If anyone objects to the portrayal of Sasuke in this, I'm sorry. This is conjecture based on my needs for this fiction alone. Flame if you must, but remember. It's fanfiction and I DON'T OWN NARUTO! Thank you.
o.o.o.o.o
Sai yawned and headed back toward his apartment after some early morning training. He stopped to grab a quick bite to eat, as there was little to no food at his place.
It wasn't that he was slow to catch on to the stares he was getting. But he'd grown used to a bit of notoriety in the village. That couldn't be helped when on the same team as Naruto. The blond didn't know the meaning of the word 'subtle'. Still, it took him a moment to realize that these weren't the stares he was more accustomed to getting. And …that there were more of them.
o.o.o.o.o
"Again, and I understand I'm repeating myself, but how does this benefit me?" Hiashi intoned lightly, watching his guest quite closely.
Sasuke didn't fidget under the clan leader's gaze and if he was nervous at all, it didn't show. Outwardly. But the Hyuuga was a master at reading small changes in chakra flow and body temperature. Uchiha Sasuke was not as sanguine as he tried to appear.
"An alliance between Uchiha and Hyuuga, as I've explained …"
"You've explained, what exactly?" Hiashi interrupted, wanting to see how Sasuke would react. "I see only the benefits to you."
"My clan ..." Sasuke started again.
"What clan?" Hiashi said quietly.
His gaze narrowing, Sasuke held his temper in check. "Exactly my point. I'm the last of the Uchiha, they die out with me."
"Unless you father children." Hiashi pointed out. "But what doesn't make sense to me is your willingness, no your demand, to take your wife's name. Wouldn't that end the Uchiha line forever?"
"Yes." Sasuke took a deep calming breath. "I know that when I was younger my pledge was to revitalize and rebuild the Uchiha clan. That is no longer my aim."
"And the Sharingan?"
"Dies with me."
Hiashi sat back, thinking things over carefully. Sasuke sat back as well, waiting for an answer.
Finally the clan leader cleared his throat. "You want to marry Hinata and become, in effect, Hyuuga Sasuke?"
"Exactly." The younger man nodded coldly. "It's not like she's your heir, not anymore."
Hiashi conceded the point with one raised eyebrow. "But you don't want me to seal her abilities prior to marriage?"
"The Sharingan and the Byakugan are both dominant traits. It is my hope that any children born of this marriage would carry on the Hyuuga bloodline limits. With the research I have gathered, the Byakugan is strong enough to overcome the Uchiha blood gifts."
"Research gleaned from Orochimaru." Hiashi stated coldly. "That does not carry well with me."
"Perhaps not." Sasuke allowed. "Still. It is truth. The Sharingan is not present or available at birth, and one has to grow into it. Train and work at it to activate the Uchiha abilities. Many traits can only be unlocked at great personal costs." He did not mention the blood sacrifices necessary, the Hyuuga didn't need to know that.
"Not so the Byakugan." Hiashi nodded, following the logic.
Sasuke gave a small nod. "Precisely. The Sharingan is a more powerful weapon, but the Byakugan is the stronger trait in genetics."
"So say you." Hiashi felt unwilling to concede that point. "But the truth is, there has never been a marriage between our clans for this very reason."
The Uchiha nodded. "No one from my clan would have willingly allowed their children not to inherit the Sharingan."
"Perhaps. But the truth is, no Hyuuga ever offered for an Uchiha." Hiashi paused and met Sasuke's eyes head on. "Not with the Uchiha madness that could be passed along just as easily, if not more easily, than a bloodline limit."
Sasuke stiffened in his seat, for the first time his anger truly pricked. "Madness?"
Hiashi sighed and sat back once more. "Your brother for one. The Madras for two. But you know as well as I do that the Hyuuga is an old family name. What you may not know is that we are also good record keepers. Did you think the madness started so recently? No. Uchihas are powerful, but they also run the risk …"
"Of madness."
"Hai." The Hyuuga clan leader steepled his fingers. "So explain to me why I should take a chance of bringing you into my family?"
"After me, there will be no more Uchiha. You get me. I will fight for you and beside you until my death. My children will be Hyuuga."
"You hope." Hiashi sighed deeply. "No one can see the future. Not even with one of the stolen jutsu of Orochimaru. No Sasuke, you don't know that you will be the last Uchiha unless you die or never have children. So my question becomes, why take the chance? Why get married at all?"
Sasuke looked out the window, gathering his thoughts. "What you say is true. But when it comes down to it, I want a family. I want what I thought I had so long ago. With my brother's demise, I …felt relief like you've never known before. But also lonely. I thought I was a loner before, but with Itachi's passing, I realize that I always knew there was someone else out there."
"And that feeling is gone." Hiashi nodded encouragingly. "But if your goal is to end the Uchiha line, you can still marry and not father children."
"What clan would want that?" Sasuke smiled ruthlessly. "No. All I have to offer is myself as a shinobi, a large amount of money and land, and the willingness to cease the Uchiha line."
Hiashi looked pointedly at Sasuke and held up three fingers. "The money and land are inherited from Orochimaru as your family lands were confiscated when you betrayed the village. Those are not good selling points here in Konoha, particularly with me."
Sasuke frowned, but nodded.
"You are a powerful shinobi, yes I will admit that. But can you be trusted?"
"I would give my oath."
Hiashi frowned and shook his head. "You did that once before, to Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage. Yes?"
Sasuke waited a moment, but when it became apparent that Hiashi would not continue without a reply, he gave a sharp nod. "Yes."
"The oath you betrayed?"
"Yes." He said a bit louder. "But this time …"
"No. An oath-breaker has no standing on taking another oath."
"My reasons …"
"Are disregarded." Hiashi said coldly, narrowing his pale-eyed gaze on the younger ninja. "Honor is not a gray area. You either follow the ways or you don't. Revenge is powerful, but in order to achieve it you sought power and knowledge from a sworn enemy of this village. A man who killed the Sandaime."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, but kept his mouth shut.
"But all that aside, I am not completely inclined to dismiss you out of hand." Hiashi said slowly.
Sasuke calmed down as he started to listen.
o.o.o.o.o
Neji knocked on Lee's door over an hour before they were supposed to meet up with Gai-sensei for training. He wasn't surprised when no one answered. Lee was probably out training already.
"Are you looking for Lee?" And older neighbor asked, outside as she swept the area in front of her apartment.
The Hyuuga nodded absently. "Knowing Lee he's probably already out running laps around Konoha."
The older woman cackled with delight. "Oh, he's already back from that. But now I think you'll find him out with that nice girl."
Neji nodded and continued on his way. Now, what was TenTen discussing with Lee? Him maybe? He sighed and headed out toward Lee's favorite breakfast spot. About three doors away, he stopped cold as he saw one of the objects of his thoughts.
TenTen was laughing up into the face of someone, and that someone wasn't Lee! Neji scowled as he recognized the bared face of the Sand puppeteer. His scowl deepened as he saw the man reach up and twirl one of the ribbons loose from her buns. He grunted and nodded as she slapped Kankuro's hand away. Good girl.
"Why is he holding a log?" The voice asked from beside him.
Neji shook his head. "Don't know."
Sai cocked his head to one side as they watched the Sand puppet user put down the log. "Why is he holding your girlfriend?"
"Not my girlfriend." Neji ground out from between his clenched teeth. "You should know that already since that was your portrait of me in the 'undateable' BINGO book."
Sai nodded and continued to watch. "You never held her like that."
The Hyuuga actually growled and clenched his fists. "I did, but NOT in public."
"Oh." Sai nodded as he looked at the oblivious couple. "Did you kiss her like that?"
Receiving no answer, he turned to look at the red faced Hyuuga. "Guess not." Sai commented, then peeked back at the twosome. "Did she kiss you like that?"
Still with no answer, he turned and watched the back of Neji as he disappeared down the street. "Guess that's a 'no' too." The former ROOT member watched the two finish their kiss, pick up the log, and head into one of the many cafés.
He sighed and looked behind him, seeing three pairs of eyes disappear behind a store's display. Two pairs of eyes, belonging to a blond and a red-head didn't disappear, but smiled and waved over at him. Sai turned around feeling distinctly uneasy.
Suddenly, one girl was on one side of him and the other flanked the other side. "Good morning, Sai." The first girl purred.
o.o.o.o.o
TenTen smiled as Kankuro ushered her into the booth. Then looked at him in surprise as he took the seat next to her, rather than across from her. "Don't you think there's more room over there?"
He shook his head, crowding her a bit as he put his arm around her shoulder. "That seat's for the log."
TenTen could feel the heat of her face blushing as his thumb caressed the ball of her shoulder even through her winter clothing. With a small shock she realized he was activating his chakra to 'touch' her, making sure she could feel his touch even through the heavier fabrics.
"You know he saw us, don't you?" Kankuro said with a small sneer.
"Who?"
"The Hyuuga." The puppeteer laughed at the look on her face. "I can read chakra signatures as well as you can."
"Is that a challenge?" She narrowed her gaze on his.
"No." Kankuro laughed and then smiled warmly at the waitress. After the two had ordered breakfast, he turned back to her. "No challenge. But what I want to know is …did you kiss me back just because he was watching?"
TenTen blushed more as she remembered the sizzling kiss just outside the café. Then she stiffened in sudden anger, and some hurt. "Did you kiss ME because you knew he was watching?"
Kankuro leaned down to nip at her bottom lip, laughing as her hand came up to rub the sting away. "I kissed you because I wanted to, have wanted to, always seem to want to. But the fact that he was watching? Just making sure he knows that you're with someone else now." He grinned and leaned down toward her again, she pulled back as he snapped at her playfully. "I don't need an audience. Just you."
"Oh." Was all she could manage for the moment. TenTen was in a state of confusion. Neji she could handle. He was a gentleman. He would NEVER have kissed her so blatantly in public like that. This man was another story. He didn't seem ...quite tame. But instead of running away, TenTen felt drawn to him.
"So." He mused, running the finger of his free hand down her cheekbone. "Did you kiss me back because of him? Or because of me?"
Good question. TenTen bit her bottom lip, drawing a growl of approval from the Sand shinobi. At first, her instinct had been to stop the kiss. They'd been in public for heaven's sake! Then she realized Neji was close by and had stepped into the kiss so he could see her enjoying the company of someone else.
But that had changed. Kankuro had taken possession of her lips and slipped past her defenses even before she knew she needed defending! He'd pulled her in tight to his body and wrapped her in a sea of heat and dizzy need. The open mouthed kiss wasn't that surprising, but her reaction to it certainly was. Neji had never caused her knees to quiver. Neji had never made her forget where she was. Neji had never made her cling like that.
Kankuro laughed as he watched the answer in her eyes. "Good." He said, dipping his head down toward her, then smiling happily as she lifted up toward him.
The waitress smiled and shook her head as she delivered their tea, but didn't interrupt the oblivious couple.
o.o.o.o.o
"Greetings this fine morning, my eternal rival!" Gai greeted Kakashi in his usual ebullient manner, clapping him so hard on the back it was a struggle to stay seated upright.
"Gai." Kakashi protested, wriggling one finger in his ear to stop the ringing.
"Lee and I have already run laps this morning around the hospital 500 times! What have you been doing with your team?" Gai sat down next to Kakashi who only sighed.
Kurenai shook her head and ignored them both.
"When will you begin training the youngest Sarutobi?" Gai's smile gleamed as he watched Kurenai's red eyes widen.
"He's barely potty-trained." The genjutsu user protested. "Don't you go sinking your training regimen on my son just yet, Maito."
"It's never too early!" Gai shook his head, his good humor not even dented.
"So. Only 500 laps around the hospital?" Kakashi murmured, looking to re-direct the linear thought processes of the Green Beast. "Not Konoha itself?"
Gai shrugged. "Lee's idea, he challenged me."
Kurenai smiled knowingly. "He was probably hoping that Sakura would look outside and see him."
Kakashi nodded absently, returning to his book.
Gai's smile dimmed slightly. "Actually, I think he was wanting to see if the Inuzuka was waiting around the hospital. Lee's heard some disturbing rumors."
"Rumors that say my student is dating Kakashi's student?" Kurenai smiled. "They're not rumors. All my students are dating now. And it's about time too."
"Ah Youth!" Gai opined loudly. "The blood boils and hopes rise."
"That's not all that rises." Kakashi muttered, turning the page in his book.
Oblivious, Gai continued unabated. "The bloom of life opens and all the world is full of possibilities." He breathed deeply.
"You don't seem too upset about Kiba and Sakura dating." Kurenai said mildly.
Gai shrugged. "Lee needs to branch out, see that there is more than one blossom on the tree of life!"
Kurenai rolled her eyes as Kakashi snickered.
"Don't laugh!" Gai pointed at Kakashi, his finger less than an inch from the copy-nin's face. "You have two students on this kunoichi BINGO book that Genma showed me. I only have the one. Ah poor Neji, never thought he'd fall so low. Still, in this contest, I win."
"It's not a contest." Kakashi sighed. "And Naruto is only on probation. It's one to one and a half, not two."
Kurenai stood and pushed away from the table. "Actually, I believe that Asuma's team tied yours, Gai. Only one is undateable. Still, in this instance, I clearly am the winner. None of my students were on the undateable list, and now all three are dating quite happily. I have high hopes for them all."
Kakashi and Gai both goggled at the pretty genjutsu specialist. Gai's face fell even as Kakashi started laughing.
o.o.o.o.o
Hinata paused, checking the time. She smiled, happy that she only had half an hour before meeting up with Chouji. She sighed and cast her eye back on the leather goods in front of her.
She was torn. What to buy Chouji? Hinata knew that technically she didn't need to get him a gift for the Winter Festival, since she HAD actually asked him. But she wanted too, so here she was. Hinata smiled as she saw a wallet dyed the same dark color as Chouji's eyes. Plain, soft and supple. Yet, the stitching looked highly intricate. She reached for it, just as she shivered with a small sense of unease.
Looking up, she glanced around, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The market place was crowded, but that wasn't unusual. Activating her Byakugan seemed silly, but instinct was the way of the ninja. Hinata continued to look around, but still sensed nothing wrong, even with the Byakugan. There were several chakra signatures she was familiar with, but nothing …oh, what was he doing there? Hinata shrugged and turned away.
She wondered if his presence meant the council had accepted him back into Konoha. Then as the store owner hurried over to haggle with her, she lost interest in the presence of one Uchiha Sasuke.
o.o.o.o.o
Neji approached the training area where he was to meet up with his teammates in a dark funk. The sound of giggling didn't register at first. But when he came in sight of the meeting place, he drew to a sudden stop.
Pale eyes widened as he saw Lee doing push-ups. Nothing unusual there. But the girl sitting on Lee's back as he did the push-ups certainly was.
"My turn next! My turn next!"
Neji looked on in utter shock as three other girls clapped and watched, all "oohs" and "ahhs" as Lee continued on unabated and bragging he could do the push-ups with ALL the girls on his back.
"Lee?" Neji approached, not sure what to make of everything.
The girls, two genin and two chuunin sniffed when they saw him. One even turned her nose in the air as if she smelled something rotten. Two others gave him the once over, then shook their heads sorrowfully.
"Looks like you're out of luck."
Neji stiffened and turned, it took him a second, but he finally recognized Gaara's former student. "Good morning."
"Matsuri." She nodded, giving him her name.
"I remembered." Neji said truthfully.
"Just making sure." She said casually. "Your portrait did come with a warning of forgetfulness."
"Don't tell me you're following that thing?" Neji grunted.
"Hardly." Matsuri laughed. "I don't care what the Leaf Kunoichi say about someone, I always make up my own mind. Though there are some whose opinions I do take into account."
"I'm not interested." Neji said, sighing deeply.
Matsuri laughed. "Good thing, since I'm not here for you." She nodded over toward Lee. "Those giggly things won't hold his interest. And he and I are going to grab something to eat in a few minutes."
"Lee?" Neji's eyes goggled. "But …but …why?"
Matsuri eyed him as if he were stupid. "Why not? What's wrong with him?"
Neji stopped and looked back at his teammate. "Honestly? Nothing. He's a good guy. But girls don't usually notice him much. I suppose the whole 'undateable' thing has changed all that." He said, trying not to sound bitter as his memory flashed him an image of TenTen and Kankuro. Kissing. Kissing deeply.
The Sand kunoichi shrugged. "I promise you I'm looking at him irregardless of any book. Gaara speaks highly of him, that's a good recommendation as far as I'm concerned. And right now I happen to be free, and so is he. So? What's the problem?"
"Nothing." Neji admitted, settling down as he read the honesty in her expression. He glanced over at the giggling fangirls and sighed. "You're different from them, aren't you?"
Matsuri smiled and nodded. "Oh, I do tend to get …involved, I'll admit. But I don't give my affections easily or to just anyone. Nor do I base things on the superficial." She said, running her eyes up and down the handsome Hyuuga.
"There's more to me than what you see." Neji growled.
"If you say so, if you say so." Matsuri grinned as Lee came bounding over to them. "You didn't even break a sweat!"
Lee shook his head. "With that small workout? No! But Gai-sensei and I went for a run this morning and I've built up quite an appetite. Are you ready to go?"
Matsuri nodded just as Neji stepped in front of his teammate. "But I thought we were going to train this morning?"
Lee shook his head. "We're training this afternoon because Gai-sensai has a meeting with the Hokage this morning. We have training tomorrow morning though. Though if you want, I'm sure that Matsuri wouldn't mind if I trained with you. Maybe she could join us!"
Neji shook his head 'no' even as the fangirls chimed up.
"I will!"
"No me!"
"I can do it!"
"You can not, but I can!"
The four girls giggled and cooed behind him. Lee turned with a smile. "I'd be glad to train with you girls, but I promised breakfast to Matsuri-chan and a shinobi should never break a promise!"
Neji grinned as he watched Lee escort the Sand kunoichi back toward the village, the gaggle of giggling fangirls trailing behind them. He wished he could see their faces as they realized Lee was more than a little serious when it came to 'training'.
One 'training' session, and the fangirls would disappear. Neji shook his head, laughing.
o.o.o.o.o
Sasuke watched Hinata as the girl shopped.
So what if her father said 'no'? Hiashi had given Sasuke permission to court any member of the Branch Family that would have him. But he'd said Hinata was off limits. The man had stated that his eldest daughter was currently involved with someone else.
Sasuke watched her, snorting. She'd grown up well. Still, that wasn't the reason he wanted her above any other Hyuuga. He knew Hanabi, as heir, was off limits. But Hinata wasn't, no matter what her father thought. And she was the direct child of the current Hyuuga clan leader. Therefore her Byakugan was the purest, and hopefully the strongest genetically speaking.
If he had any real hope of his children being Hyuuga rather than Uchiha, it most likely rested with this girl.
Boyfriend or not. If Sasuke managed to seduce her, Hiashi would have to change his mind and say yes.
o.o.o.o.o
"What did you say?" Naruto asked the genin kunoichi standing in front of him
The girl twisted her finger in one long curl of her dark hair and peeked up at him through her eyelashes. "You'll be off probation soon. I just wanted to know if you would like some private tutoring on how to stay off the list?"
"What list?" Naruto asked, confused.
The girl's eyes widened, then she grinned as she handed him a portrait book. It wasn't very large. Naruto flipped through the book quickly, his mind going numb with shock at what he was seeing.
Finally, he got to his own picture and his shout rattled several of the surrounding windows.
o.o.o.o.o
Sakura answered the knock on the door, bleary eyed and with a piece of toast in her mouth. It had been a late shift at the hospital, and she had an early one today. Ah, the price of rearranging her schedule so she could go out with Kiba tonight!
Blinking. She stared at Sai's blank expression. "Is something the matter?"
Sai didn't say anything, he just handed her a new picture.
Startled, Sakura took it and looked down. "This is a self portrait."
"Yes."
Sakura shook her head, not understanding. She looked up at her teammate. "You haven't done anything to be listed as 'undateable'."
Sai took back the picture and quickly scrawled something underneath. He handed it back to her wordlessly.
"Undateable, for …personal reasons?" Sakura shook her head looking lost.
Sai let out a sigh and took the portrait back, writing something else. He handed it back to her, again not saying anything.
"Not ready?" Sakura just blinked up at him. "What does not ready mean?"
Sai turned and pointed down the street. "Make them go away."
Sakura looked down the street and was startled to see a group of girls all watching them. "Nine of them?"
"Nine?" Sai turned and counted. "They're growing, it started with five. They're multiplying."
"SAKURA!"
The deep bellow startled them all. Sakura dropped her toast as Naruto came bounding around the corner toward her, evil things lurking in his usually clear eyes.
"Just put that in the book." Sai pointed at the picture and took off. Sakura watched in amazement as the girls screeched and followed after him, only a few beats behind the former ROOT shinobi.
"SAKURA!"
The pink haired girl groaned as Naruto skidded to a halt in front of her, the kunoichi BINGO book clenched in his hands.
o.o.o.o.o
Well? Hope you liked it! REVIEWS are always welcome! I hope no one flames me for the portrayal of Sasuke. This is just one take on him if he should ever return to Konoha. No it's not canon. But then, in the manga he has not returned to the village. His feelings on the Sharingan are for this fic only!
Thank you, and I really hope you enjoyed!