Never Meant To Win
AN: Really sorry the updates take so long. A few days get added onto the time between chapters because good ol' refuses to keep my formatting in with the chapters, which includes the stupid separators. And, especially in this chapter, there is a lot of POV switches. In a previous chapter, someone pointed out that the separators weren't there—which was greatly appreciated (don't feel like looking it up, but you know who you are) as I wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
A/N-2: Okay! I think I have solved the problem. For the seperators, I'm going to try using the horizontal lines. For Hinata's POV, it'll all be in italics. ((Sorry about all the changes, but the changes in format is better than not reading the chapters until actually fixes the problems with Firefox uploading documents, right?))
I awoke to an earthquake. My world is moving back and forth, and my body is shaking uncontrollably.
Once I fully recover my sense of vision, I'm looking into the (concerned?) eyes of Neji Hyuuga. He lets me fall back down to the bed after he's down, and he begins to speak. "You don't sleep on missions. Reinforcements are here, including the two Konoha Sannin."
"What?" I asked. However, the slur form the sedative was so much that it came out as more like: "Wha?"
Neji sighed in frustration. He ran a hand through his hair—which, for some odd reason, was loose—and began talking again, this time in an even more hurried speech. "Tsunade and Jiraiya are outside, fighting Orochimaru. It seems like they are winning, but Orochimaru managed to slice open Jiraiya's arm, and Tsunade is too busy to help him, so he's not doing well. A few other Jonin ANBU members are fighting the other members of Sound, and currently, they outnumber us, but most of us are more skilled. You and I are needed, so get up!" At this point it was obvious he was fed up. I sat up as fast as I could, which still wasn't fast enough. I staggered as I walked, my limbs numb and sore.
Neji was obviously irritated with my inebriation. I'm not sure if he just didn't like having to take care of people, or if he just knew that he had an important obligation to be out on the battlefield, but whatever it was, he had reached his breaking point. He growled in annoyance, stormed to the bathroom, and walked out with a cup of water. He tossed it directly upon my face, and the water felt ice cold.
I shook my head a few times, both in disbelief and in rage. However, the water did do what it was meant to do—it definitely gave me back my senses. "Lead the way," I muttered to Neji, not having fully forgiven him for tossing the liquid onto my face.
He appeared aware of this, but didn't seem to mind.
We hurried down the corridors, rushing to the battleground. When we arrived, I saw a few Konoha ninja fighting Sound ninja. "Where are the Sanin?" I asked Neji, surprised he hadn't run off to fight.
"They're outside. It's better if you stay here and help us, though…"
He didn't get the entire sentence out. By the word 'better', I had dashed for the front door.
The three of them were fighting, Tsunade and Jiraiya against Tsunade. They had already summoned their animals by now, Orochimaru with his snake and Jiraiya and Tsunade with their frog and slug, respectively.
"Sasuke," Orochimaru greeted, even in the middle of the battle.
"Get back in the house!" Jiraiya barked at me, probably angrier that his arm was bleeding than mad that I was outside.
They had been fighting, even as they were talking to me. Orochimaru also had his sword out, and he was directing the snake to lunge forward so that he could slice at Jiraiya or Tsunade. I think Jiraiya had been the first (and only, as the same tricks don't work twice on Sanin) to suffer a wound from Orochimaru's sword in this battle, since the color of his wound was a deep, rusty brown. They'd been fighting for a while.
When he lunged forward at Tsunade, Jiraiya quickly made a Rasengan and thrust it towards Orochimaru. It burnt his arm, but before it could do any real damage, Orochimaru had pulled away. I don't really know what I wanted from him, nor do I know what I could possibly do in this fight.
Why couldn't I be the one to destroy Orochimaru?
A searing pain in my neck suddenly appeared, burning deep into my very consciousness. Either Orochimaru had activated it, or the unused power was beginning to burn into my chakra systems. I voted for the latter with the ardent fire coursed my veins, seeming to scorch my blood vessels.
Even as he fought, he laughed at me. "Oh, I knew it would happen soon. Dear, dear Sasuke, why haven't you used my little gift?"
I wanted to retort, but all I could do was sputter. This pain was more intense than actuallygetting the curse seal. I don't ever remember feeling something like this in my life, and without my direction, the pain was turning into Orochimaru's damn power.
I was a puppet on a string for Orochimaru's enjoyment.
When the blistering feeling dissipated, it was replaced by black marks all across my body. I was transforming into the third stage of Orochimaru's power, the stage that I had only used once before, three years ago—the stage I was in when I fought Naruto. The second wave of pain was from the third stage, plus all of the repressed power I had been holding back in the past few months.
I had been warned about this—you had to use his power every week or so to keep the power from building up too much. I had never heard of the power getting to where it activated itself without the person's consent. I suppose I was the first that didn't use their power for two months.
When I finally found the strength to fight, I realized that Jiraiya and Tsunade were taking up Orochimaru's attention. To my relief, while Orochimaru was busy paying attention to me, Tsunade had made a quick healing job of Jiraiya's arm. However, due to the loss of blood for Jiraiya, and the loss of chakra for Tsunade, they were both running on empty.
A quick plan was formulated in my mind. I turned to Neji, who had stood there in concern over my part in this battle, and perhaps myself. "Can you do convincing genjutsu?" I asked. He nodded, which was a great relief. I gave him a quick synopsis of what I had been planning to do, and then I approached the battlefield.
"Sasuke, have you come to rejoin your master?" Orochimaru inquired me with a small smirk.
"Yes, I have, sensei," I muttered, as if I was in a trance. I bared a wild grin and turned it towards Jiraiya and Tsunade, and Neji's 'twin', who had joined the fight as well. My grin wasn't friendly at all—it was feral and wild, like that of a wild dog ready to rip someone's chest open.
"Oh?" he seemed amused. "Don't think I'm so ignorant. Why would I just suddenly welcome you back with open arms, when you tried killing me scarce twenty-four hours ago?"
"Because…" I paused, as if thinking. "I'll kill Neji Hyuuga for you," I added, as if I had just thought of it. I charged towards Neji's genjutsu. To his credit, he made every detail realistic. While I was 'fighting', I could tell that Neji's genjutsu was doing exactly what Neji would have done in a real fight.
In the end, I prevailed over the fake Neji. I was careful not to actually go through the genjutsu, but all of my attacks were so painstakingly staged that I was certain Orochimaru was thoroughly convinced. Neji's 'body' fell to the ground, and Neji even managed to add in a sound effect, for good measure. I turned to Orochimaru, another wild-looking grin on my face.
"Stand beside your master. Oh, and I have something for you…" he seemed to purr. I crossed the battlefield, glad that Jiraiya and Tsunade only glared at me as I walked by, their pride of ninja being too great to attack someone who isn't in a battle stance just yet.
When I was beside him, he leaned his head back and pulled out another sword. I remembered it clearly—it was my sword, the one Orochimaru made especially for me. It was a stainless steel, a heavy sword fashioned to be lighter. It had magnificent speed, and could travel through the air faster than most people could run. The grip perfectly fit my hand, and the blade was of a very slight curve.
Orochimaru had modeled it for me, personally.
I did like the sword, but I only used it because it pleased Orochimaru. I enjoyed projectiles more.
Suddenly, the battle was going on again. I threw a few jutsu against Jiraiya and Tsunade, but I always made it to where they could dodge it. I never attacked with the intent to kill, but Orochimaru was currently preoccupied—Jiraiya was extremely angry about my betrayal, probably due to his own pupil. To Tsunade, I was dead.
Finally, instead of jutsu, I brandished my sword. I made a few slashes at the pair, but they weren't my true targets.
I was going to be the one to kill Orochimaru.
In the middle of a perfectly balanced slash at Tsunade, I turned my body and wrists quickly. I had aimed for his heart, but I missed—by a lot. I got the sword through his belly.
He looked down at the sword, chuckling to himself. "I figured you were playing with me…" He pulled the metal slowly out of himself, the sword covered in his blood. But it wasn't enough—I don't think I even actually pierced his stomach (the organ).
However, he hadn't planned on Jiraiya and Tsunade taking this moment to attack. I could never be sure, but it seemed to me that, in order to get a fairer fight, one wouldn't assault when their opponents' backs are turned at the level of a Sanin.
Orochimaru's eyes darted back to Jiraiya, only briefly, for he had the Rasengan plunged through his chest. Orochimaru fell limp, and his lifeless body fell to the ground with an audible, but somehow ominous, thump.
"AAAAAAAaaaargh!" I screamed out, my entire body feeling as if it were being ripped apart, atom-by-atom, molecule-by-molecule, all at one moment. There was a center of pain, my neck, and there I could feel burning, well, more like a sizzling.
When the sizzling in my neck dissipated, the rest of the pain seemed to fade out abruptly, as well. I couldn't think well, but I got shakily to my feet and slowly placed my hand on my neck.
I could feel the indention in my neck where the mark had been.
Orochimaru had branded me.
Once that realization passed through my mind, I felt myself drop to my knees, and then I didn't feel, or see, or hear, at all.
"Hinata," my father approached me, a serious look placed upon his face. "I must apologize, for all your preparations were for naught, but the wedding will be early tomorrow. Shino Aburame is to go on a month-long mission tomorrow evening, and Shibi Aburame wants to go ahead and get the wedding over with. It will be short, and the only witnesses will be myself and Shibi."
The wedding wouldn't have happened for another week or two, and then, it would have been in front of my friends. My eyes welled slightly, but I blinked away any tears that might fall, and I replied, "Yes, father, I shall make myself ready for tomorrow."
"I'm proud of your strength."
Such wonderfully sweet words coming from my father, one of the kindest things he had ever said—but why did the words leave me feeling so empty inside?
I awoke to Tsunade tending to me. There wasn't much she could do, as I could tell, but she was rubbing salve on my tattoo. It was no longer a seal. Just a tattoo that I received when I was younger and stupid.
"Convincing act," she muttered. "Even Orochimaru halfway believed it. But…" she paused. "Don't think he left himself open accidentally."
What?
"Why would Orochimaru take the blow from the Rasengan?"
"I don't know. Maybe there's something we need to find out. The others have been searching through the libraries all day. There is some data that might interest you, by the way."
"Data?"
"Yes. Pages of it. Orochimaru recorded everything he had, and brought all of the papers and files everywhere he went. I think they were his prized possession."
"Wow… I should help go through that…" I sat up, slowly, but Tsunade placed her hand on my chest to prevent me from going any further.
"Other than the data, there's something else you should know. Hinata's wedding was moved forward to tomorrow morning. Neji received the information just thirty minutes ago."
I stared at her for barely two seconds before jumping up, despite the protest of my body.
"I'm going home. I need to attend to something," I said before I bound away towards the forests of the Cloud.
I sat, stoic, on the pillow in front of the mirror as the woman was used to be my nanny (back when I needed one) painted my face. She was constantly complimenting me, telling me how lucky I was to be married to someone like Shino—someone strong, someone depended, someone who was a true example of a good man and ninja.
I knew he was all of that.
But he was… All wrong for me.
No matter what she told me about Shino (I knew him better than she did, anyways), I couldn't help but wish that, when I walked into the room, Sasuke would be the one sitting there, a smirk upon his face.
But even when I arose and walked through the door, only three people were sitting there—my father, Shibi Aburame, and of course, Shino. I gave him a glance, one that I hoped conveyed my disdain at this wedding. For the first time that I had ever seen, Shino didn't have his glasses in place. His eyes were startling amber, piercing like a hawk's. The look I received in response was similar—he was being forced as well, and that was a relief.
But, even so, nothing could change the fact that, soon, I'd be Shino's wife. And even if I loved Sasuke with all my heart, I could never betray that title.
Neji joined me just after I began making my way for Konoha. As we traveled, I decided to ask a few questions that really needed answering.
"How long does a wedding ceremony take?" Different clans had different rituals, and the rituals had different time variations. For instance, the Uchiha clan ceremony starts in the afternoon, and lasts until dusk. Afterwards, the newly married couple retires to their quarters and begins married life.
"It starts early in the morning, and it lasts about eight hours. There are a lot of things to go through, such as papers and oaths. Every oath must be signed in blood, and every paper must be signed by the bride, groom, bride's guardian, and groom's guardian."
I listened in silence. I was imagining the wedding, but I couldn't bring myself to imagine Shino, or even his father there. I somewhat fantasized as we traveled through the forest, daydreaming of me being in Shino's place right now.
Out of the blue (it might have been meant reassuringly), Neji made a strange comment. He said, "If it makes any difference, I can't imagine Hinata with someone as extremely stoic as Shino."
I smirked, attempting not to make it too obvious, and replied, "Neither can I."
Thankfully, the legal papers had been first. I wanted to put off oaths and vows as long as I could, as legal papers were much easier to ignore morally. For some odd reason, I felt that if I signed an oath with my blood, I couldn't ever go against that vow. It was a strange moral obligation, but still, one that definitely existed.
Also, there was a specific order in signing. All of the papers were signed by the groom's guardian, then the bride's guardian, then the groom, and lastly, the bride. Therefore, I'd be the last one to sign any of the oaths.
The legal papers took about two hours, thirty minutes for each person. The vows would take much longer, as they were signed in blood, not ink. They would take between three and four hours, depending on how long each person took to sign.
I was dreading it, and due to our long relationship, I could (somewhat) tell that Shino was in the same state of dread. He was reluctant to sign the vows, slowly signing them and reading through them as if he had never read any of them before. He never did anything that was so out of line that my father or his father commented, but it was still borderline rebellious.
As the pile got smaller and smaller, so did my hopes.
"About how much longer do you think they have?" I asked Neji after another long stretch of silence. We were thirty minutes away from Konoha, and I was beginning to worry. Even traveling at a sprint the entire way, could we make it?
"They definitely have started on the vows, but I don't think that they have completely finished with the ritual. We'll be cutting it close, if we make it."
"Reassuring," I automatically replied sarcastically. I knew my chances weren't high, but I was going to try as hard as I could.
Suddenly, Neji stopped, gasping for breath. I froze almost as soon as he did, and turned to him gasping for air, attempting to catch his breath.
"I don't have the stamina," he explained, before reaching into his pouch and holding out a little red pill. "It's the last one I have. Take it, and hurry. I'll never forgive you if Hinata becomes married to a man she doesn't love."
I took the pill from Neji gratefully, nodded firmly, and popped it into my mouth. Because of him, there was no way that I wouldn't make it.
Shino placed the stack of papers in front of me, and I slowly gulped. I shakily raised my thumb to my mouth, ready to sign the papers. I bit into my thumb, just as the door burst open.
At the door was Chemo, gasping and panting. "Do not sign that, Miss Hyuuga." He paused, as he probably had to run from the Hokage's office. "Hokage's orders—Sasuke Uchiha has just been spotted outside of the city walls, and he's headed this way. You are to wait until he arrives to sign anything else."
I nearly cried from happiness. But there was still two more obstacles—my father, and Shibi Aburame.
