"So it's settled then. We'll account this as a mission." Shikamaru was handing files to Naruto who was signing them one by one. "Naruto, this one requires your writing and blood seal."
Naruto was painting on a text that instructed Hinata's mission, signed it, rolled it up, sealed it, handed it to her and said: "When you open it, it starts officially."
The girl lifted her hand forming a hand sign in order to release the mission scroll, but Naruto extended his arm grabbing her wrist breaking up the chakra flow in her hand for a moment. "Hinata, we are accounting it as a mission for your sake only. It is not. Please remember that you don't have to open it."
She gave Naruto a warm reassuring smile accompanied by a sense of calmness, a thing new for her in his presence. Her blush was controlled, her thoughts orderly, her gaze clear. "It's ok Naruto."
He let go of her wrist unresponsive to her smiling face and just leaned back grumpily sinking into his chair, while the little rolled up piece of paper popped open in her hand.
Sasuke who was standing next to her said: "You have to get rid of it."
"Ok" she nodded, attempting to fold it now. He grabbed the paper out of her hand and incinerated it instantly.
"So we're keeping this between the four of us alone?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.
"I agree." he responded passively. Hinata then looked at him as if having remembered something. "Naruto, there is someone else that maybe should know."
"Who?"
Hinata fumbled with her skirt for a few moments, unsure how to explain herself, but the name on her mind was clear. "Sakura."
Naruto's entire body shivered in horror. "Why Sakura!?" He already saw himself in bruises.
Hinata knew how Sakura felt about Sasuke. Not only did she know, she understood. She couldn't just let her believe he has married someone else on his own accord and has forgotten about her feelings for him. If Naruto had just ignored her feelings, instead of acknowledging them, the pain would have been unbearable. Sakura had to know this was all a mission.
But such thoughts don't appear in minds of those much less kind than Hinata. All Sasuke and Shikamaru were thinking was that, as long as Sakura knew the truth, there was hope for her to hold onto her feelings for Sasuke and refuse Naruto. They were convinced Hinata was calculating the exact same thing.
"Is it to make the fake baby?" Naruto asked after a bit. "Why can't it be Shizune?" He whined thinking how he's going to be beaten up soon.
"The fake baby?" Shikamaru looked at him surprised.
"Yes, they have to make a fake pregnancy on Hinata and adopt a baby. You said that." Naruto grinned, and proud for having remembered it added: "Dumbass."
Shikamaru smirked amused and responded. "You have a point. If anyone has a chance of pulling something like this off, it's Sakura."
Naruto slumped in agony and confirmed. "There's no way around it then. Shikamaru you'll tell Sakura. Sasuke, two of us are going to the Hyuuga residence tomorrow. Hinata, you just make sure you appear ignorant of everything."
The three shinobi nodded at Naruto. "That's all for today I guess. I have a few reports to get to and I'll hit the sack. We can all go home!" He grinned stretching his arms.
Shikamaru lifted himself off the ground, took a few files under his arm and called: "Mirate!" His genin appeared in the room. "Let's go train you."
"Teacher."
"Yeah?"
"It's midnight." The kid complained annoyed. He's been standing in front of those doors the entire day.
"We can go home if you want."
"No! I want to train!"
"Well that's nice to hear." Shikamaru and his student disappeared in the hallway.
Sasuke and Hinata were walking out of Naruto's office behind them. Naruto called: "Hey Hinata." She stopped returning in front of Naruto's desk as the room remained empty. Naruto stood out of his chair and bowed to her. "Thank you." He then straightened his body and added with a big smile on his face. "For what you did just now. Looking out for Sakura. You're cool people."
Hinata's face turned red again and she smiled back. Naruto took his jacket off the back of his chair. "I'm gonna get to unfreeze some ramen!" he jumped over his desk in glee. Hinata giggled as they left the hokage office.
- …Hyuuga residence; the next morning -
"Hinata sweetie you don't have to do that. It's clean." Hinata's mother called out to her after she spotted her daughter having soaped up the entire kitchen.
"I'm almost done mum. It's fine." The girl nervously fussed with everything around the house, trying to keep herself busy and exhaust the nervousness that has kept her up all night. By 8 o'clock that morning she's done 3 days' worth of training that she could do in silence without waking anyone, flipped through all the books in her room and the entire house was spotless. The family was sitting down to eat with exhausted Hinata, having accomplished her goal. She had no more energy to be strained and nervous, worrying about acting. In fact, she was barely keeping herself awake.
Her father looked at her concerned. "Hinata."
She spread her eyes wide, focusing on appearing rested in front of him. "Yes father?"
"Are you sick?"
Now she has started sweating as panic overcame her. I messed it up! Can they tell!? Calm down Hinata. You have to lie. Lie. Lie. "Not really…" That's wrong. Lie. "Maybe. It's nothing too much." She lifted the corners of her lips. "I don't know."
He turned on his byakugan examining his daughter's chakra flow. It has slowed down. Luckly, chakra flow caused by exhaustion, when mixed with the person panicking, looks random and is similar to chakra flow of many other common conditions. Like indigestion.
"If you're not feeling better by tonight, we'll skip your training."
"Yes father." She responded meekly and continued with her meal, keeping closer attention to staying awake.
Ko Hyuuga walked in the room bowing to the family. "Master Hiashi, there are visitors at the gate."
Past this point, all need for Hinata to work to stay awake was gone.
Hiashi seemed annoyed. "Tell them to wait, we're eating."
"But sir, it's the hokage."
Hiashi's youngest son, a 1 year old boy, sitting on his mother's lap repeated the word he learned recently and has just heard again. "Og-kage!" His mother covered his mouth silencing him: "Shh, Ko is speaking, Hirasu." Hiashi didn't understand. What business would the hokage have coming to his house in person? He could have sent for him.
He put down his chopsticks and looked at his wife as he rose to his feet: "I'll be right out." She nodded restraining the Tasmanian devil in her lap. But the kid was relentless. He squirmed out his mother's hold and was out the door, after his father in a matter of seconds. His mother who failed to catch him in the kneeling position, finally got up running after him. "Hirasu!" Hinata and Hanabi who were the last ones at the table resumed eating. Or Hanabi did. Hinata was nervously crushing the remaining rice grains in her bowl anticipating even the slightest sound. Hanabi noticed and began to stare at her sister.
"Miss Hinata?" She was so tense that the moment Ko who was sent back to bring her, called her name, she fired the chopstick from between her fingers having it land in the soup in the middle of the table.
"Eh… Your father wants to see you outside."
She nodded and slowly rose to her feet, under the impression she'd flip something over if she's not careful. Standing, she could tell she is a bit dizzy. On the trail around the corner of their house, towards the gates, she passed her mother carrying her little brother in her arms back to the house. "Og-kage!" the kid yelled after Hinata. From the opposite side of the yard she heard Naruto's voice. "Exactly! You have a great future kid!" Naruto was laughing. She could finally see him with Ko, her father and Sasuke standing, waiting for her.
"Well hokage, my daughter is here like you asked. What did you have to tell me this early in the morning?"
Sasuke spoke before Naruto got the chance to. "He didn't. He's here for me."
"You?"
"My name is Sa.."
"I know who you are." The atmosphere dropped in an instant. Naruto has completely stopped smiling and Hinata was frozen hearing her father's strict angry voice.
"I'm here to marry your daughter. Naruto is here in Sarutobi's stead, as a witness."
Hiashi just stood there staring at Sasuke for what seemed like eternity. He then turned around and started walking back to the house.
"Follow me."
- …inside the Hyuuga meeting room -
Opposite of Naruto and Sasuke were sitting Hinata and Hiashi, Ko was standing outside guarding the door.
"Do you have the contract?"
Sasuke handed him the scroll. Hiashi took it and looked at it. "This is not happening."
Sasuke stared at him grimly. Hiashi continued. "Your father is dead."
"His life guaranteed my withdrawal, not the validity of the contract. I'm not withdrawing."
"Your whole clan is dead. This was a clan based contract. An alliance." Hiashi continued coldly.
"My family is dead, but my clan is officially active."
"One man clan? This isn't a game boy." Hiashi was growing angry.
"It's not. It's a clan you owe your daughter to."
"It's not a clan." Hiashi quickly retorted raising his voice.
"Enough." Naruto interrupted their conversation in a rather mild and calm tone. "Master Hiashi, the contract is valid, I checked myself this morning, you can do it too. I don't agree with this. I never did. But I can't change it. I have to be here." It was obvious he was indirectly apologizing to Hinata who was staring at him with a worried look on her face.
"Naruto, do you remember what you once told me? … You told me you were going to remove the curse mark from my clan and change everything. I will never let you do that of course, but understand that this contract puts one on Hinata's forehead."
"Why would you make such a contract?" Naruto responded spontaneously.
"It's something called the rinnegan experiment."
At the word rinnegan, Hiashi had their full attention.
"That's right, you're a user Sasuke. Well you might understand this... It's based on a legend passed down from generation to generation within the Hyuuga clan. Legend of Hyuuga's rinnegan. A child born to our ancestor who escaped with an Uchiha. She returned after her husband had died, with a girl in her arms. A girl not many today believe existed. Back then our clan did not train women in combat. The child's rinnegan was activated in distress, on accident and she was said to have died young of disease. An alliance between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga formed in order to create the next generation of children wielding the power of the rinnegan."
"You wanted a weapon?" Naruto responded with a hint of disgust in his voice.
"Every child is a weapon. We wanted a better weapon, one which would make a leader one day. But for that child to be born, we had to join two kekkey genkai carriers from our respective clans. Only no one trusted the other side. Uchiha feared if they gave us their daughter, we'd lie to them and keep the child to ourselves. Same went for us. It's why, ultimately, we gambled. Complete alliance was proposed. Merging of the two clans with this marriage, only if the child born in it is the rinnegan user we wanted. And the only way to do that in full commitment, discarding the fear, was to marry the two successors to our clans, ensuring that the child to inherit the the clans in the future, has a family on both sides and has no interest in oppression, or separation, like the one Konoha committed against the Uchiha."
Sasuke intervened. "There is nothing about this in the marriage contract."
Hiashi looked at him again, his gaze growing darker as soon as he did. "This agreement was silent and unofficial. Our contracts are public. It was posed as a regular marriage and until the child has grown, it was going to stay that way. The regularity of that contract was the exit clause."
Naruto repeated. "Exit clause?"
"Exit out of our clan alliance. If the child born to my daughter within the Uchiha clan does not activate the rinnegan, the plan for the alliance between our clans will be cancelled and my daughter will stay in the Uchiha clan as their member for the rest of her life. At the time I had no intention to have her run the clan even if she was the successor, so I conceded to send her away."
In the corner of their eyes, all 3 men could see Hinata flinch by a few millimetres at the end of her father's sentence. Hiashi's eyes dropped to the ground and he added in a more silent voice. "I am not proud of this fact, but I was, and still am the leader of this clan first and her father second."
Sasuke now intervened, completely ignoring the sensitivity of the situation. "As a leader first, you should have no problems honouring your contracts."
"It is a two part contract. The unofficial part cannot be upheld by you alone."
"I don't care about your unofficial agreements. This is a stain on my family name and I won't let it go."
"If that's the stain you're worried about, you've got your priorities mixed up boy."
The two of them were like angry cats hissing and circling one another, but Hiashi's last remark seemed to have cracked something inside Sasuke. His eyes turned red. "You either honour this contract, or we go with the alternative."
Hiashi's byakugan activated and he rose to his feet. "So be it." Sasuke followed. Hinata was staring up at her father with horror in her eyes. Realizing what just happened Naruto jumped up and extended open palms towards Hiashi, turning his back on Sasuke. "Ok this got out of hand! Let's all calm down."
"Uchiha clan here is right. Hyuuga always honour their contracts hokage Naruto." Hiashi added as another vein popped up on the side of his left eye.
"Father!" A high pitched voice tore through the room. Surprised, all 3 of them looked at her simultaneously as Hinata stood up as well. "Father please don't do this. I'll go with him." She stared at him with tears in her eyes. Hiashi has made Hinata cry many times, but never this way. Never for him… He lowered his guard and turned to her when "I'm sorry." escaped his lips. Words he has never uttered before. It pushed out tears, which were now streaming down her face and she smiled responding in a cracked, crying voice: "I understand." She then quickly covered her eyes with her sleeve, hiding behind it. Hiashi slowly approached his daughter and pressed her head against his chest, putting his other arm around her shoulders in a gentle and unsure manner. Finally Hinata hugged him back, now obviously unable to stop crying.
Naruto who was incredibly touched by the whole scene got his compassion crushed by Sasuke's elbow yanked straight into his ribs. Not wanting to disturb Hinata and Hiashi, he held in cries of pain making a mental note to take revenge on Sasuke as soon as they're out of there.
Before he let go of her Hiashi said. "It's alright. It's a duty I escaped once long ago pushing my brother in the line of fire. I guess my time has finally come." He stepped away from her and continued. "You'll do good, I have trust in you."
"No I won't."
"Excuse me?"
"No I won't father. I was never born to take your place and until Hanabi can, you mustn't risk your life like this!"
"Hinata, regardless of today, risk on my life is something I and everyone in our clan accept."
"And saving it is the most valuable thing I can ever do for this clan. Please father."
Hiashi exhaled as he slowly turned his head to look at Sasuke. His eyebrows lowered. There was no helping it. He hated him. Not only by reason even. On instinct. With resentment oozing out of his every word Hiashi surrendered. "You win Uchiha clan. We'll hold the ceremony in two days. I'll send organizers to your residence. Half of the fee is on you."
Equal dislike was naturally reciprocated, with anger tangible around Sasuke's entire presence. He bowed to Hiashi and without another word left the room. Naruto who was left alone by Sasuke in there, quickly bowed down as well, pushing an awkward smile on his face. Before he disappeared in Sasuke's direction.
- …out on the streets of Konoha...-
Naruto and Sasuke were walking in silence. Suddenly Naruto jammed his elbow in Sasuke's ribs.
"What the fuck are you doing?" He looked at him angry and bewildered.
"Same thing you did to me!"
"We were in there to intimidate Hiashi and you looked like a little girl."
"Excuse me!? My tears are manly!"
"Hn." Sasuke scoffed irritated.
"They are!"
"Shut up. You're annoying."
"No one is asking your opinion you cool-pretending evil, clown!"
"…"
"Oh what is that supposed to mean?!"
