A/N: omg 14 reviews in 24 hours?(surprised hamster face) You guys are the best! (Big hugs)
Just a few things to clear out before we go on.
I was reading my reviewers' comments, and I was surprised to see a bunch of them assuming that "Priestess" was going to have a Neji/Hinata ending. I looked back at Ch.1 where I said it was going to be a Neji/Hinata story. I realized that my effort to warn people who might have a completely justified aversion of incest came off as spoiling the story. For that, my sincerest apologies. As much as I love Neji/Hinata, I would feel really upset at some people who call it a disgusting incestuous fetish. I wanted to keep that at bay as much as possible.
But "The Priestess" has an ending that only I am privy to, so please don't think that I gave off the ending as a specific pairing yet.
I also add 2k word to ch. 2, so if you would like to look, please check it out.
I have been feeling blue and I am not happy with this chapter, but here it is. Why am I so inept and bad at writing smuts and emotional scenes. Thank you for reading, and extra thanks for reviews.
After the fall of the great empire Etruscus that subjugated the western nations of Earth and Wind and ruled across the southern deserts and land of Fire, the world that the people have known for centuries became divided.
The empire tore up into Cretes, Ionia, Boetia, Namikaze, Thebes, Sparta, Troy, Mycenae, and the Amazons, and other small territories that were ruled by their monarchs.
Hinata's father and Neji's father, Hiashi and Hizashi were heirs to the founder Hirama who succeeded in conquering the fertile island continent of the once great Etruscus. Hirama and his predecessors led decades of war to conquer the vast wheat fields and multiple thousands of farming and fishing peasants.
Besides being known as the Cretan goddess Kaguya's lover, Hirama had no bloodline or pedigree on which to base his origins and stake to rule his kingdom. The mysterious origins of their father Hirama became the bane of both Hiashi and Hizashi's existence, sprouting unwanted rumors that questioned the twin rulers' divine authority to rule. The twins' insecurities soon caused them to become obsessed with going on wars in overseas expeditions, pillaging neighboring countries without respite. Hizashi was the cold blooded warrior, and Hiashi was the clever strategist.
When Hizashi died tragically, it was king Hiashi who took his nephew under his wing and made him his apprentice war strategist and politician after the young boy proved his worth in his uncle's war campaigns.
Despite his equally intense obsession to sire a male heir, Hiashi died without one, and his eldest daughter abdicated the throne.
And that was how Neji became king who carried on the tradition of conquest.
On the royal fleet that returned to Cretes, the king rested himself on the edge of the ship, gazing at the direction of the island.
Next to him was his swordsman who followed him like a shadow.
The swordsman glanced at his king's face that resembled a marble sculpture. The soft spring breeze that blew across from the sea played softly with his long hair. His face that exuded an aura of cold ruthlessness looked even more formidable due to the long arduous crusade overseas. The long difficult times beyond the seas made him as sharp and unapproachable as a knife. His long hair that hasn't been combed as he was in the palace swept across his high ridged nose and marble forehead. He looked wild and unkept, dangerous and decadent. His pale marble skin that illuminated under the sun further emphasized his classically handsome face.
The swordsman wondered. He worshiped the man who was sitting on the edge of the ship, whom he served with his life, but how could the gods allow such unfairness? For such a militarily gifted man to not only be king, and on top of that, to be blessed with such looks? Life could be so unfair, and the gods definitely have favorites.
The fleet's musician appeared with a wooden trey with a flask and gold goblet and tentatively asked the king with a bowed head, "Would you like some wine, my king?"
The king shook his head, the black silk tassel of his band that covered his forehead swayed. Then he looked at the musician with a piercing gaze with his rare silver eyes, "Play for the men. You could be as loud as they want. Get them wine. I need to be back soon."
The musician quickly bowed his head deferentially before efficiently backing away. The fleet was soon filled with music, and the fleet gained speed.
His swordsman smiled at the boost of the rowers' morals, "My king, you are in a good mood."
At his swordsman's observation, Neji closed his eyes, "Every man wants his rest."
When he said the word "rest," his pale silver eyes gazed at the direction of Cretes. He gripped on what he has been holding the whole time during the sail.
The swordsman raised his eyebrows when he saw what was in Neji's left hand. It was a gold pin of a flying bird, crafted through the finest Cretan filigree.
Sounds of clamoring armor rang, reflected by the towering marble pillars of the great temple.
Neji strode quickly across the marble court of the grand temple of Kaguya. The tall, handsome soldier with long autumn hair and clad in silver armor briskly walked past the blinding, white marble pillars of one of the nine kingdoms' greatest wonders. The wind that blew into the temple stuck his hair across his chiseled jawline. All who beheld the man couldn't believe that such a man was their king. He was their hero.
As he studied the faces of the nearby priestesses, his face visibly hardened. As he turned to look for her, his long brown hair that grew down to his waist swayed. There was just simply no way for her to neglect her duties without a debilitating reason. Was she ill?
Then he thought he heard her laughter that sounded like a silver chime. He should have known that it was some crazy illusion, because it has been forever since he heard her laugh, but he turned around anyway. Neji nisan-he thought he heard her soft, airy voice call him from behind. But when he quickly turned, she wasn't there.
Suddenly, unknown fear gripped his chest and he left the temple, his face stiff and pale. Cold sweat formed in his brow and his hands felt clammy.
He looked around as if he was possessed, as he searched for the one face he thought of when he was in the battlefield. Where was she?
Without caring about his reputation, he called for her as he wandered in the gardens, "Hinata!"
He knew that he was likely to find her in her private chamber, but he felt instinctively unsettled.
Once he raced to her private chamber, he ran up to her bed and withdrew the opaque veil. For a moment, he stared down at the empty bed.
For a moment, he kept his muted stare at the bed. Then his silver grey eyes slowly dilated, and his entire body stiffened.
He placed his knee on the bed and studied the mattress. He lifted the bedsheet and saw that a part of the fabric was missing. It seemed that someone cut off a piece of the bedsheet with a small knife.
"My...my lord," the chief guard was soaked in sweat as he bowed over the floor.
At his words, Neji slowly turned around and looked down at the guard who shivered as he didn't dare to look at his face.
Neji's pale irises stared down at the shivering guard who felt a chill inside his chest at the king's unfathomable, disinterested expression. He might as well stare down at a bug crawling on the dirt.
When the guard couldn't say anything, the air around them grew cold with the pent up tension that slowly escalated. But on surface, Neji was quiet as the lake.
Neji slowly walked up to Hinata's desk. It was a wide oak desk where Hinata used to work. He brushed the wooden surface with his fingers. At first his fingers skimmed the surface as if he was looking for some clue to her disappearance. Then he found a piece of rolled papyrus. He unfurled the piece and saw a shaky yet distinctly elegant penmanship in indigo blue ink. It was written:
Your majesty,
I decided that I was of no longer use to the temple or your services.
I take my leave. Best wishes to my king. Please do not search for me.
Hinata
Neji crumbled the delicate piece of papyrus with so much force that the swordsman winced. Deep shadows etched across Neji's features as he ominously stared into the air while gripping the destroyed paper in his hands.
He strode towards the chief guard who blubbered, "we tr-tried to search for her, but she was nowhere to be found, our king!"
When he saw that his lord was still immobilized, the swordsman asked quietly, "For how long has she been missing?"
"It has been...two weeks."
In a flash, Neji grabbed the chief guard's shoulder and hoisted him to his footing. His cold pale glare burned through his six foot guard's face turned ashen pale like a field mouse in front of a snake. He could barely breath at the sheer rage that emerged in his lord's face.
The chief guard gagged and shuddered under his grip. Before he tried to beg for mercy, Neji snapped his throat to the left, severing his lifeline with a quick shift of his hands.
The corpse dropped with a thud to the ground without shedding any blood on the floor.
Neji twisted his wrist as if he has just completed the most mundane task and commanded, "Interrogate the maids, guards, and the priestesses that were supposed to watch over her."
When Neji finally summoned his words, his followers sighed in relief, "Yes, your majesty." Interrogation entailed far more sinister procedures but the followers were seasoned veterans in war and torture.
Two of the armed soldiers quickly approached the corpse, and Neji acted nonchalantly as his men obediently dragged out the man he just killed out of the palace quarters.
The new king was much more reasonable than his bloodthirsty and tyrannic predecessor Hiashi, but if there was one rule he kept clear, it was to never mention the dead or it will be the man's head. They knew that his mercy was more of a strategy to wield the carrot and stick than out of benevolence, but they would rather have a pragmatic, level headed, slightly cruel ruler than a sniveling horse as their master.
Assuming his carefully curated facade, Neji strode from Hinata's bed chamber and walked outside, where his army and horses were ready.
When he approached his favorite horse, Helios,he grabbed his reins with slightly more force, but the well-trained stallion only slightly whinnied and obediently maintained its station.
"You need not follow me, " Mounted on his white stallion, Neji commanded his followers and the swordsman in a clipped tone, "I will find her with the palace infantry. You are tired from war."
But despite the warm sentiment of his words, Neji's face was frigid like an ice berg and communicated that he would greatly abhor any hindrance.
The swordsman knew how to see glimpses of his lord's emotions and already saw the papyrus crumbled in his hand that tightly gripped his rein.
When the followers stood puzzled and wondered how to convey to their lord that they wished to follow, Neji turned and his horse Helios galloped, rising a smoke of dust behind. The palace infantry composed of six trusted soldiers on foot also galloped in trail with the king.
When the king was gone, one of his followers nudged the swordsman, "What just happened with the king?"
"Hinata sama," the swordsman scratched the back of his head and sighed.
The rest of the generals turned pale. The general who just nudged him bit his bottom lip, "Is...do you think she...she's possibly dead?"
They all held a degree of worry for Hinata's safety. First of all, they were well aware that their sovereign was strangely absorbed with the banished princess's well being and reputation. Somehow, their lord lost his equilibrium when she was involved.
They all hosted a terrible hatred of her cruel, tyrannic father, but they had to admit that it was due to her sacrifice that Cretes entered a golden age without civil strife.
But her motives were questioned. Not all believed that her actions were out of altruism or a heart of sacrificial kindness for the people. However, even if she did that out of a self-serving motive to preserve her life from an insurrection, they all felt somewhat indebted to her.
Some generals, including the swordsman, harbored some pity for the rightful heir of Cretes for giving up her throne to their current lord and becoming a priestess. To be a priestess was to live of a life of sacrificial piety and solitude forever, in the name of the goddess.
One of them whispered, "the king won't take it well, if she is found dead in the woods."
A bald general urged them all to head back to their own homes. But the conversation went on. "It's better to hope that she is alive somewhere."
There was the possibility that she might be kidnapped by bandits. Worse would be pirates, because it is harder to track them in sea.
One of the younger generals asked,
"Why is the king so consumed with the disowned princess's well being?"
A general who looked like a mercenary made a rather sentimental conjecture, "They have been brought up together, so...they must be like brothers and sisters. The king doesn't have any blood relative left."
But then every general knew that Neji was quite aloof from the admirable Hanabi, the exiled princess of Cretes who was now ruling a sector of the Amazons.
There was no calculated output that could come out of coddling a disowned princess who was now a priestess of Kaguya.
"It would have been better if Hanabi sama stayed instead. She would've been a great asset to the militia."
At his comrade's words, a general with a long pony tail scoffed. Everyone stopped and turned to see the swordsman, "Do you all truly think that Hinata sama is just a poor damsel in distress, a pitiful exiled princess?"
The rest listened to him inquisitively.
"I would argue that in fact," the general with a pony tail crossed his arms, "Hinata sama is the archetypal royal woman, even more than her sister. Women of the palace have never been naive or innocent. Behind their pretty faces, they know how to play politics."
When his comrades still looked doubtful but intrigued, he continued, "When her sister was yet a child, Hinata sama came to our lord and persuaded him to lead the rebellion against Menelaum. She was barely eighteen! If she was truly just a pampered princess, she would never risk her life doing that on her own. But it turned out that after all, she was Hiashi's daughter."
A general who has been silent all along uttered, "And the timing was much too opportune for Hinata sama and Neji sama. You know of the rumor that circulated until the king himself intervened."
"What rumor?" the youngest general asked with widened eyes. The swordsman tried to prevent the general from opening his mouth but failed.
"That...Hinata sama...was involved in the prior king's death."
Suddenly, a cold tension resounded through the group of the king's most trusted soldiers.
Indeed, a rumor buzzed that the innocent looking princess was involved in her father Hiashi's murder and handed the crown to the beautiful hero, her cousin with bloodied hands.
But the swordsman uttered coldly, "It is an unfounded nonsense that is nothing more than idle gossip. Hinata sama had nothing to do with king Hiashi's death. He had fallen depraved due to the desire for immortality and a male heir. He called for his own downfall."
A general with navy hair said, "But it was rather cold and cowardly of her to judge her father as a lost cause and stick to our lord like a wasp as soon as he died."
The navy haired general has lost his subordinate who tried to drag Hinata out of the palace quarters. He did not have any pity for her. In his opinion, she had led a life of a princess and was able to secure her life through Neji's mercy.
The swordsman said quietly, "But that doesn't mean that Hinata sama murdered her own father."
The youngest general said, "She sounds really different from what she looked! She looked like she could barely hurt a fly."
"The king knows that too. Of Hinata sama's duplicity." The navy haired general said in a defining air, "So he is sure she is alive."
The red light of dawn illuminated his glaring silver eyes as the wind swept his hair across his symmetrical face. Neji stood over the cliff that overlooked the vast forest lands. He maintained a tight grip on his rein over Helios who snorted in the aftermath of the consuming race. His men scattered across the trees and plains, searching for the missing priestess.
Neji's eyes scanned the greenery.
His hand held onto the papyrus and a golden cloth pin shaped like a flying finch spreading its wings. It was the golden cloth pin that Hinata gave him with shyly extended hands when she was eleven, when her hair was still in a bowl-cut. She trembled as she closed her eyes, T-th-hank you for helping me with my h-homework, ni-san. She slightly looked to the side and an indecent red color suffused all over her cheeks. Her pale shoulders shook as she handed him the golden finch pin with both hands. But instead of receiving the pin, he turned around and ignored her, secretly gloating at how despondent she looked as she stood rooted in the garden, her eyes gazing down at the rejected gift. However, he remembered how his twelve year old self soon regretted his previous immaturity when she no longer pressed him to receive it. As ridiculous as it sounded, he felt a sense of keen rejection when she no longer followed him around, asking him like she used to. Instead, she quietly left the gift when he wasn't looking. When he came back from his water break, he saw the golden finch gleaming next to his training sword. He told himself that his sword looked nice with the little accessory. So he tied the golden finch pin with a brown leather noose that wrapped around his sword's hilt.
Neji gripped on the small golden bird, if he was keeping it from flying away. I know you are out there somewhere. He faintly whispered as his eyes pierced the forestry.
He thought of her dark indigo hair that swayed as she turned to look at him. Whether she was reading scrolls by the candlelight or burning incense. Or folding pure white laundry by the soft, cozy rays of the sun.
Then he thought of her opal eyes that shone myriads of colors in different lights. She would smile, "Your majesty."
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew across Neji's face and he scowled as the dust made him squint and tears formed in his eyes.
When he was a young child, he met Hinata for the first time. At first, she recoiled as she gripped on her father's robe and hid half of her face. But when she saw his smile, her fingers relaxed and she smiled back. Her shy demeanor melted away into sweetness when she materialized from behind her father, the crown prince Hiashi.
Then, oblivious of their blood connections and what it entailed, he whispered to his father"She's cute, father."
His father Hizashi didn't say anything but maintained a grim expression. But when the crown prince left with his daughter, Hizashi told his young son, "Don't be too attached to Hinata sama, Neji."
Neji asked, "Why, father?" Hizashi made a bitter smile at his son's innocence.
"Because," Hizashi said in a matter-of-fact tone, "she was never meant to stay."
When she became eleven years old, that was when Neji understood what it meant that Hinata was "never meant to stay."
Because that was when Hinata was bombarded with other country's proposals for her hand in marriage.
That was when Neji finally understood-he and Hinata were different, meant for different destinies, from birth. She was destined to be queen of some foreign country. He was forbidden to leave and destined to remain alone. She would be doing the same things she did in Cretes-reading scrolls, burning incense, brewing tea, doing laundry. While he would stay in a land where everywhere he could see what remains of her.
The day he realized that simple truth was the day he was enrolled in the military of Cretes-at the age of twelve.
Shadow cast over Neji's face as his lips curved into a sardonic smirk. The brand on his forehead that he concealed with his imperial army's band throbbed. He gripped the golden finch pin in his hand and turned around from the vantage point, Helios trotting next to him.
He told himself. She will be okay. For it to be otherwise was too much to even imagine. And he will find her.
Even if that means he has to find traces of her in the woods where the topography is irregular and haphazard and tree roots protrude here and there. Even in the bottom of the stream, he will look for her.
"Are you saying the truth, Kakashi?"
Sasuke looked at him in awe but also with some suspicion. Hinata almost couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Kakashi just folded his arms and repeated, "I will oversee the ritual."
Sasuke and Hinata were both quite surprised when Kakashi offered to be the overseer of the marriage. They looked at each other and then looked at Kakashi.
"But how will we know if you will perform your role faithfully?" Sasuke asked.
Hinata wondered if it was a good idea to question Kakashi. But she had to agree, Sasuke had a point. If Kakashi purposely misguided them in the ritual or got rid of the official document that sealed their marriage, their union was nullified.
Kakashi shrugged, "Then, go ahead and look for a priest that will accept a runaway slave in his shrine. With her eyes, it would be interesting if someone recognizes her and brings her to court."
Hinata flinched at Kakashi's glare. Sasuke's lips parted in a snarl, and Kakashi crossed his arms.
When Sasuke was about to give Kakashi a word for his attitude, Hinata grabbed his arm, "Sasuke, wait."
She tugged on his arm and asked him to talk with her in privacy. Sasuke was at first surprised, but relented easily. They stood by the opening of Sasuke's hut.
Hinata asked, "Are you sure...he is able? Overseeing a ritual...is quite complicated."
Sasuke glanced at Kakashi. He then looked at Hinata, "Kakashi knows a lot of things. He's the one who taught me how to read and write, or else I would have been illiterate. But it also surprises me. I never knew he could arrange a marriage ritual."
"If we can't...go to the temple," Hinata's brows knitted, "he-he could be our only...option."
After a serious discussion, both Sasuke and Hinata decided that it was best that they arrange their marriage as secretively as possible. The proper procedure would be to visit the temple of Kaguya and have a priest or priestess seal their marriage. But because of the difficulty to travel and expenses, many people of Cretes who couldn't afford going to the capital were married at regional shrines and local temples.
She persuaded Sasuke, "If Kakashi san is unable to sanctify our vow, we could try one of the more remote shrines in the mountains that serve Kaguya."
In a calm voice, she told him, "For now, Kakashi san is right. We don't have much choice."
When Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked at her surprised, Hinata blushed. She pursed her lips and glanced sideways, "I-it's...a terrible trouble to go through, right? Ma-marrying a runaway..."
Thinking that Sasuke was surprised by how much hassle he had to go through, Hinata felt insecure and embarrassed. If Sasuke married an ordinary girl, it wouldn't be so complicated.
She bowed her head and fidgeted with her fingers, "If...if you want to...call this out, then."
"No," Sasuke answered firmly. But he kept his dark eyes framed with long lashes on her, as if she was some enigma, "...You know a lot about shrines and this ritual."
Hinata started. She wanted to beat herself up. How could she have made such a slip? If Sasuke knows that she was a priestess...
Sasuke asked tentatively, "Were you married before?"
"No!" Hinata balked. Hinata might have been many things, but she was never married.
"Sasuke," Kakashi called, impatiently. "I don't have all day."
Finally, the two returned to Kakashi. Sasuke nodded grudgingly, and Kakashi opened his brown leather sack and withdrew a roll of parchment and then some ink.
Hinata's eyes widened at the parchment, though Sasuke seemed as if it was a familiar sight. Parchment was a luxury for commoners, so Hinata wondered how Kakashi required such item. Parchment had to be shipped to Cretes, so it was not a daily item that peasants could acquire with ease.
When Kakashi offered to sanctify their vow, Hinata was quite doubtful of his abilities. But to her surprise, Kakashi sported some of the finest penmanship in Attic Greek she has ever seen. He demonstrated his ability as he wrote on the parchment with a feather pen dipped in ink. It was also evident that he at least knew some basic details of overseeing a marriage.
While Hinata was admiring his writing, Kakashi said in a disgruntled tone, "The bride-to-be could go and make a flower crown or whatever."
"Ah," Hinata looked down at her pink dress that Sasuke got for her in the market. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in disapproval at Kakashi, but Hinata shook her head at him and smiled.
"I'll be back, Sasuke." she turned around and ran back to the direction of the hut. Then she turned around, "See...see you by the po-poplar trees."
Then she hurried inside the hut without waiting for Sasuke's answer.
Underneath the poplar trees and by the river stream where he first saw her, Sasuke waited patiently for his bride-to-be. He sat on a stone bank, stretching his long legs out in the water. His hand twirled a piece of grass. The canopy above him cast a greenish light over his luminous skin. Kakashi who was the overseer of the marriage crossed his arms and maintained a sullen expression.
Then both men heard light footsteps on the grass full of wet dew.
Sasuke turned around, and he looked as if his world stopped. Hinata was still in the same pink dress, but she had a white fabric over her hair as a substitute for a bridal veil. At closer look, Sasuke realized that the veil was modified from her old dress that she wore when he rescued her. In her hand was a few blue flowers.
Hinata saw his piercing eyes as he slowly raised his head and straightened his shoulders.
The look on his eyes was fierce but instead of cowering, she found herself squirming underneath his blatant stare. His lips that would usually shut in a line or curve at the end opened ever so slightly. She suddenly became self-conscious of her hastily made white headdress that she made out of her old priestess robe, and she hid her fidgeting hands behind her back and timidly made eye contact.
For a moment, he kept staring at her as if she was the biggest threat to his existence. She wondered, Is he mad that I came too late? But the way he stiffened as he glowered at her told her that he wasn't that emotionally moved by such reason. She was fairly confident that he wasn't mad at her.
When she called his name, "Sasuke," the spell broke, and the mask of cool indifference returned to his face. He buried his hands deep into his jumper pockets by the side of his hips and walked up to her.
When he stared down at her, she quickly averted her eyes to the side and bowed her head behind her raised bouquet of blue flowers. An eyebrow rose at her unusual behavior.
Kakashi, the reluctant overseer, proceeded with the ritual with disapproval but nevertheless diligently executed the necessary steps.
In the last step,the couple was to draw blood from their fingers and print their seal on the parchment.
Kakashi handed Sasuke the dagger first. Sasuke cut his finger and Hinata winced. When it was Hinata's turn, she found herself shaking slightly.
Hinata finally drew out blood from her index finger with a sigh. Sasuke also watched with tension evident in his pursed lips.
She dropped her blood on the parchment next to Sasuke's seal.
Kakashi made a single clap with both of his hands, "Well, that's it. Happy marriage." He quickly furled the parchment and put it in his brown sack. "I will have this notarized by the closest temple."
Then he left, leaving behind the newly weds. At Hinata's insistence, the couple watched Kakashi disappear into the woods.
It was night time. Hinata could hear the cuckoo bird hooting in the distant. The sound was clearer than any music she has ever heard. It felt like hearing a silver ring rolling on the marble floor in lapses.
The firelight on the candle wax was burning by the bedside, the tiny flame dancing by the flow of air.
Sasuke was sitting on the bed due to the lack of chairs and brandishing his dagger and other hunting weapons. Hinata could see his wide back that was hunched over as he was busy focusing on his task. He was so quiet that Hinata could barely hear his breathing even in the dead silence of the forest. His dark hair falling on the nape of his neck that shone like honey bronze by the firelight.
Hinata brushed her long dark hair down with her fingers. Her hair has been sticking out here and there, and she worried about looking disheveled. She wondered how Sasuke always managed to look put together despite not having various accessories like combs that she saw royal and aristocratic members fret about. On top of that, he would even look better than them.
She wondered what could have convinced Sasuke to keep her as his wife. She has made countless mistakes in the house, a lot of them happening in the margins of Sasuke's imagination. She was making small improvements, but they felt minuscule compared to the daunting task of housekeeping. Looking at the town, there were many beautiful young girls who fawned and swooned over Sasuke. Hinata could bet in a thousand that the girls would make lovely wives who would never make such mistakes with cooking and cleaning in the household. They would even be healthy enough to bear many children, one of the many feminine virtues professed by men.
Hinata might have pale skin and small hands and feet, but she didn't mistake herself as having the dainty, fresh charm that was fashionable in the upper class. Her torso and thighs were too thick to be considered an elegant figure, and the sadness in her eyes made her look like a timid field mouse compared to the vivacious ladies in Sasuke's village. When she saw them dance in the moonflower festival, she could only stand in awe at how happy and carefree yet charming they looked in their bare feet and tossed hair.
Hinata couldn't imagine that could have made Sasuke think it was a good idea to keep Hinata as his wife. But here she was.
And the advantages of living with Sasuke has been fantastic. He has been more than good to her. He could have treated her as a slave, but he didn't.
She even wondered if Sasuke knew how to treat anyone as a slave. It seemed that he only knew how to treat a person as a 'human.' Even angry at Kakashi, Sasuke never overstepped his bounds and she could still tell that he admired and respected him. Very different from how she saw her family and aristocrats around her treat people. Her father treated men as his chess pieces and women as breeding mares. Her sister treated everyone around her as inherently below herself in birth and rights. Of all the people she had known, the person who she found most agreeable in treating others was Neji-her ruthless but fair minded cousin treated people according to their character and value.
Until the night at the temple.
She felt her heart hammering in her chest.
It came to her-the memories of tongue, rough hands, strong thighs, red warmth at the shell of her ear, and breathing.
Hinata instinctively knew. The only way to tip this outrageously tilted scale was for her to sleep with him. There was no way Sasuke would not be expecting this. He had went through so much trouble for her. This was the only way she could repay him.
She felt her hands shivering and toes curling. She told herself, be strong. It is only natural that all men wanted one thing. Sasuke is also a man. He is no exception. She needed to repay him. For his kindness.
So she slowly turned towards Sasuke and sat carefully next to him. She wondered if she should quietly rest her forehead on his shoulder as a signal.
Sasuke noticed her sitting close to him and asked her, "are you tired?" His low voice felt soothing to her ears.
Hinata blushed, "um, no." The sound of her beating heart resonated through here entire body. She regarded his considerate action as his way of asking her if she was ready. Her heart was crudely pounding in her little chest. She hoped he couldn't hear.
"You seem to be," he placed his hunting gear on the floor and rose from the bed. "Here, go to sleep."
Suddenly she grabbed on his sleeve, "Sa-sasuke, wait!"
When Sasuke's eyes widened, she blushed furiously, "Sasuke...there's..." She bowed her head down, "there's...the final step left."
"Final step?" Sasuke's brows furrowed in concern and annoyance. "Did Kakashi miss something?"
Hinata gaped in shock, "N-no!"
"Wait, if I try to track him, I might find him." Sasuke took his weapons for safety in the dark.
"No, no, wait!" Clawing desperately on the fabric of his chest, Hinata forced him to sit back down on the bed. Sasuke looked down at her embarrassed face in confusion but still relented. He left his weapons back on the floor and gave her his full attention. Her cheeks turned fiery red as she burned with mortification. Just imagining Sasuke chasing down Kakashi in the middle of the night and demanding him to complete the "last step" of the marriage ritual...
"Well, Sa-Sasuke..." Hinata bowed her head and looked down at her hands that nervously fidgeted, "it's...it's to do the 'wife's duty.'"
She shyly glanced at Sasuke, thinking that he will get the hint. After it was the universal language of humanity-that wives bear their husband's weight and then bear 'fruit.'
But Sasuke just blinked.
She wondered if she was being too vague. She told herself-he does talk quite directly himself. She ventured, a shade redder. "I-it's...also...the husband's duty."
It was true. If men do not take the lead and practice their 'duty,' there is no way women could bear 'fruit.'
"So" he opened his chiseled lips, "it could be both the wife and husband's duty?"
Sasuke looked at Hinata as if she was giving him a riddle like the Sphinx-What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the noon, three legs at night
"Yes!" Hinata blushed as she didn't know what to do. "um...it's..."
Than suddenly, Hinata reached out her hand and pushed him on his back.
Sasuke lied on the bed frozen, his wide eyes staring at Hinata. He looked as if Hinata suddenly splashed ice cold water on him out of nowhere.
Hinata stared back at him. "S-see?" she stuttered.
Sasuke closed his eyes and slung his arm over his forehead as if he was having a migraine. Then he slowly opened his eyes. At his sharp gaze, Hinata started and she held her hand close to her chest.
His eyes that were so dark that his pupils and irises were indistinguishable stared at her closely. He was silent and then grabbed her arm.
Hinata felt her entire body pulled to the mattress, and she was lying next to Sasuke.
Sasuke grabbed her by the back of her throat and placed his forehead to hers. Hinata recoiled. She felt as if she was suddenly attacked by a hunting dog that was resting by her feet peacefully.
Hinata heard his low voice, "Are you sure?"
Sasuke eyed her seriously, "I thought...you wouldn't want to do it, because you were hurt before."