the end, her marriage life was going to be just like her parents, she knew she couldn't do anything about it. Frankly, she was fine if she and the Emperor will never love each other. Even though she longed for love...like her father said, marriage was just a contract for business and resources.

In her case, this marriage was a message. It was a statement, to not only her family, but to her kingdom, that her name as Empress of the Uzumaki Era will ripple throughout the lands and through history.

Before her last breath, she was going to make the Hyuuga bloodline kneel before her feet. She damn well deserved an apology.

Tapping his finger eagerly on the arm of his throne, Naruto's eyes gleamed at the scroll that was currently being presented to him back from the Hyuuga kingdom. He has been waiting two whole weeks for it.

"The Hyuuga king has sent his response." One of the court members handed the scroll to him.

Naruto untied the red sash around the scroll and unrolled it, his eyes scanning feverishly across the written message.

In response to the royal decree from the Uzumaki Emperor,

The Hyuuga Imperial family expresses great appreciation for His majesty's interest in the first princess. King Hiashi gives his utmost sincere gratitude for the resources gifted as part of the marriage agreement. The Hyuuga princess, Hinata, accepts the proposal and will be prepared accordingly to meet with His majesty at the time requested.

Status: Accepted

End of response to the royal decree, signed and approved by the royal court of the Hyuuga kingdom.

"YES!" Naruto's inner thoughts screamed with excitement and bliss, but he kept his outer composure and handed the scroll back to the court member.

"It seems I will be preparing to take my bride on the 30th night of the crescent moon. Make preparations accordingly to meet with King Hiashi on that night to discuss the marriage arrangements. I plan to invite all the royalties of the 8 kingdoms to join the ceremony, so also prepare for that as well." The 20 court members nodded at his request and then dismissed themselves at the wave of his hand.

Naruto smiled contently to himself as he retired to the palace garden, with his elite bodyguard, Kakashi, walking right behind him. He felt like he couldn't contain himself now, knowing that he'll have Hinata as his wife in less than 30 days.

He remembered the first time he saw her.

It was nearly months ago, when he disguised himself as a commoner to visit all 8 kingdoms to inspect village conditions and see for himself if the people of his empire were living in peace and had enough to eat. After the war 5 years ago, he just wanted an update to observe if everything was still harmonious...and he'd rather see it for himself instead of having a palace court member read to him the conditions of each kingdom. He didn't want to be an emperor who just sat his ass on a large chair for the next 50 years. He wanted to be involved with and among them, and build relationships with them. He wanted to an emperor who was respected, but approachable.

It took him a total of 6 months to pass through each kingdom, and he left his commander in chief of the Uzumaki imperial guards in charge of the palace while he was gone. When he entered the Hyuuga kingdom, the first thing he heard gossiped among the people, was that the first princess had unmatched beauty beyond words.

He remembered eyeing the tower that was specifically higher, attached to the Hyuuga palace, and in that instant when he squinted his eyes to see the figure leaning out the window of the tower, it was as if time completely froze.

Though he wasn't close enough to see small details, he was near enough to make out the prominent features. Her eyes, staying true to the rare eyes of the Hyuuga bloodline, was a gorgeous light lavender. Her hair flowed lusciously over her shoulders as she peered down to scan across the village under her and her skin was a fair porcelain tone. When he saw her lips curve into a small smile, he swore that everything else drowned out around him.

It was the first time in his life that he's ever been mesmerized by a woman. He never paid much attention to women or things such as love because his life goal was to be Emperor and unite all the kingdoms together under one empire and one allegiance.

But now...he had another goal in mind; he was going to make the Hyuuga princess his bride. He wondered if this is what people meant when they talked about "falling in love at first sight." He only recalled having one crush in his lifetime - Sakura, of the Haruno kingdom. However, that didn't end too well since she was now married to Prince Sasuke who was in line of succession to the Uchiha throne. That was all puppy-love, anyways. A mere crush.

This was different. It was a strange thing to admit, but the Hyuuga princess he was staring at right now, he was sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He didn't even know her. He never spoke to her. He literally just happened to see her at this exact moment, and now...now, he never wanted her out of his sight.

Geez, it seemed almost creepy and stalker-ish when he realized what he was thinking right now. However, he couldn't deny it, either. He genuinely felt some sort of attraction to her. Her beauty really was unmatched compared to every other princess and queen in the empire.

"Kakashi."

"Yes, your majesty?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Stop being so dramatic. You practically trained me and raised me. You can just call me Naruto." He then pointed up to the tower.

"Her...I want her as my bride."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but when his gaze followed to where Naruto was pointing and saw Hinata, he evidently understood at that instant why Naruto would randomly say something like that.

"As you wish. We will send out a royal decree to ask for her hand in marriage."

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