Prologue

Sakumo Hatake was sitting in his Academy Class waiting for it to start, he was beside a striking girl, she was clearly a Hyuga evident from her long, dark purple hair that shone in the light. It was so smooth and silky, the desire to play with it was hard to fight. He watched as she pulled a clean sheet of paper from her notebook and screwed it up, then as quick as a flash she threw the ball at a boy who was sitting on the other end of the class, it hit him on the head before he turned, rubbing his head she ducked and hid under the table stifling a giggle. Sakumo recognized the boy as Takumi Arai, he lived in the same part of the village as him, they had never really spoken before. Their Instructor walked in to start the lesson, so the girl sat up, knowing that Takumi was no longer glowering in her direction, he had thought Sakumo had thrown the ball.

"What was that about?" Sakumo asked the girl, sharply.

She grinned, she was unlike any Hyuga he had ever met, this one exhumed such a cheekiness, a brightness like no other, "He's so cute when he's angry."

That was the first interaction he had with his future teammates, Haruhi, Takumi, and Sakumo, they had a fierce friendship and were fast becoming known for their excellence in strength and teamwork even as a Gennin squad. Haruhi was by far the group's clown, she was forever doing things to make the other two laugh.

She jumped on to Takumi's back, "How's my boyfriend?"

They were now 11 years old and had all passed their Chunin exams together with Sakumo beating out Haruhi in the final match. Her incessant teasing and flirting with Takumi hadn't waned ever since their first day at the Academy, Takumi was the most attractive boy in Konoha, he was the quiet type who enjoyed sitting alone and drawing. The three were so unique in their style, Sakumo with his messy white hair, Haruhi with her straight purple hair and pale skin whilst Takumi had soft brown chocolate hair with equally warm eyes. He was oblivious to how girls saw him, his head usually in his sketchbook.

Takumi blushed and dropped Haruhi on the floor as she giggled, "I am not your boyfriend." Sakumo sniggered, this interaction never stopped between the two.

Haruhi grinned, "Just give in, Takumi, you know I am not going to let any other girl be with you."

"Don't you think you come on a little too strong?" Sakumo knelt down his eyes on Haruhi.

"A little?" Takumi scowled crossing his arms.

"I wouldn't want him to confuse my feelings," Haruhi grinned her eyes bright, nothing seemed to faze her she had the utmost confidence, "I prefer to be direct and honest."

"Well I'd prefer if you were more subtle," Takumi sighed rolling his eyes, "I'm off."

"No, wait, I thought we were all going for dinner?" Haruhi jumped up, surprised at Takumi's decision to leave.

Sakumo stood up, "Yeah, Takumi, that was the plan."

"Why don't you all just come over to mine, I'll cook I am not in the mood to pay for food," he glanced at them, they agreed and followed Takumi to his house. Neither Haruhi nor Sakumo had ever been to Takumi's home, it was a small house in the same part of the village Sakumo lived, it was a pretty house with flowers growing in plant pots, they were surprised to see that Takumi was well versed in all household chores and was an excellent cook.

"Where are your parents?" Sakumo asked curiously.

"Probably on a date," he shrugged as if it was nothing, Haruhi widened her eyes,

"What?"

Takumi sniggered to himself, "It's Saturday, every Saturday if Dad's not on a mission he would take mum on a date, it's their tradition. My Dad's an absolute romantic."

"Even now after being married for so long?" Haruhi couldn't believe it, she had never heard of such cuteness from a married couple, she was from the famed Hyuga clan where the focus was on furthering their clan rather than love.

"I don't know what it's like for either of you but this is normal for me, the Arai nindo is deeply rooted in the Will of Fire, Dad takes it very seriously and as mum is precious to him he will never stop showing her he loves her."

Haruhi smiled, she respected that, she wanted her clan to see this to understand this. Thinking only about themselves closed them off to the wisdom other clans had, she wanted to be part of something better, she wanted to be more than just a Hyuga. Whenever she was home it was all she got, the non-stop reiteration of keeping the Hyuga line pure and strong. She didn't want to marry within the clan, she didn't want to be part of the main branch family, she didn't want her child to be cursed with the family kekkei-genkai, she wanted to be free.

She was training with her father, her twin brothers watching in awe. Haruhi was the jewel in the Hyuga clan crown, she had an excellent grasp of the Byakugan, revered as a genius in Konoha. She hated this, the showing off, she adored her brothers and didn't like treating them as inferior due to being born before them. "This is how the heir of the Hyuga clan fights," her father noted proudly as Haruhi knelt in front of him, flanked by the twins, "You will proceed with your education and once you become of age, we will pick your suitor and you will have the next heir to the main house."

Haruhi glanced up at her father, "Why can I not choose who I fall in love with?"

"It's not about love, dear child. It is only about existence, about protecting what is ours," he chided her, Haruhi had always been an odd child, but her skill and talent were what kept her in the running. She was also incredibly beautiful, everything other than her attitude was what made her an excellent heir. He was very proud of her.

She stood up bowing her head to her father, "I need to go now father, I have a mission…"

"You are a Chunin, why aren't you leading this mission," he frowned, the mission was yet again being led by Sakumo.

Haruhi shrugged, "Sakumo might be leading the team but that doesn't mean me or Takumi are inferior, we work together it has never bothered us."

"It's insulting, the Hyuga heir is not a lesser comrade, your skill…" he began.

"Father it is not about skill, Sakumo is an excellent leader, he will be Jonin soon," Haruhi always got defensive when her father picked holes in her team.

"Well so will you," he pointed out, "You will be Hokage one day."

"No," Haruhi turned her back to her father shaking her head, "I will not be the Hokage, I am not suited to the role and you know that. I have to go," she left mentally adding the only one who was right for that role was Takumi. She had never met anyone who loved the village more than him. She couldn't help but admire and love him more and more. Whenever she had to spend time with her father it made her drift off in thought thinking about Takumi, it will always be him for her. He was so different. She wanted different.

Takumi was sitting by a tree, he was sketching wistfully. He was a 15-year-old Jonin along with his teammates, the three of them tended to do missions together despite reaching such a high status. Whenever he had free time he would sit and draw, it calmed him. Sakumo landed neatly beside him, Takumi reddened and suddenly closed his book, "What are you doing here?"

"Came to see what you were doing…" he began and then smirked glancing at Takumi's book, "What are you drawing?"

"Nothing," he muttered moving the book away, "Why are you looking for me?"

"Now I have to see what's in it!" Sakumo attacked Takumi finally winning he opened the book and his eyes widened as Takumi panicked snatching it back, the sketchbook was filled with sketches of Haruhi. Sakumo stared at Takumi who wouldn't look at him, "You are in love with her aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he pressed his lips together.

"Haruhi," he pointed out.

"No I am not!" he protested still unable to look his best friend in the eyes.

"Why do you keep lying to yourself?" Sakumo crossed his legs facing Takumi, "She's crazy about you and has been since we were kids, and you are clearly obsessed with her too…"

"She's not crazy about me," Takumi shook his head, "It's just her way of joking about."

Sakumo frowned, "No, I'm pretty sure she is in love with you, you know her she's an open book. She's never hidden it, unlike you."

"She…" Takumi sighed, "Doesn't feel the way I do, she's erratic and childish and I…" he shook his head, "For me it's serious and she doesn't see it that way."

Sakumo grabbed Takumi by the shoulders, and shook him, "Snap out of it Arai! Haruhi loves you, she has loved you for so long, and it isn't some game to her, yeah she's playful and likes to joke about things but she really does love you so give in!"

"She can't love me, we can't be together," Takumi looked at Sakumo pushing him off of him, "It won't ever happen."

"Why not?" Sakumo demanded.

"Because she is a Hyuga, Hyuga's only love within their clan, I am not a Hyuga. And she's the heir to the Hyuga line, the main branch. We can't be together because then she'd lose her place, if she loses her place she'd have to get the cursed seal and I won't ever let anyone curse her," Takumi looked away, it was painful to say, Haruhi had told them about the seal that her family used, it had enraged Takumi so much, he couldn't bear the thought of anyone hurting any villager like that, "She will be the one that stops that barbaric practice but she can't do that if she isn't in the main branch, and she can't do it with me beside her, so Sakumo we can't be together. It's stupid to dream about things like that."

Takumi was getting ready for bed when he heard someone drop down on his windowsill, he frowned, "What's wrong?" it was Haruhi, her eyes were red.

"I just…can I stay here for a little while, I don't want to go home," her voice was soft.

"Of course," he nodded, it hurt to see her look so sad, "Have you eaten?"

She shook her head, "I'm not hungry," she sat on the floor her back against his bed as she held her knees to her chest. He went over and sat beside her, they were silent for a minute, when tears slipped down her cheeks he pulled her into his arms holding her close. She needed it.

"What happened?"

"My Dad hates me," she sobbed trembling.

"I'm sure he doesn't," he assured her smoothing her hair down, she broke away a little so she could look at him,

"He does. He told me."

"What?" Takumi stared at her surprised, he had never thought a father could say that to his only daughter.

Her lip trembled, "I was so tired of it. Ever since I was born, this expectation, my whole life mapped out," she put her head in her hands but kept close to him, "Everything about duty, everything about the clan, but my loyalty, my love isn't for the clan, it's for Konoha. I didn't want to live that life, he kept bringing suitors to see me, and I snapped," the tears fell harder, "I can't marry for duty…"

"Haruhi what did you do?" Takumi froze.

"I rejected it, I took the curse," she broke down again.

"Why?" he was stunned.

She looked at him, her eyes filled with tears, "I know you don't love me the way I love you, but I can't marry someone else when I feel this way about you. Being cursed is a far better life than being in one where I am with someone else…" she stopped as he brushed her tears away,

"Who says I don't feel the same?"

"What?" it was her turn to be stunned, her heart melted when he leaned down and kissed her. She felt it, through his touch, through his lips, he loved her, he was gentle and passionate when they broke apart both breathless he leaned his head against hers.

"I love you Haruhi, I always have."

She hit him, "Why didn't you tell me before?!" she was bright red, her skin flushed.

He held her hands in his, "Because I didn't want you to leave your family for me."

"That's not your decision to make," she argued, "I never wanted that destiny, I wanted this. I want you."

"And I want you," he whispered making her tremble her eyes locked on his, "So, Haruhi, will you marry me?"

She felt weak, her breathing racked up, "What?"

He brushed her hair from her face, "I love you and I want to be with you forever, I don't want to waste any time, we do jobs where you never know…" she covered his mouth,

"Don't ever talk about that with me, I don't even want to think…I love you Takumi more than you can ever know and yes, yes I'll marry you," she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, he couldn't have been happier than that moment.

They did it that very night, both of them impulsive, they grabbed Sakumo and without either parent's blessings, the two eloped. Haruhi left the Shinobi forces, enabling her to go into hiding away from the Hyuga clan, she wasn't going to let them know about her husband, she wasn't going to put either Sakumo nor Takumi or his parents in danger, knowing how vindictive her clan was.

It hurt her that she wasn't able to see her family but Takumi was everything she could ever need. She was present at Sakumo's wedding and was able to see his son when he was born. It was three years after when Haruhi fell pregnant herself. Unfortunately, she got very sick at the same time, and after giving birth to her baby girl who she managed to hold just once, she died. She was only able to make Sakumo and Takumi promise just one thing, that her daughter would never be known by the Hyuga clan, that they would keep her from getting the seal, she was still afraid of her father's wrath.

Takumi treasured his daughter, he took her back to Konoha with him, she was perfect in his eyes, he was so relieved that she wasn't born with the distinctive Hyuga features, rather she looked like him, with her chocolate hair and chocolate eyes, Ria could pass by without ever being recognized as a Hyuga descendant. She could live a normal life. She was adored by his parents, who loved her dearly.

Disaster struck again for that small family when Takumi died on a mission only a month after his daughter's birth. His death had a great impact on his mother and on Sakumo, the former getting so ill she required medical care, and the latter who became increasingly protective of his team over caring for the mission at hand, he couldn't handle another loss. Seeing Ria grow up without the love she should have received from her parents. Not being able to be with her when all he wanted to do was let her know how much her parents wanted her, wanted to be with her, had loved one another, but Sakumo had been banned from ever seeing Ria. Her grandparents thought it was for the best for Takumi had died whilst worked under Sakumo, they had found it hard to forgive him. She was all they had left, and the two treasured her dearly. She was the last of their line.

The last Arai.