A Broken Promise Chapter Four, a naruto fanfic

Chapter Four

"Sugoi! Shikamaru! You sure came up with a good plan this time!" Naruto laughed loudly, causing a few people around to give the team some glares.

"Hai, T-that is a good strategy. Shikamaru-san." Hinata blushed when she noticed that her companions were staring back at her. Hinata nervously brought her hand to her mouth.

Shikamaru smiled and looked at the sky. "Heh. Just because I came with a good plan doesn't mean that you're going to win. Battles are often unpredictable. We don't know their plan for sure, anyways." He shrugged.

"There's nothing to worry about Shikamaru! I'll beat them up and become Hokage!" Naruto said unwaveringly, while Hinata smiled and Gaara scoffed rudely.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed and pat Naruto's head. Hinata laughed a little as Naruto crossed his arms in a child-like manner. "We'll be starting the real training next week, since you still haven't recovered, Hinata. Is that ok?"

"Hai, Arigatou Shikamaru-san." She bowed politely.

"Ano-sa! Shikamaru?" Naruto interrupted at Hinata and Shikamaru. "Let's go eat! I'm hungry!" He pointed his growling stomach.

OoO

THIRD WEEK PRE-JOUNIN EXAM

"Hinata, Gaara begin." Shikamaru announced as he leaned on a tree and set his watch. Today was their first day of real training. He sighed and watched both opponents. The outcome of this match was obvious. He just wanted to see Hinata's abilities, for now. The Hyuuga's low voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hai." She said as she activated her Byakugan by performing the seals. She separated her legs and brought her hands up. Hinata wasted no time on positioning herself in the Hyuuga fighting stance, Shikamaru glanced at the Hyuuga.

"Come, Gaara-san." Hinata said as Gaara looked at her emotionless. He shrugged as his sand began to fly out of his gourd. The sand aimed for her and she dodged barely… -That sand was fast… Faster than most of her movements.- Shikamaru thought as he looked at Hinata. She continued to dodge Gaara's attacks.

"Hinata! You're doing fine! Beat him up!" Naruto cheered.

"Uruse. Naruto, you're distracting her." Shikamaru stopped the blonde boy's shouting.

OoO

At this rate I'll waste most of my energy evading his attacks.- Hinata bit her lip as she dodged another hit. She pulled a kunai from her pouch quickly, while dodging the hardened sand. She waited for a chance to attack and aimed at a small distance from the Sand Nin's feet.

Naruto looked at the kunai that had just been thrown. "She missed! It didn't even reach him!" He yelled frantically.

"Iie." Shikamaru covered his nose as the dense smoke covered them. "It had a smoke bomb attached to it."

"I see… Sugoi!" Naruto said as he and Shikamaru jumped up and landed on the tree's branch. They both looked at the area below covered in thick purplish smoke.

"I want to see!" Naruto looked at the smoke eagerly. "Do you think she's attacked him yet?"

"I don't know." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Look. Over there." Naruto pointed at the two shadowy figures as the smoke dissipated. "I-ie!" He shouted surprised.

"Well that was better than I expected." He pushed the button on his timer. "Three minutes and twelve seconds." The jounin went down and helped Hinata up.

"Hinata are you alright?" Naruto asked as he jumped down.

"U-um... Yes, Yes." She got up from the ground with Shikamaru's help. Gaara's sand had caught her legs and caused her to fall flat-faced into the ground. That was totally unexpected; she couldn't believe that he had tracked her in that fog. She shook the remaining sand and dirt from her pants and jacket. "Gomen, Shikamaru-san, I couldn't…"

"You did fine. You just need to practice more." Shikamaru cut her apology and looked at Naruto. "Naruto it's your turn."

"Gaara, you'll see. I'll beat you!" Naruto boasted and walked towards the Sand Nin.

"Hmph." Gaara scoffed.

"Ok. Begin." Shikamaru signaled once again and set his timer.

Naruto grinned. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A dozen Narutos appeared.

Gaara's sand separated and quickly hit the replications. When the Sand Nin spotted the last "replication" the sand quickly lounged at it and covered him.

"Hey! Let me go!" Naruto furiously shouted and tried to escape from his sand cocoon.

"That was fast." Hinata said as Shikamaru and her watched in amazement. Shikamaru stopped the timer. "1:10"

"Gaara! Let me go you bastard! I'll beat you!" Naruto whined angrily in his cocoon.

"Uruse." Gaara said as the sand covered Naruto's mouth.

OoO

"Uchiha Sasuke." Hiashi eyed the teenager derisively.

Sasuke smirked as he entered the Hyuuga's dojo. "Hiashi-sama, I believe it's been some time."

"State your business." Hiashi glared at the teenager. Sasuke could clearly see that Hiashi did not like his presence here. He shrugged while looking at the older man, who sat across the large dojo.

"Here." Sasuke threw a small scroll at the old man, which Hiashi caught. Hiashi looked at the scroll a bit curiously and opened it hastily.

"What would you gain from this?" Hiashi asked calmly after he scanned the contents of the scroll.

"The revival of my clan, of course." He said proudly as he looked at the older man.

"I can't believe you found this scroll after all these years. Demo, I won't let you have Hanabi." Hiashi glared at him. "If you're after the heir…"

"I don't want her." Sasuke sneered.

"I see…" Hiashi said as he looked at the scroll and rolled it back. "Well, if that's the case… You can do whatever you want with her." Hiashi threw the scroll.

Sasuke caught it and smirked.

OoO

"5:23, you're doing better, Hinata." Shikamaru kneeled at the exhausted Hyuuga.

"N-not as well as Naruto, though." Hinata blushed. She had been training with Gaara for a week and she had only been able to land one hit on his sand wall. Naruto, however…

"Well, I think those two could go fighting on for a whole day now." Shikamaru sighed as he watched Naruto perform his trademark jutsu. "He's gone so far, in just one week."

"Hai." She watched as Gaara hit the remaining replications.

"Hinata, go home… you deserve some rest. Meet us here tomorrow morning." Shikamaru stood up and yawned. "Don't worry; I'll keep an eye on those two for you."

"Hai. Arigatou, Shikamaru-san. See you tomorrow, then." She bowed, stood up and walked.

OoO

She walked out of their training grounds, slowly. Occasionally, she would glance back at her two teammates. They were so much better that her. She sighed inwardly. She was only good at medical jutsus. Sometimes, Shikamaru would ask her to heal either Gaara or Naruto when they were heavily wounded. But really, that was all she could do. Would her skills be useful in the battles? She hoped so. She really didn't want to let her teammates down.

She looked at the road ahead. She'd take the longer route, today. She wasn't really that anxious to go home. She sighed inwardly she was sure that Kurenai-sensei was busy training her new team. Hinata wondered how Shino, Kiba, Ino and Neji were doing. Surely, their new jounin senseis were making them work hard. She smiled. -Shikamaru was the best jounin sensei she had had. Um… Well, Kurenai-sensei was great too, but she lacked Shikamaru's sense of humor and laziness… Gaara and Naruto were ok too. - She unconsciously bumped onto someone.

"Hinata." Sasuke scoffed at her.

"Oh, U-um, Sasuke-san. G-gomen, g-omen n-asai." She apologized.

"I've been wanting to speak to you." He said coldly.

"E-e-eh, me?" Hinata widened her eyes as she curiously looked at him. -Why did he want to speak to her? What was it this time?-

"Yes, you." He glared.

"W-what a-bout?" She widened her eyes and looked around. No one was around. Her knees felt very weak, suddenly.

"Koi. We can't speak here." Sasuke grabbed her hand and pulled her.

Hinata followed him and instantly watched as a crowd of girls, which were hiding behind a bush, appear and angrily glare at her. -Did they think? Oh… U-um no, no-way. Oh God.- She blushed a little.

–Where was Sasuke going anyways? What did he have to say to her? Demo, it must be very important.- She followed him, in spite of her obvious fear, for some minutes. She looked at the peculiar gates where Sasuke had stopped. They had arrived to the Uchiha clan's manor! She shivered a little, this place was definitely frightening her. She looked at Sasuke while he opened the huge gate. He looked back at her and she followed him inside.

The Uchiha manor was almost as big as the Hyuuga's. She recalled visiting some places, but she hadn't been here since… well. She stared at Sasuke for a while. He didn't even look sad. Sasuke must be very strong; if her entire clan had died… Well, she really couldn't think about it, it always brought tears to her eyes.

They both entered a small house, which was isolated from the rest of the village. She watched him curiously. His eyes showed no particular emotion. She on the other hand had gotten quite nervous when she realized no one else was here. She was alone with Sasuke. Alone. She bit her lip nervously and began to fidget with her hands. She watched as he took a seat from the wooden table and sat on it.

"Sit." He ordered.

"H-hai." She stuttered and walked towards the table. She looked at him still perplexed.

"Read." He ordered as he took a scroll from his pocket and gave it to her.

"U-um, Hai." She curiously took the scroll and opened it and began to read its contents. She stopped about halfway and looked at him sincerely. "O-one-gai, t-ell me you're joking, S-Sasuke-san?"

"You're already eighteen and your father has agreed." Sasuke looked at her seriously.

"N-nani Otou-san…?" She abruptly choked and then she looked down. She knew what that could only mean…"I see…" She frowned as she held back her tears and handed the scroll back to him. Even though, she had been kicked from her clan, they still held some degree of power over her life. How foolish had she actually been? Demo… Had her father asked Sasuke to marry her? Had her father forced him? It had to be! But why did he say that her Otou-san had agreed? Did he actually want to? Iie…What would Sasuke want from this, anyways? Why her? She looked at him curiously and time fearfully.

"I'll expect you to move by tomorrow morning." He said sternly. "Don't try anything stupid."

"Sasuke-san." She stood up and lowered her head as she placed her small hands on the table. Sasuke watched as her blank eyes looked at his own inquisitively. "W-why are you doing this?"

OoO

Why? Why was he doing this?- Sasuke looked at her. Her normally emotionless white eyes were now filled with tears. Sasuke hadn't expected her to take this whole ordeal so… well. He was at least expecting a fight from her. But there she was, handling herself. She hadn't shouted at him, she hadn't hit him, she hadn't whined, she hadn't argued, she hadn't fussed… She had an incredible endurance, no doubt taught from years of harsh discipline; courtesy of her father. He was going to have to try harder.

"I want the revival of my clan." The proud Uchiha lied.

"Demo, there are girls who are much…" Hinata said suddenly as she looked at him eye to eye.

"Iie, Don't Argue with me." He cut her off firmly while slamming his fist on the table. The room became very silent with his sudden outburst.

She never did change. Her low esteem was still a predominant part of her attitude. – Sasuke thought flustered. This whole thing had gotten into his nerves; he looked attentively at her as he waited for some kind of reaction. Why hadn't she even fought back in the first place? It'd be easier dealing with someone who had fought back. Why wasn't this working? He glared at her, scaring her even more.

"From now on, I don't want you to question my decisions." He threatened her as he stood up too. He glowered at her menacingly, as he was obviously sickened by her weakness.

She looked at him and nodded sadly in defeat. Even if she went against him… What would she prove? He would surely waste no time hurting her just like the last time. She cried silently and retreated slowly, not daring to look back at the dark room.

OoO

Hinata cried silently that evening. She really didn't want Kurenai-sensei, Neji or her teammates to know about this. Demo, Sasuke had said… She wiped her tears again. If they knew, it would only cause her more trouble. They were better not knowing, anyways.

Hinata cried a little more, she had to be strong and accept the fact. -This was her fate… Not marrying to Itachi didn't mean she'd be free of marrying another Uchiha. How cunning had her father been! She clenched her fists angrily. This must have been otou-san's initial plan. - She thought about it for a while. His father must have made some kind of deal with Sasuke. Otou-san must have fooled Sasuke into believing that she was still the Hyuuga heiress. It fit perfectly into the plan; Hanabi would be officially named the Hyuuga heiress now that she would marry Sasuke and form part of the Uchiha clan. Plus, her father wouldn't need to take drastic measures to prevent the whole village from knowing that his defective heir had been discarded from the clan. This "arrangement" would definitely be very beneficial to the clan. But, why now? -

A knock on the apartment's door, interrupted her thoughts. She wiped her tears with her sleeves and headed towards the door, opening it only slightly.

"Hinata-sama. I must have a word with you." Neji said concerned.

"Hai, Come in." She opened the door while trying to hide her sadness.

They both took a sat besides each other in the couch. "Hinata-sama." Neji stated seriously and looked at her. "Your father…" he paused not being able to finish the sentence.

"I already know, Neji-nii-san." She looked down as her eyes began to water. She covered her eyes with her hands wiping her tears in the process.

"Hinata-sama, I'm sorry. I came to see you as soon as I heard about it. Some of the branch members overheard and I…" Neji looked at her and frowned.

"Don't worry, Neji-nii-san. This is the fate of a defective heir, isn't it?" She asked as she looked back at him.

He nodded slowly and frowned. "Was it your father who told you?"

She shook her head and answered: "Iie. Sasuke-san… did."

"I see." He looked at her. "I've lost the little respect I had for your father." Her cousin scoffed and paused. "Maybe we are similar after all, Hinata-sama."

She nodded weakly as she scooted closer to her cousin. He looked at her and smiled a little. She rested her head lightly against his shoulder. "Hai, Neji-nii-san."

OoO

Yuuhi Kurenai opened the door to her apartment. It was late now, that escort mission had taken her team much longer than what she expected. Maybe if Kiba and Sakura hadn't argued the whole day, the escort might have been much faster. She put her keys back into her pocket and walked towards the living room. She found her former student sleeping. In a rather cute scene, Hinata's head was currently resting in her cousin's lap.

She looked at Hinata's cousin, the Hyuuga Genius, Neji. How ironic, this had been the same boy that had tried to kill Hinata some years before. She watched as he carefully placed his cousin's head on the couch, trying not to wake her up. He succeeded and motioned Kurenai to follow him outside silently. She did so, curiously.

"Is there something you wish to speak to me about?" The jounin asked as soon as they had left the apartment.

"Hai… It's about Hinata-sama..." Neji said seriously.

"Is she alright?" Kurenai interrupted concerned.

"Hai." He nodded.

She sighed relieved. "Then, what is it Neji?" She looked at him seriously.

"Well, you see…" He cleared his throat. "Her father has engaged her to someone."

"Demo, she's no longer a Hyuuga! He practically kicked her out of the main house!" Kurenai said clearly outraged. "Why does he still think he can control Hinata? As far as I know isn't even considered a Hyuuga anymore." Kurenai clenched her fists angrily; this had not been the first time that she had been in such a position. She still hated the old Hyuuga for treating Hinata like some object.

"…" Neji stared at her.

"Demo, it all seems to fit perfectly now." She looked at the Chuunin after a while. "He wanted to find an easy way to get rid of her, without dishonoring the clan's name."

"Hai." He nodded.

"So." Kurenai bit her lip. "Who is her…? Do you know? Is he from here?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." He said hatefully.

Her eyes widened. -She clearly didn't expect this. - "And he agreed to this?"

"It seems that he was the one who approached Hiashi." Neji explained.

She looked at the white eyed Chuunin. "Why would he? What could he possibly achieve?"

"The restoration of his clan. The Sharingan is an evolved Byakugan after all. The Hyuuga's bloodline is very sought." He sneered.

"I see…"

"Hinata-sama doesn't want anyone to know about this Kurenai-san." Neji said as he began to walk away.

"Hai. Demo, Neji… how soon does…" She bit her lip waiting for him to reply. She hoped it wasn't too soon.

"He wants her to move by tomorrow." Neji said as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

The female jounin widened her eyes. "T-tomorrow?" She sighed. "Arigatou, Neji."

The Chuunin nodded and left the building quietly.

OoO

"Hinata." Kurenai called her former student a hint of sadness was perceptible in her words. "Neji's here." They both had stayed awake last night packing Hinata's belongings. She had tried to comfort her student, but Hinata just kept telling her that she was fine. Something Kurenai highly doubted, though. Hinata had just been disowned by her father nine months ago, and now this... Kurenai shook her head; she hated how Hinata's family treated her.

"Hai." Hinata got up from her room's single small bed. She walked towards the entrance and greeted her cousin. "Ohayou, Neji-nii-san."

"Ohayou, Hinata-sama. Are you ready?" He asked.

OoO

"Hai, Arigatou Neji-nii-san." She bowed. Neji had agreed to accompany her. She felt a bit better, now that her cousin would escort her there. At least, with her cousin there Sasuke wouldn't try to do something mean. Hinata and her cousin had agreed on leaving Hinata's possessions early before Neji's team began to practice. Since both Neji and Sasuke were on the same team, Neji wouldn't have to worry about being late. Her team had already started their training so… she would probably be late. Would they be mad at her? She dismissed the thought from her head, her teammates wouldn't be angry if she was late.

"Hinata-sama. Are these all?" Neji asked his distracted cousin.

"Hai." She said noticing the small bags Neji was carrying. "Arigatou, Neji-nii-san." Hinata smiled halfheartedly. Even as hard as she tried she couldn't deny her unhappiness.

"Let's go." He carried the bags effortlessly and headed for the exit. Hinata followed him and looked at her sensei. "Arigatou, Arigatou for everything, Kurenai-sensei." She bowed and smiled.

"Hinata." Kurenai frowned at her. "Take care."

"I will." She nodded and followed her cousin outside.

oOo

"How troublesome!" Shikamaru yawned as he approached his two subordinates. They looked all beaten up. He looked around for his rookie medic nin subordinate. "Hey. Where's Hinata?" He asked.

"Shikamaru!" A black eyed Naruto angrily waved up and down. "If we knew where she was we wouldn't be looking like this!" Naruto looked at him angrily.

Gaara scoffed at Naruto. "Quit your whining, it's annoying."

Shikamaru observed his two subordinates closely. They looked pretty bad. Gaara wasn't as wounded as Naruto, though. But, Hinata wasn't one to be late. He could expect that from Naruto, but Hinata… He looked at the clouds above and sighed. Something pretty bad must have happened if the normally punctual Hinata was late.

oOo

"It's here, Hinata-sama?" Neji asked her cousin.

"Hai." She answered without taking her eyes of from the ground. They had finally arrived to her new home. There was no way she could escape the inevitable now. She reached and knocked the door slowly. She knocked once… She waited. Maybe he wasn't home; she smiled inwardly at the thought as she knocked again… Obviously, praying that he wouldn't answer the door.

She waited for a minute and turned back to look at Neji, somewhat relieved. She began to walk towards her cousin, but the sound of an opening door interrupted her.

"Hyuuga." Sasuke glared at the taller boy.

"Uchiha." Neji glared back. Hinata closed her eyes and turned back to face Sasuke. "Sasuke-san. Ohayou." She said softly.

Sasuke didn't respond because he was still busy giving the eye to Neji. She looked back at her cousin who stood glaring back at Sasuke. "U-mm… Sasuke-san?" Hinata interrupted them.

"What?" He asked rudely and angrily.

"I- um…" She cowered back a little.

"Just get in…" Sasuke rolled his eyes and moved from the entrance allowing her to go through. Neji watched as Hinata entered the house. He began to follow his cousin in, but Sasuke blocked his path. They both glared at each other intently, since those two needed no words to express their obvious hate for each other.

"If you hurt Hinata-sama, I'll…" Neji warned.

"You'll what?" Sasuke raised his tone of voice and defied his teammate.

Neji quickly grabbed Sasuke's neck tightly. "I'll…" Neji warned angrily and looked at the Uchiha in the eye. "Neji-nii-san." Hinata interrupted and frowned slightly.

The older Hyuuga loosened his grip when he heard Hinata. Seeing this, Sasuke slapped Neji's arm off his neck. They glared at each other again.

"Neji-nii-san, arigatou…You can leave now, I'll take them." Hinata whispered softly and walked towards her cousin. Sasuke moved again and let her pass, while still glaring at Neji. She picked the bags up and entered the house again.

Neji backed away and stared angrily at Sasuke before leaving. The Uchiha smirked victoriously as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. -This was getting interesting. – He smirked.

Owari…. Sighs. GaaHina fans must be killing me right now. I'm so sorry, but the next chapter is also a major SasuHina with minor GaaHina partsDemo… I still haven't decided on the real pairing yet. And Um… yes… This chapter might be confusing. Oh, well please review. Please!