Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairings: SasukexHinata ItachixHanabi NarutoxIno SakuraxShikamaru TentenxKankuro

Bold: Hinata's Narration


"Daddy!" Neji cried. His father was on the floor struggling to climb up. The man towering above him struck a harsh blow to his chest. Blood began to seep through his clothing. Hinata watched silently, tears flowing out as she cried. "Daddy!" Neji embraced Hinata tightly. Filled with terror and unable to move, he could only watch as his father was fighting to unknown intruder. The person held a dagger and began to try stabbing Neji's father.

'I must. I can't just let Neji die!' With that thought, the man activated the secret of the Hyuuga family. The Byakugan. It was a secret ninja eye technique that was used by the clan in desperate times of need. The side effects were fatal and killed immediately after deactivation. Hizashi struck a blow and another and yet another. There was no blood and theblows were gentle. It damaged the internal systems though, itwas a fighting stlyein which the Byakuganwas needed.Finally the opponent was on the floor, unmoving. Hizashi collapsed on the floor and Neji ran over to him, tears streaming out of the boy's eyes.

"Daddy! Are you alright?" Neji was shaking uncontrollably by this point. The fire raging outside of Hinata's room was evident and smoke quickly filled out the room.

"Go Neji. Take Hinata and leave now! You must live Neji, you must live and see the world. Now go!" Hizashi was weakening with every word. His eyes were filled with tears as he reached his hand up to pat his son's head. "Don't cry Neji. Please let me see that smile from wherever I end up." Hizashi coughed up blood and pushed Neji with all the energy he had left.

"Daddy!" Neji cried. "I don't want to leave you. The boy coughed from inhaling the smoke.

"You must now go." Hizashi's hand became limp as his eyes returned to normal.

"Daddy!" Neji cried his scream piercing and filled with sorrow.

That is all I could recall before I began to cough and fell on the floor. I was shaking and crying, begging for someone to come and save me. I remember the blazing flames seemingly engulfing my uncle and cousin. I woke up two hours later next to my cousin in the grass.

"Neji." Hinata tried to sit up. Her head was pulsing and her chest hurt. Her cousin had his legs curled up against his chest, head buried in his arms. "Neji." Neji looked up. His face was red from crying and his arms and legs were burnt.

"H-hinata." Neji looked over at the girl and wiped his tears on part of his shirt. Hinata looked at the boy with an empathetic look.

"Neji, where are we?" Hinata asked in a raspy voice.

"Just outside of the city. Your father told us to hide here and be quiet." Neji whispered. The tall grass was indeed covering both of the children. Neji was still shedding tears while trying to smile at the girl. He failed miserably. Hinata held out her arms to the boy and he shook his head.

"You're hurt." Hinata told the boy. His shirt was burnt and his skin was peeled. Blood was dripping onto the ground. His legs were in even worse shape and it must have been very painful to walk.

"I'll be fine. Are you alright?" His voice had changed. There was no childish laughter lining his voice anymore. Tears were still flowing, but it didn't seem to have sorrow anymore. There was anger apparent in his voice and it scared the little girl.

"Yes Neji." Hinata curled up in the grass and began to cry. 'What's going on?' The moon shed a faint light from high up in the sky. There were sounds of crickets and the slight rustling of leaves and bushes. Hinata began to think about her uncle. 'What happened to his eyes?' Hinata began to shiver. The grass shifted as Neji lied down next to Hinata.

"Please, please don't cry." His voice was cracking and it was obvious that he would never forget this day. His chest had a strangled feeling and it was a piercing pain. Hinata looked over at her cousin and whispered.

"I don't think I'll ever stop crying." Hinata looked the other way and sleep slowly overtook the girl.

My father eventually came to find us. He said most of our home was burnt and that Hanabi had been in an event of an attempted kidnapping. The culprit had been killed by my father.

When the children returned to their home, Neji was having trouble walking. His burnt legs caused him to stumble and fall. Hinata was tired and yawned. She never complained though. Her eyes were dry from crying, those eyes had lost something that she didn't know she had. Innocence. Nobody ever knew that was the day it all disappeared. The windows to how cruel the world really was opened that day. Her father led them to a mansion that was next to their burnt palace. The Sabakus resided there.

The Sabakus had a family that consisted of a father and his three children. Neji finally collapsed and didn't move from his spot. A girl around eleven showed up and bowed to the king. She picked up the boy who had fallen and ran through the gates of the manor. Soon after, a boy around the age of nine showed up and took Hinata through the gates as well.

Hinata stumbled as he pulled her away. She could see a man with bright red head talking to her father. Then, the girl turned back and saw the boy the boy holding a finger to his lips as he shoved her inside a room quickly following by locking the door. The room had no windows and Hinata saw the girl from before cleaning Neji's wounds. A boy around her age was sitting by the wall with a person by his side. "Hanabi."

Hinata looked at her younger sister. Scars and rope marks were all over the girl and her clothes were burnt and torn. Wrapped up in bandages, it looked as if she were about to die. Hinata sat down by her sister and tears began to flow out of her eyes. A hand was on her shoulder and shocked the girl looked back to see the girl with dirty blonde hair. "She'll be just fine." Her calming green eyes soothed Hinata for a brief moment. "It's best if you don't cry. Father told us not to make any noise. The enemy may still be out there somewhere waiting for a prime opportunity to strike without warning. By the way, do you remember me?"

"No. I'm sorry." Hinata looked at the girl who pulled her up.

"Well then, it has been a while. My name is Temari, the one who brought you in here is Kankuro, and Gaara is sitting by your sister." Temari pulled Hinata over to a mat on the side of the room. "You can sit here. Kankuro will keep you company." Temari returned to cleaning Neji's wounds. Hinata sat against the wall closing her eyes. The girl was exhausted and she immediately fell into a deep sleep.

I dreamed that night. I dreamed of Sasuke and Neji. They were both next to me and I saw more and more people. I saw them in no apparent order, but I named every single one of them even if I didn't know who they were. Gaara. Temari. Kankuro. Shikamaru. Ino. Chouji. Naruto. Sakura. Kiba. Shino. Tenten. Lee. Neji. Itachi. Hanabi. Sasuke. After him there was a flash of something in the air. It appeared right next to me. That moment I didn't think much of it, but it was something that would be forever imprinted into my memory. They all slowly began to fade away as I reached for them.

Hinata awoke to the sound of shifting near her and found Gaara next to her. "I-I'm sorry. I was alone and it was scary." Gaara closed his eyes and looked down.

"It's alright." The boy looked back up with a shocked look and smiled. His smile was indeed a genuine smile.

"Your name is Hinata right?" Hinata nodded. "Hinata, did you hear about what had happened in the south?"

"What happened?" Hinata asked in a surprised tone.

"Well, last night I could hear my father yelling and cursing. I found out that there was a murder. The royal family had been killed by a member of the family. Sasuke is the only member left that was spared." Gaara didn't look at the girl. He instead concentrated on the image of his siblings. Kankuro's head in Temari's lap. Temari was leaning against the wall slightly bent over.

"Who was the killer?" Hinata asked tears forming in her eyes. 'Itachi is dead. Itachi is dead.' Hinata felt empty even though she felt no love for the prince.

Gaara paused for a moment before responding. "Itachi." The boy was close to whispering.

At that moment, I knew my world would never be the same. Itachi, the prince of the south I was engaged to had just murdered his entire family. Sasuke was the only one left.

"Did they catch him?" Hinata asked. Her tears close to spilling on the wooden floor. Gaara shook his head.

Not only was my fiancé a murderer, but he hadn't been caught. Now the whole nation had no ruler and it was vulnerable. That time I cried, not for Sasuke or Itachi. Not for myself or my future. I cried for those who didn't get a chance to before they died. Somehow I could imagine the whole scene and I shook terribly for the next couple days. I was devastated and the next week held a big turn of events for the north and the south.


One week later…

Hinata stood at the train station alone. The wind ruffling her kimono and her hair caused her to look up and see the train. Today Sasuke was being brought from his home. Hinata's father had ordered his army to take control of the country. He told the people that when Sasuke reached eighteen, he could rule over the land on his own. To prevent further problems, the country was now under the rule of the Hyuuga.

"Prince Sasuke." Hinata bowed to the prince and looked up to see his face. It was cold and there was no trace of emotion anywhere. "I'm sorry."

"Do not apologize. Royals do not degrade themselves when they have not committed the crime." Sasuke walked pass the girl who looked down at her feet.

Hinata looked at the boy who looked as if he was a robot. His childlike ways seemed to be torn away. He no longer had that cheerful walk, now it was a proper stride. Hinata followed behind the boy looking at the back of his head. "Please do not blame my father for taking over."

Sasuke stopped in mid-step and turned around. "I do not. My family would have done the dame thing."

"You will never be ruler of this country. Since Itachi is gone, the two countries have broken the deal. Hanabi will rule your kingdom with you." Hinata stated looking into the eyes of the boy. The royal children were skilled more than others and could easily come up with the right things to say.

"I don't care anymore. All I care about is avenging my family. It was my fault they died. By the way, who are you engaged to now?" Sasuke turned around with his question. It hurt his heart badly and he just wanted to cry right then and there. The child wasn't completely sure why though.

"There is no telling who it will be. It will most likely be Inuzuka Kiba." Hinata began to walk again. A single tear dropped from her face onto the ground. Sasuke just stood and at that moment he wanted to get rid of the pain in his chest. It was a wound that would follow him for all of eternity, but one day he would find some way to sooth it.


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