Chapter 3: Prophecy and Sacrifice

Hinata was sitting in a corner of the palace garden, enjoying the rare moment of peace. She recalled a time when her admirers cum hecklers stationed themselves in the palace grounds outside her bedroom singing, 'Tell Hinata, that I loved her …' in such a way that their voices sounded like eunuch donkeys braying their hearts out.

Hanabi had gone to one of the rooms next to hers and hurled rotten eggs and vegetables to shut them up, but unfortunately the attack had not deterred them from their verbal assault at all. When Hinata found out about it, she hugged Hanabi tightly, and lectured her at the same time for not including her in the food attack at them. That, in turn, caused the appalled 'old farts' to lecture them on proper lady etiquette. (Winter-chan: Hey! Even Hinata, a princess, has her own limits when she's harassed by this kind of people.)

Hinata closed her eyes, relaxing as much as she could before those wolves enter the palace grounds for the umpteenth time. As she felt more and more comfortable, Hinata could not help recalling a dream she had the night before. As she did so, she softly touched her lips …

In the dream …

She was standing in the garden, admiring the scenery of floral patterns and its tranquil design. Suddenly a huge group of her admirers loomed ahead, looking exactly like what her cousin; Neji had described ¬– wolves. Two of the wolves unexpectedly lounged straight at her, but she quickly dodged them due to reflexes ingrained from her childhood.

Somehow Hinata's action caused them to be infuriated and the rest of the wolves lunged at her the moment the first two landed on the ground. Having no time to dodge again, Hinata performed Kaiten to whack her admirers to oblivion.

Then she saw a tall guy staring at her, but because his features were concealed in the dark, she could not recognize the fellow. Upon seeing him, she felt her heart racing quickly. Then the stranger took a step towards Hinata. As he slowly approached her, her heart raced even quicker, so much so that she almost received a ticket for heart speeding.

When the man was directly in front of Hinata, he stopped. Then he slowly leaned forward. He started kissing her so senselessly that she responded back to him without thinking.

Hinata felt quite dizzy from the experience. As she started to think that he was a very good kisser, he suddenly pulled back from her, causing her to stare at him in puzzlement and in daze. He was about to turn and leave, when she grabbed hold of him tightly. She asked him not to leave, but he disappeared into thin air, saying that he would return for her.

'Somehow the dream felt so real,' Hinata thought, as she softly caressed her lips. She gazed at the gardens with a longing sigh, not knowing that someone was secretly watching her from above.

Up in the trees, Naruto felt like banging his head much to Kyuubi's amusement. He wondered what possessed him to kiss her so passionately that he wanted to fondle her at the same time.

'Gyahh, must be Ero Senin's influence corrupting me,' He concluded, and made a mental note to stay away from him for the time being.

Somewhere in Mount Myouboku hot springs …

"AHCHEEEE! Someone must be talking behind my back. Hopefully it's some pretty and sexy babe," Jiraya chuckled as he peeked through the bushes behind a hot spring in Mount Myouboku, data-gathering data as usual. But he did not notice the data that he was looking out for were standing right behind him, cracking their knuckles. A loud scream could be heard echoing around the mountain afterwards.

Meanwhile, Naruto was still sitting high up in the trees, wondering what happened about six hours back.

"Kuso, how can those people stand this horrible music? I bet that Neechan sings much better than this lot, and she can come up with better songs too," Naruto grumbled, when he heard the bellowing of Hinata's fanboys on the rending of 'Only you'. He wondered whether the entire Hyuuga household was either tone deaf, or if they were extremely heavy sleepers. Naruto plugged his ears in an attempt to block off the horrendous singing. Even his tenant Kyuubi was howling in pain.

Naruto also hated the way her admirers spoke her name as if they owned her. What was he thinking about? He was supposed to spy on his Hinat—

WHAT!

When did he consider her as his?! The main reason he was here up in the trees was he was trying to find a way on how to make himself hate her, after being hit by the you-know-what. But after hearing them howling, brawling and making whatever sounds that were not remotely related to music, he felt that his enhanced hearing needed a much needed break.

After creating four kage bunshins and made them transform into feminine versions of himself with skimpy kimono clothes that oozed out so much sexiness that even Kurenai herself would be put to shame, Naruto then dispatched them to lure the braying donkeys away from the palace grounds with some excuse to show to them.

He snickered at the memory along with Kyuubi.

"Fufufu, I bet that those puny mortals didn't see it coming. By the way, where did you lead those asses to?" Kyuubi chuckled evilly as he sat within the prison cell; his jailer smirked very evilly back in response.

"Well, I brought them to Neechan's mountain, it should be around now," Naruto replied. As if on cue, his enhanced hearing picked up horrified screams that were amplified into girlish shrieks as the wind carried their voices.

Naruto smirked. "Ah, now that's music to my ears." He continued to observe Hinata silently, but found out that he could not find a way to break his love spell on her.

"Damn, after seven hours of looking at her, I feel like a stalker," Naruto groaned as he brushed his hand on his hair. " Argghhhh! I think I will head up to Shimoyama there and pay Neechan a visit instead," He got up and flew towards his intended destination.

Meanwhile somewhere in the underworld, Itachi, ruler of the underworld cursed very loudly and fluently that even Kisame, Deidara and Kiba could hear him from their respective areas. An increase of paperwork had just appeared out of nowhere, about instant deaths due to hypothermia and sudden cardiac failure from a prank, effectively cutting off his personal time with his Sakura and kids. Itachi sighed as he went through the papers, hoping that he could complete them as soon as possible. He had only a limited time with Sakura, and he wanted to spend as much of it with her as possible.

While going through the files, Itachi suddenly stopped and decided there and then to attend to them after the six months. He felt sick after reading the minute details of a particular file that consisted of nothing but stalking a certain mortal princess, even during her private moments.

Meanwhile back in the Hyuuga residence, Hiashi sat at the hallway of the courtyard, drinking his cup of tea, and was enjoying a rare moment of peace and tranquility. Ever since Hinata had come to age, some blasted idiot had exaggerated her beauty to be out of this world. While it was true that she was cute-looking and all, but she was not exceptional in the manner of a goddess. All the male buffoons bought that and her admirers came swarming like drones continuously, hardly giving the household any peace and quiet.

Even though he had already banned them from the palace to prevent them from harassing his sweet and innocent younger daughter, they still managed to enter the palace by other means, giving his nephew Neji and himself endless frustration and causing a series of unsolved problems.

Hiashi sighed as he thought of his four daughters; among them he loved his two youngest daughters the most, as they reminded him of his late wife and himself. He could not help worrying about Hinata even though he spent heaps of attention on Hanabi. With all those crazy males flocking over hoping to have a peek at Hinata during her private moments, even his servants (Oh great Jiraiya! ) had decided to add an increase to their usual income by charging those curs admission fees to enter the palace grounds and allowing them entrance. Hiashi had high blood pressure and vomited blood at the same time when he found out about that. He could just sack them all, but then he would have to rehire them to manage the household chores.

As her father, it really hurt him to lock his daughter up in the palace and not permitting her to go out at all. He was also worried that Hinata will never get married; if he engaged her to a foreign noble, her dimwitted admirers will tear that unfortunate soul into pieces, causing a war between the two countries, which would not be good for the country on whole. He sighed again, thinking and worrying about his third daughter, and being unable to come up with a solution.

"Kenshin!" Hiashi called out. A petite redheaded man with a crossed scar on his face appeared, kneeling at his side.

"Oro, you called Hiashi sama?"

"Kenshin, bring the seer of Hoshiishi, Umino Iruka here."

"Yes, sessha (this clumsy one) hear and obey, Hiashi sama." Kenshin left Hiashi's presence, leaving him to contemplate over what his third daughter's fate was going to be.

Before Kenshin left the palace grounds, he bumped into a spiky browhaired guy tossing a huge money bag in his right hand.

"Oro, Sanosuke, you shouldn't permit them to enter the palace just to see Hinata hime," Kenshin complained. "They somehow entered the bathhouse and saw Megumi-san, Misao-chan, Kaoru-dono bathing, and Sessha and Aoshi had to chase them out without killing them."

"Oops. But it's not my fault that they peeped at the Fox-Raccoon-Weasel trio while they were bathing," Sanosuke replied. "By the way, where are you heading?"

"Haishi sama sends Sessha to bring Iruka here,"

"Oh, I see, but I don't think that those bozos will be coming here anymore. After you finish your errand, why don't you join me and the others at Akabeko for dinner?" Sanosuke asked. He flipped the money bag and winked. "My treat."

"Sure, Sessha will join in to empty your purse once Sessha returns from his errands," Kenshin smiled as he quickly left the palace grounds.

After few hours later…

"Iruka, could you look into the future of my third daughter, and tell me what will befall on her?" Hiashi asked the seer over a cup of tea.

Iruka recalled Naruto had came to him and begged for his help about getting Hinata to Shimoyama. Mikaze had decided to board her in her residence, and he just simply could not hide Hinata in his mother's house. Plus, he was too much in love with her as the effects were permanent.

'Naruto, you are going to owe me big time.'

"Alas, Hiashi sama, Hinata is destined for the bride of no mortal lover. Her future husband awaits her on the top of the Mount Amanogawa. He is a monster whom neither gods nor men can resist. If she is not brought up to the mountain, then woe will befall on your country."

Upon hearing the words, Hiashi did like all normal fathers will do. He fainted without batting an eyebrow.

When Hiashi came to, he found all his servants, Neji and Hanabi weeping with grief after hearing the decree from Iruka. Neji stood up on the spot. "I'll go kill this vile beast that has dark intentions on my third cousin so that she does not have to marry him!"

But Iruka raised his hand in objection. "Did I not say that he is a monster whom neither gods nor men can resist?" He sighed heavily and lowered his shoulders to emphasize his next point. "Neji sama, I understand your frustration and I commend you on your courage, but this monster is immortal, and there is no sure way that you can successfully slay him forever. He will return for his bride, I can promise you that."

Hanabi cried. "Then what can we do!? Is Hinata doomed to be with that creature for the rest of her life?"

Hinata was stunned by Iruka's decree; she closed her eyes with sadness.
'Seems like I am unable to keep my promise with him.' Hinata thought very sadly. Hinata then faced Neji and Hanabi with a sad smile on her face.

"It is to be expected, Neji niisan and Hanabi chan, they heaped such undeserving praises and honors on this unworthy one, and due to it I have offended Kurenai. If this is the price that I have to pay, then I will do it." She replied very quietly causing Hanabi to shake her head overwhelmingly. She then wiped away Hanabi's tears.

"Don't cry, Hanabi-chan, if I can help it, I will write a letter …" Hinata was cut off when Hanabi slapped her hands away.

"YOU LIE!" Hanabi yelled as she ran out of the room leaving a desolate Hinata behind.

Later in the evening, a wedding procession was heading up to the mountain with the bride, Hinata dressed in finery and flowers laced in her hair. But it felt more like a funeral instead of a merry event, with her family members sobbing loudly, especially her two elder sisters who were wailing the loudest. Even none of the household servants had the heart to play the merry tune in their music instruments.

As they reached the top of the mountain, Hinata's family and servants said their final goodbyes to her, and left Hinata there with sorrowful and heavy hearts. Hinata stood there in her bridal dress and with the dowry by her side, wondering what would happen from here on. Then she saw a huge fan floating in the air, heading towards her. When it landed, there was a blonde lady with four pigtails sitting on it.

"Yo, you must be Hinata right?" The lady asked. Hinata quietly nodded in response.

"Just hop on the fan and hang on tight, for we are going on a rough and bumpy ride to Shimoyama," She helped Hinata onto the huge fan, and without further ado, the fan floated upwards and headed towards the frosty mountain that claimed many lives. Hinata could not help but to shiver at the intense cold and fear that had accumulated in her heart as they came closer toward the cave of the mountain.

When she entered the cave, the sight of it stole her breath right away, as the interior of the cave was different from the exterior. There was a valley of flowers, with a green meadow and a calm spring. In the midst of it all stands a magnificent house that no mortal men could have ever built.

While Hinata took her time admiring the wonders of the place, the blonde lady waited with limited patience as the scenery was a natural sight for her. She then headed toward the house with her blonde companion following her. The moment she stepped into it, she was amazed by the beauty and the simplicity of the interior. Compared to the extravagant decorations in her family's residence, it was very much different. Just then a petite purpled haired girl with aquamarine eyes, cream cat ears and tail popped out of nowhere. "Yo!" the girl cheerfully greeted them. "You must be Hinata, right?"

Hinata bowed in politeness to the girl. She did not pay much attention to the girl's greeting as she was thinking of the prophecy that Iruka had foretold regarding to a monster. Monster… girl… cat ears… girl with cat ears… not human… monster!

'Don't tell me that she is my future husband?' Hinata fell into a dead faint straight away.

"Eh? Hinata? Mou!" the girl huffed in anger. "I don't know what Iruka had told them about me, but I'm really pretty insulted." The blonde lady consoled her, while unsuccessfully keeping a straight face.

t.bc.

0r0r0r0r0r0r0r0r0r0r0r0r0r

Winter-chan: Kenshin, Sano, Aoshi, raccoon, weasel and fox trio are from Rurouni Kenshin and belong to the rightful creator, I just use them for laughs here and there.But the catgirl belongs to me. For this fic, i was thinking and listening to FFX-2's 1000 words while writing this. Meanwhile a big thanks to my faithful readers who read and reviewed the previous chapter:

Dragon Man 180: Glad that you liked the sadist genius of orochimaru and sasukes' 'love life', well naruto will be droppin hints to her, i think.

HarbringerLady: well since Shikamaru finds its very troublesome if messages were undelivered at all, so he makes sure that everyone gets it before he goofs off. XD

Elemental Balance: I know that Ares is Venus's paramour, but somehow i really can't picture Asuma the badass ninja smithing away in the forge. Let Chouji and Temaris' role, let's say i love to corrupt the story a bit. Glad that you like it even though there's a slight corruption to it. :D

purpleglitterfaery: glad that you love the combination of anime and myth.

Anyway, hope that you all will enjoy this chpt and review and wait for the next chpt while I go and save my assignment grades. So until then see ya.

-----------------------------------------------

Next Chapter: Meeting in the dark