Chapter 2: Dream of Blossoming Hope: Marriage
Hinata never wanted to go through the horror of marriage ever again. It was one thing if you were marrying the man of your dreams, and he happened to be one Uchiha Sasuke, but it was another to marry THE Uchiha Sasuke when you were obviously NOT infatuated with him. Colorless white eyes blankly watched the ceremony and Hinata felt her resolution waver. Beside her she could feel Sasuke stiffen. He was probably scowling at the unabashed staring and muttering. Hesitantly Hinata let her hand brush over his, a truce, a treaty, a promise. Sasuke glanced at her, the scowl disappeared in it's place was a neutral upturning of the lips. They were in this together, him for the restoration of his Clan, and her for Hanabi's future. Gods, the things she did for her family.
In the back of the room, closes to the door, stood Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi. They were attending the private wedding ceremony as Sasuke's family. All three were honor to be able to witness the ceremony; it showed just how much Sasuke really cared for them under that unforgiving mask. Sakura was trying her best to pick up the broken pieces of her heart as she watched Hinata casually brush Sasuke's hand and smile up at him. To her it was an action of love, and since Sasuke's frown disappeared and his face remained unfathomably blank, Sakura took it as a sign that he returned the affections.
When the ceremony ended they were all ushered into the garden where the reception was to be held. Sasuke and Hinata exited out of a different door, together.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto made a move to go comfort her, but Kakashi held him back with a shake of his head.
"She needs to come to terms with this on her own." He said. Naruto looked downcast, but obeyed his old sensei.
"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-san, Naruto." Neji greeted the three with a nod of his head. "How are you?"
"Ah, Neji." Naruto said, looking slightly surprised. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
Neji looked at the younger boy with well-hidden amusement. "I belong to Hinata-sama, of course I should be here." He said.
Sakura blushed at the choice of words; Kakashi drooled as he was hit by a rather disturbing image, while Naruto looked confused. "Hinata-chan owns you?"
Neji raised an aristocratic brow at the question. "Yes. Hinata-sama's will is my command." At this point Kakashi was hyperventilating due to the sudden sexually explicit images bombarding his mind. It was Icha Icha Paradise volume four all over again. "It is my duty to obey her."
"I don't get it." Was Naruto's reply.
"I did not expect you to." Neji almost smiled. "If you will excuse me, I must attend to Hinata-sama now." By now Kakashi was spazzing out and Sakura was busy dragging the Jounin away from the 'awkward' conversation. Her face was beet red as she walked away, leaving Naruto and Neji alone.
"O-okay." Naruto said confused. "Tell Hinata-chan I said hey and if you see Sasuke-teme punch him for me will ya?"
Neji nodded. "I'll be sure to tell Hinata-sama that, and I will try to fulfill your other request." With an elegant gesture Neji left.
Seeing that the older boy was gone Sakura and Kakashi return, no longer beet red or hyperventilating. "It looks like Neji-kun's happy about something." Sakura commented.
"Saa, look underneath the underneath." Kakashi replied.
As a gift to her few aunts (from her mother's side) Hinata allowed them to choose the outfits she was required to change into during the reception. There were four of them, perfect because now she could have a different dress for every half hour. Nimbly they removed her shiromuku, and replaced it with a kofurisode its sleeves were short, to save her the hassle of holding them while she ate. She thanked her aunts gracefully before Neji led her out to meet Sasuke, who was now dressed in a formal black dress shirt, with the first few buttons undone, and formal, black dress pants, with black shoes. Hinata could see his family crest sewn neatly on the back of his shirt, and on the hem of his pants. It seemed everything he wore had his family crest on it.
"Sasuke-san." Hinata greeted, taking the offered arm.
"Hinata-san." Sasuke replied back respectfully. He didn't comment on her clothing, or on her longer hair (when they met the other day it was barely to her shoulder) that cascaded down her back to her ankles in a careless fashion.
"Neji-nii-san." Hinata smiled at her cousin. Neji inclined his head to show he got the greeting before escorting the couple out to the garden.
(A/N: shiromuku: white kimono; kofurisode: a type of furisode (kimono) with sleeves that are only 75 cm long)
The Hyuuga compound was as beautiful as the rumors. Hardly anyone had ever entered the prestigious establishment in the last ten years besides ANBU and the Hyuuga members, and the people relished in the opportunity to see the lovely compound for themselves. While the scenery was beautiful, the food was absolutely delicious; it was edible heaven, as Chouji put it.
"Hinata-chan looks so kawaii!" Kiba commented between bites. "She doesn't look that unhappy, right Akamaru?" His giant companion gave a growl of agreement. Kiba tossed a piece of meat for Akamaru to eat. "I still can't believe she went through with it, though."
"Hinata would do anything if it meant that her sister would not get sealed." Shino replied.
"Even marrying a cold hearted, stuck up, pain in the ass, Uchiha." Kiba added.
"Hinata-chan does look pretty, doesn't she?" Ten-Ten put in. "Her hair seems longer though."
"Maybe she has extensions on?" Ino suggested. "They must have been professionally done, it looks like it's her natural hair."
"She is an heiress after all." Ten-Ten mused.
"Right, right! That means she must have other pretty dresses!"
"She's so lucky!"
"I would love to have half as many kawaii kimono's as Hinata-chan!"
Shikamaru sighed. "So troublesome." Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru could see Sasuke quietly conversing with Hinata before standing up. The Uchiha glanced over the assembly before clearing his throat.
"I would like to thank you all for attending out reception." He started. The voice he used was condescending but humble. "My newly wedded wife and I sincerely hope that you are enjoying the reception. Before we conclude the luncheon my wife has a few words to say." Sasuke took Hinata's hand and helped her up from her seat. She whispered something to him and he nodded.
"Thank you everyone for attending our reception. I would first like to begin with my official resignation to my birthright. Because of this new union, I feel that my time must be focused on the new life between my husband and I, and because of that I feel that I will be unable to look over the Hyuuga Clan in my father's place when he should resign.
Therefore I pass my right to become the Head of Hyuuga to my younger sister Hanabi and her new fiancé, Kurosu Hiroyuki. They will lead our clan to prosperity, and will bring about a new generation of Byakugan users. It is in my most sincerest hope that the two of them will become a better leader than I would have ever made. Hanabi-chan, Kurosu-sama, if you will please stand?" Hinata smiled warmly at the crowds as she bestowed upon Hanabi the traditional Hyuuga kimono that marked the heir of the clan.
"I would also like to bestow upon my sister her new guardian, Hyuuga Kain, an honor allowed only to the heir of Hyuuga. Good luck sister, and lead the Clan to prosperity." Hinata bowed, the sleeves of her kimono brushed the ground lightly. Hanabi mimicked her movements.
"Thank you sister, I hope to surpass your wishes and lead our clan to prosperity and accomplish the goals you have set out for this family." Hanabi murmured demurely.
Hinata nodded her approval before turning again to face her audience. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, but her expression remained calm. "With this, I announce that the party has only barely begun!"
The Hyuuga were a prideful bunch, and because they held so much pridel, they did not lose the chance to show all of Konoha how wonderful their parties could be. They weren't just a frugal bunch of old men, oh no, when the Hyuuga put their minds to it, they could throw the best parties ever; Hinata's reception was a prime example. Sake flowed, food was constantly replenished, and there was karaoke!
Hinata disappeared a few times to change her outfit, and every time she reappeared her sleeves seemed to get longer and longer until they were brushing the floor even when her arms were neatly crossed against her chest. When she disappeared Sasuke would wait patiently, or so it seemed, on the porch for his new wife to return. Then the two would circle the crowds, striking up conversations, and preparing political meetings to restore the Uchiha Clan.
"Hinata-chan, I'm so proud of you! Getting married before all of us! Ah! I'm so jealous!" Ino cried and tried, but failed, to hug the bride.
"Ino-san, you're drunk." Hinata chided gently, she tried to pry the cup from the blonde's grasp, but Ino stumbled away calling for Sakura. "I-Ino-san!"
"Leave her." Sasuke said, pulling Hinata away to greet the rest of the guests. "You won't be able to do anything with her in that state."
"B-but she's drunk! What if she hurts herself?" Hinata fretted trying to spot Ino in the crowds. Why were there so many people?
"So's everyone else here, besides you and me. I think even your father is drunk." Sasuke answered blandly.
Hinata frowned thoughtfully, she couldn't imagine her father drunk.
"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto's voice echoed over the gardens. Sasuke winced. "Teme! You better not hurt Hinata-chan!" The Kyuubi vessel cried, hiccupping with every other word. "This song is dedicated to my best-est, best-est, friend ever! The bastard over there in the black!" Naruto cried, he was swaying on the makeshift stage. "Congratulations to the Broom and Gride!" And he began singing... off key... horribly off key, and what was worse was that everyone was clapping, cheering, and hooting in approval.
Sasuke's hand twitched wishing he could kill the damn Dobe then and there.
"Ah, they are all drunk." Hinata commented after Naruto had finished his song with lots of help from Gai and Lee. "And it's still daylight." Hinata added as an after thought.
KairaKi: Yay! Chapter Two is up! This was a relatively light chapter delving into Hinata and Sasuke's wedding, but as you can see I didn't really put too much information about the ceremony and such. That would have been very confusing... Japanese weddings have so much different kinds of rituals that I don't understand so I just took the basics of it all and put it in this chapter.
There is some insight on the reasons why Hinata and Sasuke married each other, you know the whole "I want to restore my clan" and "I want to save my sister" kind of thing. But oh hoh! Neji is going to remain with Hinata? What's up with that? Will there be a forbidden love in this story? I have no clue, it would prolong everything if that were to be added in. What do you think?
I also have to add in the slightly jealous Sakura. She's not out right jealous as in "I'm plotting to poison Hinata-chan so Sasuke-kun will be all mine!" but more of a "I lost my childhood dream..." kind of thing. Does that make sense? Basically Sakura is just sad that Sasuke never really acknowledged or returned her feelings even though he knew of them. She had always dreamed of becoming Uchiha Sakura, but never really had a chance too. Right now you could say Sakura is slightly confused about her feelings for Sasuke and her feelings about his marriage. Hmm I think that's a good enough explanation for now.
As for Hanabi-chan I hope to add a few scenes depicting her new status and relationship with her husband-to-be. There's an eight year age difference between the two and that's a bit of a challenge for our little firecracker. Hanabi may be obedient but she spent most of her life believing that she would be marked for the branch house, and though she can hold the Hyuuga mask, she still doesn't understand the political aspects of being the heir. In that sense she must work to create a new act for her new role. Confusing, isn't it? But Hanabi-chan will be able to pull it off!
I know you're all wondering about what will happen to Hinata on her wedding night, and many of you will be disappointed that that particular scene is not in this chapter. But not to worry, there is a part in the next chapter that reveals Hinata's first night as an Uchiha! I won't promise anything though.
By the way, thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I was really surprised when I found my inbox filled with them after the first day! I had forgotten I posted this story up yesterday!
Please send me your insight and questions. I really do enjoy reading them and replying to a few (I get really lazy so I do every other one depending on the type of review you sent)!
P.S. I really enjoy picking on Neji. Did you like that scene with Team Seven? Perverted Kakashi! Hahaha, how could Kakashi not be hit by dirty thoughts with the way Neji was forming his sentences?
R&R