Courage

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS

I just posed this without re-reading it. So bear with me, kay.

Chapter 3: Sasuke's Plot against the Hyuugas and Neji Requests Esther's Help

Sasuke Uchiha was walking around the palace with much pride. He could help but chuckle as all the king's officials would bow down before him. You see the King had just recently promoted Sasuke, making him the most powerful official in the empire and told all the officials to bow down to show respect. He would walk around the palace every now and then just to show off how powerful he was. But what Sasuke didn't notice is that there was one person who would not bow down and show respect. Neji Hyuuga. Two of the kings officials notice that Neji would refuse to bow down or show respect to Sasuke. They decided to find out why.

"Oi, Neji." the official with the sharp black eyes, red painted marks on each side of his face, and wild brown hair called. Neji turned around to face him.

"What is it Kiba?" His arms folded across his chest as if he had better things to do than talk with Kiba.

"Why don't you bow down to Sasuke?" he curiously asked. Neji had a stern look on his face as he stated,

"I will only bow down to my God and my king and no to a loser who thinks he is better than everyone else." Kiba's eyes were wide in shock and reminded on Neji,

"But it's an command from the king that we should all bow down to Sasuke." Neji just closed his eyes and gave a small smirk as he stated,

"Like I, a Hyuuga, is going to bow down to an worthless prodigy who thinks just because his an Uchiha that people should worship him. I think not." And with that said Neji left the two standing here in shock at what Neji had just said. They spoke to Neji day after day, but he still refused to comply with the order.

Kiba and Shino went to Sasuke to find out what he thought about Neji's disrespect. They spotted Sasuke coming up to the palace gates. As soon as Sasuke was right in front of them they bow and simultaneously said,

"Sasuke-san" after that Sasuke gave them a nod indicating they could stand up. Once up Shino spoke,

"Sasuke-san, may I ask you a question?" Sasuke shoved his hands into his pocket.

"What is it?" his tone indicated that he wasn't really interested in what they had to ask.

"Well... we notice that Hyuuga, Neji, doesn't not bow down to you. And we wer..." Sasuke cut him

"WHAT?!" Both Shino and Kiba's faces are full of shock.

"Who does he think he is? A Hyuuga dare refuse to bow down to ME! We'll see about that." and with that said Sasuke stormed off in search of the Hyuuga, leaving a still shock looking Shino and Kiba. Once Sasuke was out of their sight, Kiba stated,

"Man, I kind of feel sorry for Neji. I wouldn't want to deal with a pissed off Sasuke. Especailly since he now had so much power." Shino gave a nod of agreement.

Sasuke found Neji leaving the courtyard. Sasuke just stood here waiting for Neji to bow down to him as he neared him. 'I dare you to not bow down. You can't blend in with a crowd since its just me and you. I beg you that's the only reason why he would bow down to me. He thought I wouldn't catch him. HA! Bring it Hyuuga!' Sasuke evilly thought with a small smirk on this face as Neji came closer. Sasuke stood there with confidence, but then it happen. Not only did Neji not bow down he didn't even make eye contact with Sasuke as he walk passed Sasuke. Sasuke was fuming and spat,

"What the hell do you think your doing?"

"Walking." was all Neji said as he continue walking away.

"Get your ass over here and bow down to me! It's an order."

"No." no emotion what so ever came out of his mouth. Sasuke was now in front of Neji and in his face. His Sharingan full active as he grabbed Neji by his shirt collar and hissed into the Hyuuga's face,

"What did you say." Neji smirk as he flatly replied

"Do you have a hearing problem? Or which part of NO do you NOT understand? The N or the O." 'Ah! HELL NO!' Sasuke's mind screamed. Neji removed Sasuke's hands off his collar and proudly stated,

"I will Never bow down to you! I bow down only to my God and my king, because that is the law of a Hyuuga." and with that said he walked away from a shock yet very ticked off Sasuke. Sasuke vowed right then and there he would take care of Neji Hyuuga. But decided it was not enough to lay hands on Neji alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Hyuugas throughout the entire empire of Konoha.

Sasuke approached King Naruto and said, "There is a certain group of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep to themselves. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king's interest to let them live. If it please the king, issue a decree that they will be destroyed and I will give 9,999,999 ryo to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury."

King Naruto had a look of worry on his face. He question, "Why do we need to kill them?" Sasuke put an arm around King Naruto's should and whispered into his ear,

"Because they are bad people who HATE ramen. Especially ramen from Ichiraku"King Naruto's eyes were wide in shock. 'Anybody who thinks ramen, especially Ichiraku's ramen must be bad.' Naruto thought in disbelief. The King said,

"The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit."

Sasuke smiled as he thank the king telling him he made a wise decision. Sasuke had casted lots earlier that day to decided on a date to execute his plan. The kings secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Sasuke dictated. It was sent to the king's highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province. The decree was written in the name of King Naruto and sealed with the king's signet ring. Dispatches were sent by the ANBU into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Hyuugas—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day, March 7. The property of the Hyuugas would be given to those who killed them. The decree was proclaimed in the fortress of Suna. Then the king and Sasuke sat down to drink, but the city of Suna fell into confusion.

When Neji learned about all that had been done he, he went into the forest and began to take out his anger on the trees.

PUNCH. PUNCH. KICK. KICK.

With each hit he left huge dents in the trees, causing them to split and crack. Blood trickled off his hands as with each punch cause his hand to bleed more. Ten-ten, one of Hinata's maids, was in the forest gathering herbs when she hurt someone yelling. See hid behind a tree and notice a man with long brown hair tied into a loose ponytail. The man look awfully familiar as she watched him continue to annihilate the tree in front of him. She notice that he's hands were bleeding, broken and bruised. She let out a same gasp as she saw his hands. Then it it hit her. He was Neji the palace official. He would come by everyday and talk with the Queen. They seemed to be very good friends. Ten-ten rushed back to the palace to let Queen Hinata know what she just saw.

Hinata was in her room when Ten-ten came in frantically and spoke,

"Hinata-sama. I have bad news. Neji has been venting his anger on some trees in the forest causing his arms, hands, and legs to become bloody, broken and bruised."

"Neji-niisan!" she gasp as she heard the news. She was deeply distressed. She sent him medical treatment, but he refused it. Then Hinata sent Lee, one of the kinds eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Neji and find out what was troubling him and why he was hurting himself. Lee found Neji working on his fifth tree.

"Neji-san!" Lee shouted happily.

"Hn." was all Lee got from him.

"What is troubling you, Neji-san?"

"Didn't you hear?" anger and hate in his voice.

"Hear what?" Lee's face looked puzzled.

"That teme Sasuke has gotten the king to sign a decree to annihilate the Hyuugas. His even gone as far as to give the royal treasure 9,999,999 ryo for the destruction of the Hyuugas."with each word Neji punch and kick the tree even harder.

"NANI?!" Lee had to sit down from the shock. 'Its not true. Is it?' but just as soon as he thought that Neji handed him a copy of the decree. Lee look at it and sure enough there it was. Everything Neji said was true. Tears began to well up in Lee's eyes as he proclaimed

"I will not join those who will try to kill you or your people. That is a promise." Lee gave Neji the nice guy pose. Neji had stopped what he was doing and just looked at the guy for a few moments, trying to figure him out. He gave a small smile as he nodded his head, indicating that he understood and thanked him for his promise.

"I need to ask you a favor." Neji was making direct eye contact with Lee as he spoke.

"Show this to Hinata and explain the situation to her. Also direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people." Lee gave Neji a salute as he nodded and left to tell Hinata the news. Once Lee gave Hinata the message she gave him another message to give back to Neji.

"Oi, Neji!" Lee found him resting against the remains of the tree he had just annihilated.

"Hinata says all the kings officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days."

"Kuso!" Neji hissed under his breath and gave Lee his reply to her message. Lee came back to Hinata and told her,

"Neji says: Don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace you will escape when all the other Hyuugas are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Hyuugas will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who know if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?"

Hinata had tears welding up on the brim of her eyes. The tears began to slid down her cheeks, falling to the ground. 'Neji-niisan is right. I won't be able to escape from being killed to just because am the queen. I mean look at what happen to Queen Sakura. I know what I must do!' Hinata wiped the tears away from her face and stood up tall. She gave Lee her reply to give to Neji.

"She says: To go and gather all the Hyuuga's here in Suna and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My minds and I will do the same. And then, thought it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die." So Neji went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

"You have become stronger, Hinata." he said with a proud smile on his face as he gather all the Hyuugas together.

That's it for Chapter 3

Please leave reviews. I NEED REVIEWS!!!!!

Next Chapter is called Hinata's request to the King and Sasuke's Plan to Kill Neji

I went to Ani-magic last weekend along with my good friend Kacey9tails(Some of you may have read her work) and my cousin Teenageblonde. I went as Haku from Naruto, Kacey9tails went as Hinata from Naruto, and TeenageBlonde went as Winry Rockwell from Fullmetal Alchemist. Check out my pics on the slideshow on my myspace page. Also there are some pics that aren't on my slideshow that are in my pics section of my profile. Check it out and leave a comment or two if ya want to. The link is on my profile here at fanfiction as my homepage