Chapter Fünf
Yet another beginning
Of another chapter
In another day of my life
I ask yet another question
I harbor yet another hope
But regardless of things to come
I will smile
For yet another day
And for many other times to come
We last saw a reconciliation of what were once broken ties that have now mended to become the family embroidery, representative of its rich heritage.
But that was not all that was seen. We also saw the very public announcement of two people's future.
Amidst all the media scrutiny and political influence, how does one find love?
Is there hope?
It was some weeks later that the subject of marriage was brought up again in the Hyuuga household. Hiashi had recovered enough to be permitted to his own residence a quiet recuperation. The media was in frenzy as they continued to speculate the final outcome of the supposed union of two of Japan's most prestigious families.
We find Hinata walking through the endless corridors that leads to the dining room of the Hyuuga residence where she has been visiting as of late.
As she follows the servant in, her thoughts wander at how odd it felt for her feet to be walking along politely in the house again.
From the familiar scent of incense that touches invades her senses as she passes deeper into the architecture, to the wooden foundations that has darkened with age and the tatami-lined floor that her cloth-covered slippers tread upon.
Three years may have passed but the place has changed little
She paused to peer into the side garden that was once her mother's pride and joy. Waving the servant who was escorting her off, she walked onto the granite area and sat upon the steps that lead to the greenery.
The sight of perfectly manicured grass that surrounds the pond and the large koi that swam in the lotus-scattered waters greeted Hinata. It was tranquility at its finest, resembling very much like an oriental watercolor painting.
She was grateful that the place was well-maintained as how she remembered.
Hinata closed her eyes and relaxed as the last golden hues faded giving way to darkness. A breeze blew through the vicinity and it whispered gentle tidings to the girl whose hair now fell back to her old style.
She fingered one of the longer ends that fell on both sides of her head.
It was by impulse that she took to cutting her shoulder length pride to a little bob whose ends flicked out to give the cut a character of its own. The same style she sported before she left the Hyuuga residence as an eighteen year old.
Sakura and the others were surprised when she stepped in the office a week ago with the new cut. Ino had called her insane but later on decided that it was good since it had a more youthful feel to it.
Hinata smiled at her recollection of her friends' reactions but her thoughts were soon interrupted by the presence of another.
"Neji ni-"
"No suffix. That's what you said, right?"
"Hai, Neji."
And she smiled as he sat beside her on the step.
"How's work?"
"It's going good. Tiring, but I'm managing well I guess."
Neji raised a hand to brush her cheek.
"Hmm…… that would explain the dark circles around your eyes."
She flushed and he pulled his hand away. He sat down to watch a random bird fly by.
"Hinata."
"Hai?"
"Regarding your impending marriage with Itachi, what are your views really?"
"………."
She bowed her head.
"Honestly, I would most rather be allowed to have that one freedom to choose my life partner. Surely, being 22 means I am capable of doing that now, right?"
"Hai. None of us doubt your abilities but…"
"I know. It's nothing to do with a fairy-tale ending for me. That only exists in the bedtime stories we save for children."
Hinata said quietly before standing up to face him.
The moonlight lent a lovely glow creating a beautiful portrait in his eyes. Her porcelain skin and her pearl eyes reminded him of a traditional oriental doll, except this doll was dressed in a black Prada pants suit.
He sighed.
If given a chance, would I be a candidate? He wondered.
"Why was I born Hyuuga?"
Neji laughed.
She looked at him puzzled.
"Gomen, but that somehow sounded like Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."
She laughed.
"Life can be a tragedy sometimes. The real world offers little peace and each life is but a farce about personal freedom and the rights about being able to decide our own lives. In the end, we are just pawns in a larger game of life."
Neji considered what his cousin said.
"If is so, wouldn't the past three years but all but a farce? Hinata, you should do better that the last few years of your life was the time when you lived a life that was solely yours. One's fate is in one's hands. We're not born to fulfill a decided fate."
He looked into her eyes.
"You're no longer the weak heir. You are now a strong individual in your own right. Continue to walk the path you deem is the right way of life."
"Can I?
"Well, -"
"Sumimasen. Hinata-sama and Neji-sama, dinner is served in the main dining hall."
Neji got up and dusted off the dirt from his black clothing before escorting his cousin to the hall.
Dinner was a simple fare in view of the change in diet for Hiashi, who had to watch the type of food he ingested into his system. He was in the process of recuperating but it was evident that his heart condition affected his ability to perform his daily routines just as before. It was to the extent that Neji was to temporarily take over Hiashi's duties with Hanabi as his assistant.
He sat and watched as his eldest daughter came walking through with his nephew. Bowing, they both politely sat at the table.
Amidst the surroundings of simple wooden furniture and philosophical writings on the walls, the family ate.
And they ate quietly, picking on the steamed items and soup offered for that night's dinner. Neji picked a pick of fish and promptly placed it in Hinata's bowl, adding that she needed the extra nutrients from the long hours she endured each day.
She smiled and thanked him politely.
Hiashi carefully watched and for a split second, he thought he saw a splitting image of his late wife.
He sighed.
Hinata, with her gentle nature was always the soft one but somehow in the course of growing up, grew to have a pride almost as strong as his own.
He wasn't sure if he should be flattered.
After all, now he had an arrangement to honor with his long time friend the Uchiha head. There were just too many things at stake and he needed to come up with his answer soon.
He sighed and placed down his chopsticks.
The rest of the table paused.
"Hinata, I pray you do not blame me for my impatience but I need to know your answer."
"An answer to what, Otou-san?"
"Your impending marriage to Uchiha Itachi. Surely you have formed an idea given the time that has passed since the ball."
The girl sighed and placed her chopsticks down as well.
"Otou-san, it is very hard for me to say this but I do not wish to go through with it."
"Ironically, I was expecting to hear that very thing-"
"Demo, that is my personal view. It was the aspect of me that only thought of her own happy ending of marrying someone whom she would fall in love with and would be able to honor a marriage vow. But reality cannot be ignored, for I have to consider the Hyuuga family as well."
The rest stared at her. It was the first time they were hearing her air her own views without stuttering.
"Regardless of the past, I cannot deny the ties I have with this family. Because deep down inside our veins runs the same blood, and by that, I cannot ignore the responsibilities I have to this family."
She paused.
"I may not be heir but I still have a part to play. And this part will be seal the relationship between our family and the Uchiha."
Stunned silence followed.
"Are you sure about this?" Neji asked of his cousin whom was staring into her soup bowl.
The girl shut her eyes and nodded. She had not been sure until that moment when suddenly it all became clear. She knew what she had to do.
"Hinata…" The elderly man started. Somehow there was guilt lingering even though he had attained what he wanted.
"Please do not dissuade me. I am certain. I will marry Uchiha Itachi."
She looked up at everyone with glistering eyes.
"It would be my honor to become a part of the Uchiha family. And given the neglect of my duties to this family, let this be my first and last contribution as a Hyuuga."
The elderly man looked on as he watched the girl wiped away her tears. His little girl had grown up and there was no way he could call her weak and useless.
He was proud really but somehow the guilt that tugged at his heart refused to go away.
"Hinata! How could you! You said that you were going to tell your father that you are declining the marriage!" Ino yelled.
It was much later that night when Hinata announced her decision to her friends, who upon hearing the news came straight over to confront her at her apartment. They were all seated in her apartment's living room with Hinata on the armchair and the rest spread out on the couch or, like Ino, was standing in front of the poor Hyuuga girl yelling her lungs out.
"Yo! Loud one! Pipe down! There are others in the place that needs sleep!"
One grouchy person came down the stairs wearing only a singlet and fisherman pants that fell three-quarters. Shikamaru had decided to move into the apartment a few days ago as he found it more convenient to get to the office from Hinata's apartment. He was very annoyed to be woken up by Ino at 1 am and was prepared to haul her out of the place if that was what it took to get some peace and quiet.
"Well excuse me! But there is a very important matter at stake here!"
He scratched his head and yawned.
"Well, it's her life and since she's made up her mind, just leave it! Your yelling isn't going to change her mind."
"Yes it can! If it can wake you up. Maybe it can wake some sense in her."
"Listen up dumb one, she is an adult who is fully capable to make up her own damn mind about things. You, on the other hand, as a friend should be supporting her. Awaking her senses is only to antagonize her mind and make her lose sleep over this matter."
Ino paused and considered what the lazy one said.
"Hinata, self-sacrifice is heroic but this is not a movie. You are not as indebted to your family to the extent that you throw your own personal happiness aside for duty." Tenten added.
The one in the center of debate leaned forward.
"I know. But it is something I feel I need to do."
"It all sounds obligatory to me." Sakura said.
"But it is my choice. I choose to do it. Besides what's the worse that can happen?"
"Erm, that you get stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of your life? Only to become some heir-producing nameless?" Ino sarcastically added.
"Che, there is no love involved." Shikamaru said as he lighted up a cigarette in the balcony.
Ino merely rolled her eyes.
"Hinata deserves better than this!"
"But she has already decided so stop complicating things."
The room stood silent.
"Hinata, please, tell me that you are joking and that all this is just a dream." Sakura said.
"Uchiha Itachi is not an ideal husband! He's nothing but a handsome bastard of a playboy! This isn't some rubbish I picked up from the tabloids! It's the truth! Hinata, do reconsider!" Tenten pleaded.
The girl on the couch wiped away silent tears. She heard all their pleading and her own internal reasoning as well but her will was not going to relent.
"I appreciate all of your concerns, truly I do. But my mind is made up and I will follow through with this and stick with it regardless of the consequences. My heart hurts to hear you dissuading me because right now, what I need is your support."
She reached to grab her friends' hands.
"Please, I need you to keep me strong. All I need is your support, not to hear that this will end up a loveless union. Not to hear all the negative consequences that can possibly follow. I just need to know that you will be there for me."
The girls looked into her watery colorless eyes. She had bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying but that failed when they threw their arms around her for hugs.
Within the shelter of their friendship she sobbed for herself, for the last time.
Shikamaru sighed and inhaled the last bit of his stick before he flicked it out of the balcony and watched as the fading embers fly down into the darkness.
Uchiha Sasuke sat at the dining table where the servant began to pour the orange juice into the glass. He took a sip before another servant presented a few of the newspapers that he favored reading in the morning.
He pulled out one and flipped it open next to his plate of freshly made Danish pancakes. The sunlight trickled in through an open window. Morning was very quiet for the Uchihas since his father and brother would have left much earlier given the greater duties and responsibilities that came with the positions. His mother had already left for some charitable events so he was left to take his time to get to work.
He poured maple syrup over the few pieces and picked at random the bite-sized morsels while his mind digested the latest happenings to date.
His eyes scanned the international events and financial sections relatively fast and were about to chuck the whole paper away when the entertainment section suddenly fell from the pile.
All of the pictures that could have fell in front of his face, it had to the picture of the official engagement of Hyuuga Hinata and his brother.
Sasuke stared at the picture of the beautiful Hyuuga girl who was posing next to his charming brother, with both families flanking their sides to fill the background. He himself was at the rightmost part of the picture, farthest from the bride-to-be.
He quietly pondered upon his once childhood friend and how she had changed from before. From the shy one that was afraid of everything to the young woman that was now reflected in the picture. The girl had a gentle smile for all to see but deep inside, he knew that she was miserable. Her eyes gave her away. It was never difficult to read those colorless eyes and even if they haven't been in contact, he doubt that he read those emotions wrong.
He sighed as he drank his juice.
The fingers lazily traced the outline of her lovely face.
He wondered if they were as smooth as when he last touched them.
Hyuuga Hinata……
Author's note:
Hi Everyone!
So sorry for the late update but a couple of stuff came up during the past weeks. I hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter and rest assure that I will work on explaining for Hinata's decision to accept the marriage to Itachi and to allow the bits of sasuhina to come out as well. So erm, give me time ok? Also, I want to thank my beta, Ryce-chan, especially for her incredible patience to put up with all my grammatical nonsense. And so also pointing out the very embarassing mistake of me having spelt Neji's name wrongly for the past times. Yeeps! Gomen peepz, rest asssure that it has all been corrected.
Anyway, I have to get going.
Cheers!
Arte
Special thanks to:
Kichou
Ah-choo
Joann
Fried-Ryce
OspreyAnimeG
RyomaFan
Saturnova
Cale113