Sorry it took so long to update. Family problems.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Pairings: SasukexHinata ItachixHanabi NarutoxIno SakuraxShikamaru TentenxKankuro
Bold: Hinata's Narration
Hinata pat her sister on the back until the girl calmed down. "Neji?" Hinata asked still patting Hanabi on the back. There was a low grunt signifying that Neji was indeed listening. "I should be dead. I had the same eyes your father had before he…" Hinata could feel that Neji trembled at the mention of his father.
"Just because he had the eyes does not mean that he died because of them." Neji sighed leaning against the wall closing his eyes. His hands were folded across his chest and he went into a deep state of thought. Something told him that he was going to be proved wrong. The boy felt that something was indeed going on, it was something he didn't like. Not at all.
Shikamaru was thinking even if he didn't look like it. His posture was not good but his hands were making the shape of a circle. The boy pretended as if the pieces to a chess board were being set. It was a huge board with many steps to be taken, many different strategies, but only one true outcome. Now all that was needed was an opponent.
Sakura then spoke up. "This is like a game of chess." Shikamaru stared at the girl in shock. It was as if the emerald eyed girl could read his thoughts.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked in confusion. Ino tilted her head thinking hard. She had never been allowed to play chess. She was only permitted to watch. Her caretakers had declared it unladylike for the blonde to sit around and play. Seen and not heard. Ino hated that phrase. Whoever came up with it should be killed.
"Well," Sakura started, "I can tell this is going to be like a game. We're the pieces and we all serve a different purpose. We have to find a way to our solution."
"There's just one thing we are missing." Shikamaru declared. The boy spoke from the door.
"What is that?" Rock Lee inquired from where he was standing.
Shikamaru looked down and sighed before answering. "An enemy." When he said those two words he made eye contact with everyone in the room making sure to grasp their line of sight one by one. The Nara strolled over to the group. "We should all be on high guard. Form groups and don't dare to stray from them. Do everything together. Sleep in the same room, eat in the same places. When you go to the bathroom, have someone stand outside the door."
"Why are you being so serious?" Kiba asked. "You're just getting us all worried. What if there's nothing out there?" Kiba looked at Hinata and saw her shaking slightly in the bed. "Hinata is even shaking! Do you have any proof that this is a bad situation we're in?"
Shikamaru sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. You people just don't understand. I've studied these situations before, part of being rich. It's troublesome. All things start with someone wanting something whether it's for revenge or their own selfish reasons. Strange things begin to happen, small things though. They don't appear to be that important. Then they strike, and they take everything. Don't you see, Hinata is a princess her father was king. There must have been many out there trying to get them both."
"No." Sakura began to explain, "Look we can't afford for an entire group to be risked right now. We all need to stay together especially since we don't understand the situation.I don't think we should make this a big deal at this moment. As long as we're together we'll be fine. We still have to attend Hinata's birthday ceremony."
"Wait, Hanabi said something about leaving earlier." Tenten told the group.
Hanabi peaked her head out. "Yes I did." Hanabi sniffed as she spoke. Her eyes were red from crying and her cheeks tearstained.
"What did you say honey?" Temari asked handing the girl her handkerchief. Hanabi took it and wiped her tears.
"I-I said that Da-daddy left."
"What do you mean by he left?" Shikamaru asked. Hanabi crawled to the edge of the bed off her sister. Hinata was a bit glad, now she could breathe easier. Hanabi pulled out a book from her pocket. It was velvet covered with golden trimming. There was a lock on it though.
"There was a light. I was the only one awake in the room and it was a bright light. It started up towards the ceiling. Then it just went away." Hanabi pointed upwards to emphasize her point.
"What it that?" Shikamaru asked the little girl in front of him.
"Well, father gave this to me yesterday and he cried. He said not to tell anyone he was leaving. Daddy seemed really sad." The seven year old girl looked up at Shikamaru. "He said something that I didn't understand. He told me go when the blood of the ocean comes. He told me to leave and follow the blood to the path."
"Go where Hanabi?" Tenten questioned. Hanabi just shrugged.
I froze when I heard the mention of this. The blood of the ocean, what keeps it alive and moving. The moon controls the tides and turned red every once in a millennia. The moon is the true blood of the ocean. My mother told me that is the only way to clearly mark the path. To where? Then I remembered.
"Somewhere, beyond that blue sea, there is a land. A land where we are forbidden to go. Somewhere in which terror brings death, with every breath you take." The Queen explained to her princess. "We must never go there. Never."
"The land beyond the ocean." Hinata looked at the puzzled faces. "The moon is what keeps the ocean alive. When it turns red it is called the blood moon." Hinata pulled on a silk robe to cover her bandaged body. She stood up and her legs failed her after a step or two. Hinata whimpered and felt her fall break as hands were pressed against her back and her chest was pressed against someone else's. The princess was staring into coal black eyes. Blush rapidly spread across Hinata's pale features.
"Be careful." Sasuke lifted the girl onto her feet. Hinata promptly lost her balance and the process was repeated. Sasuke then kneeled down. "Get on."
"I'm alright, really I am." Hinata was then placed on Sasuke's back against her will. Her face became a shade of maroon and she tried to push against his grip. Sasuke just gripped harder.
"If you're going to struggle I could just let you fall." At that comment, Hinata stopped resisting. "Now, I think you have to get ready for your party, is that correct?" Sasuke looked at the girl on his back. His mouth twitched and Hinata just blushed. 'Dammit! Sasuke get a hold of yourself.' Hinata nodded.
"You sure you won't hurt your back rice ball boy?" Neji smirked.
One would imagine that Neji was out of character at this moment if they read the words he spoke. However, if anyone heard the tone of his voice which was filled with hostility, they would think otherwise. It was as if he was talking to a beast he wanted to challenge for something. That was something that scared me greatly, my cousin whom I loved with all my heart, was turning as distant as my mother.
Hinata began to shake again and Sasuke felt her trembling. The boy turned around to face Neji, his eyes filled with raging fire. "I wasn't the one who didn't protect her, now was I?" Sasuke placed Hinata gently on the wood flooring. Neji clenched his fists. "That's right, you failed to protect poor, defenseless princess over here."
That comment made Hinata feel worthless. She looked down. 'It was all my fault. This wasn't any of their doing. Not Neji's, not father's, not anyone but me.'
Neji looked at the Uchiha boy and stepped into his fighting stance gracefully and so perfected in every way. "You worthless, you're making Hinata feel inferior. I should kill you for that." Sasuke stepped into his own fighting stance as quick as the wind could blow.
"S-stop." Hinata pleaded. Her quiet voice was not able to be heard. She tried again. "Please stop!" She yelled. Apparently everyone in the room heard her this time. The princess looked down. "This wasn't Neji's, Sasuke's, or even my father's fault. It was because of me."
Neji rushed over to her. "Look at me Hinata." Hinata kept her head down. "Just please, look at me." Hinata raised her head slightly. "This is not your fault, don't ever say that it's your fault. You got hurt because I wasn't there. Your father was unstable, I should have been there to protect you." Neji embraced her, but Hinata pushed away.
"No, my father was the one who needed protecting. He didn't die because of his eyes." Hinata stood up and closed her eyes. "He died because of me." The girl activated her Byakugan and looked around. "I will prove to you that I will not die even after deactivation of these eyes." She deactivated her eyes and still stood tall. "I just became so infuriated I lost it, he killed my mother! I saw someone else's smile on him. I don't know how to explain, but that wasn't really my father. My father had died long ago. When my mother passed away, he was no longer a noble man of the Hyuuga, but a traitorous snake."
There was a strange aura surrounding the girl and Tenten approached her cautiously. "Hinata, princess." Tenten was blown away by a strange gust of wind. She braced herself for impact and found that she did not hit ground. She opened her eyes to find a pair of green orbs staring at her with concern. "Kankuro-san." Tenten leapt out of his arms and bowed. "Thank you." The girl was blushing but turned back to the scene in front of her. Hinata was glowing white and Hanabi was pointing, saying something inaudible.
"I deserve to die!" The light became even brighter and there were markings all across her arms, glowing a faint blue. Sasuke threw a kunai at the wall with a wire attached to it. He pulled himself towards the girl and then she stopped glowing and fell. Sasuke was so shocked by the sudden halt that he didn't catch the girl and she fell. There was a crash and Hinata was on her back her head hit the floor hard.
"Princess!" Ino pushed her way to get to her friend. "My god." She began to shake the girl, there was no answer from the royal even as Ino screamed at the top of her lungs. Then the markings on Hinata's arms disappeared and Hinata snapped up as if gasping for air. She was panting heavily and began to clutch her head. "Hinata?" Ino looked around, but only saw puzzled faces frozen with relief, fear, or shock.
"Ino?" Hinata asked. "What time is it?" Ino was puzzled, her friend had just been glowing seconds ago and now she wanted to know the time.
"Six." Ino answered.
"I'm late." Hinata muttered.
"You're in no condition to go to the party." Tenten answered upon hearing this.
"But…tod-today is t-the day that I w-will be giv-given my crown as will Kiba. I ca-cannot miss thi-this ceremo-mony." Hinata stood up and winced in pain.
"She isn't lying. She has to be there or else she forfeits the throne." Neji commented.
"Oh my lord." Ino grabbed Shikamaru and began to shake him. "Did you know this?" Her eyes pleaded him for an answer.
"Maybe." Shikamaru replied looking out the window.
"I hate you!" Ino smacked the boy on the head. "Who is willing to carry the princess?" Ino yelled waving her arms around. There was a yelp and Ino turned around to find that Sasuke had already taken the liberty of placing the girl on his back. "Oh…well what are we waiting for? Remember to stay in a group everybody!" Ino rushed out the door with Sasuke close behind her. People rushed out the door. The only one left in the room was Gaara.
"I smell…blood coming from the window." Gaara's eyes narrowed and the curtains blew as if to say everything is fine. The boy was about to walk over to the window, but there was a person at the door. He turned around to find his sister with her hands on her hips.
"Now, now. I don't think anybody would appreciate you not going." Temari saw the look in her brother's eyes. "You don't think." Temari was cut off by her brother nodding.
Even though I was not in the room when this happened I could feel fear and when I closed my eyes I saw Temari breaking down and shaking. Gaara just stared out the window with his eyes narrowed.
Hinata began to grip just a little tighter. Sasuke felt her tighten the grip on his shoulders and he actually quite liked it. Then there was the feeling of something breaking again. It made him shudder. Ino pushed Sasuke and Hinata into a room. She told the girls to come with her and all the boys to stay outside. Once Hinata was safely inside the room, Sasuke was also pushed outside the room.
Hinata was pulled this way and that. They slipped the kimono on the girl and tied to obi around her. Her hair was combed and there was jewelry was slipped on her neck and bracelets were on her wrists. Her face was covered in makeup then she was set aside. The other girls began to dress and clothes were thrown everywhere. The girls were all done and Tenten opened the door and poked her head out. "Guys you need to change right?" Most of the boys just shrugged. The girl sighed, "There are clothes for you to change into in this room." The girl stepped out completely.
Tenten was wearing a forest green kimono that went to her knees and had golden designs on it. Her shoes were a pair of green sandals that laced up above her ankles, but below her knees. The boys stared at her in awe not just because she looked stunning in her new outfit. The other reason was that she let her hair down. Nobody had ever seen the girl without her hair down. Her honey brown tresses ended at mid-back and looked smooth and silky. You could faintly smell the fragrance of sweet honey cakes that most children would eat at home on a nice spring day. "Guys,…hello guys." She snapped her fingers in front of their faces hoping to get a response.
"Teneten!" Temari screamed running down the hall. "Let me in. I'll change really quickly." The girl pushed everybody else out and jumped in locking the door." The boys tapped their feet with irritated faces.
"Temari, it's Sakura, just slide the blue boxes out. There should be two of them." The door opened and two blue boxes came out. "Alright, all you guys need to do is change in the room across the hall." Sakura pushed them into the room and closed the door. Sakura's red gown was wrinkled a bit from all the commotion so she took the liberty of smoothing it out. Her cherry blossom hair was up in a messy bun which looked beautiful on the girl. Her kimono had white pictures of a sakura tree on it. Her shoes were a pair of red boots that ended at her knees. The kimono was short on one side and long on the other. Around her neck was a white pearl necklace that complemented her outfit.
Temari then stepped out of the room and gave a thumbs up smoothing out her clothing. The girl was dressed in a white kimono with golden edges and she had a fan with her to cover her face. The kimono was short and exposed her perfectly tanned legs. The fan was a white fan with teal designs on it in the form a dragon. Hinata realized it was sharp, it could probably slit her throat in a matter of seconds. The girl's dirty blonde hair was down and tucked behind her ears. Her earings were huge golden hoops with a teal stone hanging from the inside of the hoop. The shoes were golden sandals, very reminiscent of Tenten's.
"You l-look very n-nice." Hinata commented.
"Thank you. Same goes for you." Temari ran her fingers through her hair. The boys came out one by one.
"Hurry!" Ino yelled as she dragged Shikamaru down the hall. Ino's hair was up in her usual ponytail and her high heels clack as she ran. The jingle of her jade bracelet and necklace was heard too. Her dress was baby blue with a ting of sea green at the ends. It complemented her beautiful eyes. The rest of the people followed and once again Hinata was on Sasuke's back. Tenten had trouble standing, let alone running so Kankuro picked her up bridal style.
Tenten looked up at his face. Her face heated up and she leaned into his chest. Neji saw this and felt a pang of jealousy, but shrugged it off. 'Kankuro sure looks a lot better without that stuff on his face.' The Sabaku felt her head lean into his chest. The boy felt content and held her just a little tighter. Finally the group reached the doors, the girls and guys slid on their masks. "Stay relatively close to the throne." Tenten whispered before opening the door.
The golden doors opened to reveal a ballroom with enormous windows on each side. There were white curtains that covered the windows. On the walls were giant paintings of the royal family and the one in the very front of the room was the princess and her fiancé. The crystal chandeliers illuminated the marble flooring. Hinata was immediately pushed towards the center of the room. Dancing people began to push her unknowing that what they were doing could cause them to be killed. Hinata was pushed unto the floor where she began to panic. Whenever she got up, the people would just shove her back down.
Hinata was then pulled up by someone. They were dressed in black as if they were headed to a funeral. He had raven black hair and a black mask which contrasted with his pale skin. "You know you shouldn't be all the way over here." Hinata looked down. The boy lifted her chin up and kissed her. Hinata began to panic, this was nobody she knew, at least not that she could remember. The boy was so much taller than her, it was frightening. The mysterious stranger let her go. "I have to go now. I know I will see you again soon."
The boy had seemed so familiar. I felt comfort in that moment and wanted to see more of the strange foreigner. My heart was beating fast as I kissed him. He was my first, the one who took my kiss was the one whom was originally supposed to get it. It was not his job to, he probably just wanted to claim what was his.
Sasuke saw this and his heart began aching and at that point he realized why. He loved her, he loved her with all his being. Whenever someone else was around her or whenever she was around another boy, he had a pain in his heart. The boy remembered what his brother had told him once though. 'Royals are not meant to love nor hate. They are supposed to do what they have to no matter what the cost. Detaching ones self from their humanly wants of power and greed. That is what a royal is and what we must always be.' Yet his brother had left and abandoned his duty, his land, his honor, his princess, his little brother.
Neji was not about to let the man get away with such an act. That was his cousin's first kiss, there was not a price on how high on would bid for a princess's first kiss. "You there, halt by orders of the royal family." Neji waited for the man to turn around and when he did, he was met by red eyes. "This is…Prince Itachi." Neji whispered to himself. Neji soon began to yell and scream. "Prince Itachi! Run and seek shelter!" Everyone had begun to stare at the once glorious prince.
"Well, well, well if it isn't little Neji." Itachi activated Mangekyo Sharingan. Neji looked away and began to run and get his cousin. Panic began to spread as people began to scream. Children began to cry and Neji took off his mask along with Hinata's.
"Lee! Tenten!" Neji yelled. The group heard Neji's yelling and they all gathered together. "This is dangerous. We need to retreat or else we'll all die. This man is a wanted criminal." Itachi suddenly appeared behind Neji and knocked him unconscious. Hanabi clung unto her sister for dear life as Hinata slowly backed away from the man. Her eyes became locked with his and she fell prey to his eyes. However the girl did not see anything whatsoever. Instead the markings from before returned and her eyes held the Byakugan.
"Princess, I am your future husband. Why do you act this way?" Itachi asked in a monotone voice obviously being sarcastic. Now that he's abandoned his home, his throne is gone too. 'My mission is to retrieve a royal. This could be fun, but if I remember correctly she had a younger sibling. She is a more prime target. The seals should be kicking in any moment now.'
Indeed something happened and Hinata fell to the floor in pain. Gaara blocked the group with his sand and his brother took out his puppet. Hanabi began to cry, but Sasuke snatched her up off the floor and ran. Hinata was grabbed and the group slowly retreated. Gaara and Kankuro were knocked to the floor as Itachi ran after them. He saw his target and grabbed the crying girl. "Hinata!" The girl yelled kicking and thrashing.
My body was tired, but I gained some sort of energy which told me to run. I felt a strange rush like when I killed my father that same day.
Hinata jumped out of Kiba's arms and ran to get to Itachi at an almost inhumanly possible speed. Itachi ran out to a cliff after the forest and Hinata was close on his trail. The moon was out and the snow was cold, but all Hinata could think about was her sister. "Hinata!" Her sister tried to kick harder, but then Itachi jumped off a cliff which lead to the ocean. There was a shrill scream and Hinata leaned over the cliff to see her sister being pulled into the ocean. The last words her sister spoke echoed throughout her mind. "Mommy!"
Hinata was about to jump when Sasuke held on to her. "No, Sasuke let me go!" Hinata screamed as her sister's hand disappeared beneath the waved. "Hanabi! Hanabi!" The girl cried as she was pulled into an embrace by Sasuke. The girl pushed against his chest hitting him. Sasuke just held on tighter. "Let me go!"
"I'm not losing you." Sasuke whispered into her ear. "I can't lose you." Hinata just cried and her markings faded away. 'I love you.' Sasuke thought to himself. 'If I lost you, I would die.' Hinata stopped thrashing and embraced the boy back. Sasuke looked at the scene in front of him and shed one tear before the rest of their group arrived. 'I love you'
Plz. Review. Next chapter get pretty interesting.
