Chapter 1: Tears

The young girl pulled her cloak up tighter to cover her face as she said goodbye to the three people she was closest to. It had been so hard and she had tried not to cry, but she couldn't fight back the tears for much longer. She didn't want them to see her cry, though. It would just cause more problems.

She opened the door to the carriage and climbed in. It was going to be a three day journey, and seeing as she was about to make a strong pact between two powerful villages no one thought it very polite to make her walk the journey. She had never been in a carriage, and she wished that her first, and probably only time, hadn't been to leave those she loved behind.

Although, it seemed the only people to miss her were her three companions, Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai-sensei. No one else really seemed to notice she was leaving, not even the man she was in love with, Naruto. Her cousin had been concerned, but she was only given the night to pack and was leaving in the morning, not giving her and her cousin much of a chance to talk. She had desperately needed his advice, but now it was too late.

Once inside the carriage the young girl pulled the door shut and removed her cloak. She looked out the window and watched as the carriage pulled away from her only home, leaving everyone she cared about behind. She watched as the village became smaller and smaller until it was only a dot on the horizon. When she could no longer see it she turned around and laid her head in her hands and cried.

As she sat there crying memories of the night before came flooding back.

"Hinata! Neji! Come with me," Her father said looking down at the two. They had been sitting in front of the orchard drinking tea and talking about their day when her father had spoken to them. Both of them knew it was unwise to ignore his command, so they sat their cups down and got up to follow him.

He led the pair into a private meeting room where they sat down on two mats. Her father sat in front of them and looked the pair over. After a long moment of silence he spoke. "Hinata, I am removing your rank as heir and naming Neji heir in your place," He said.

At first Hinata thought she had misunderstood. Her father had been so straight-forward and blunt. Surely this wasn't how he would tell his daughter she had just lost everything? But after a few seconds it seemed that this was his news. Her eyes widened with shock. She looked over at Neji. He sat still and erect. He looked unfazed by the news, but then he spoke.

"Surely this is a mistake?" He asked.

"No. I'm sorry Hinata to do this to you, but you are too timid and shy to be the strong leader the Hyuuga clan needs. We have decided a different route for you instead," He told them.

Hinata was in tears now. She looked down at the ground to try and hide it, but she knew that they both saw it. After a moment she regained herself and looked at her father. "I will do what is best for the Hyuuga clan," She said softly.

Her father nodded. "As expected. As you both know, it has been seven years since the Sand attacked Konoha under command of the impersonated Kazekage. Over the past seven years Konoha has been rebuilding our alliance with the Sand. We need something strong and compact to keep everything going well. We need some over there." He told her.

Hinata knew he meant her. He was trying to give her something else to do to distract her from the fact that she was being denied her inheritance. "I will do what is best for the Hyuuga clan," She said again.

Her father sighed. "Hinata, we need more than an ambassador. We need a marriage." Neji and Hinata both looked shocked. Neji was outraged by this. He jumped up and was nearly yelling at her father.

"We cannot do this to her! She is a member of our clan! We can't just send her away. Her place is here with-"

"Neji, sit down. You forget who you are talking to," Hiashi said sternly. Neji looked as if to continue before Hinata cut him off.

"I'll be okay, Neji nii-san," Hinata told him. "I will serve the Hyuuga clan as they see fit. May I ask who I'll be marrying, though?"

"You are already married," Her father said. Hinata's eyes grew wide for a moment but she controlled herself. "Your husband has signed the papers and I signed them for you and the marriage was approved by the Fifth."

Hinata tried to control the tears once again. She had no choice. She was already married in the eyes of the law and there was no way around it.

"You will leave tomorrow morning. So go pack now," Her father told her. Hinata nodded and stood up and hurried to leave. She stopped at the door when her father cleared his throat. "Your husband is Subaku no Gaara," he told her.

Hinata nodded and left. Once outside the room she let the tears flow freely.

Hinata stopped crying suddenly. She willed herself to calm down and relax. It wouldn't be that bad. He was probably a nice guy and was a suitable match. Hiashi wouldn't just give her away to anybody. Would he?

It didn't matter. After that night Hinata promised herself to be stronger. Not to let the little things get to her. To stand up for herself. In the Village Hidden in the Sand no one knew who she was. She could start over. She could finally have a better life.

Hinata looked out the window again. She smiled to herself. This new life would definitely suit her. Only three days to get to it, though.

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Author's Note: Okay, so now I have two fanfictions running. Maybe between the two of them one of them will end up getting updated once a week. I just had to put this down, though, while I had it in my mind. Hinata is my favorite character and I kind of love GaaHina now. :D Sorry if you don't like but I do:P Enjoy!

Edit: Thank you Jbramx2 for pointing out some mistakes. xD I forgot to mention who her three friends were and made a grammar error with Hiashi that kind of ruined his seriousness. So, yeah. Had to fix it. The reason this chapter is so short is because it was originally the prologue, which is also why its kind of vague at the beginning. I like to make my prologues vague for fun. xD But the next chapter will be better. She gets to meet Gaara! Yay:D

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