A/N

Reason for long delay. One week of writer block, do not want to write whatsoever. One week to write: busy in RL, not have much time, difficult to write, supper long. One week to be betaed.


(8/16/11)

Naruto tossed and turned and then tossed and turned again. He threw his pillow away, called a bushin to pick it up only for him to throw it away again. He groaned, bouncing his head on the floor. Stupid, stupid Naruto. How could he be that stupid? He was the only son of the great 4th Hokage whose looks and intellect were far reached and admired by many and a great kunoichi whose beauty and intellect were not any less. So why? Why was he that stupid? Why couldn't he have inherited a little bit of wisdom from his parents? He turned on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. Maybe he did have some of the beauties from his parents too. He looked so stupid and ugly now, compared to the handsome and intelligent Neji. He frowned.

"UHG!"

He groaned again, kicking hard into the wall only to earn more pain and frustration.

Hinata had not come home. After his failed attempt to kiss her, he was not able to see her again. It must have been because he failed to kiss her, so obviously she was still angry at him. He should have taken Shizune-onee-chan's advice more seriously and tried harder to kiss her. Stupid Naruto; look at what he'd done now. He didn't kiss her, and now she left, and he would never be forgiven again. Hold on; he should ask Shizune-onee-chan as to whether there was a time limit to kiss her before he could be forgiven. Maybe he still had a chance if he kissed her soon enough. Maybe he could still be forgiven. Yes, he should not give up now. He prayed that Kami would give him another chance to apologize to her properly before he went to bed again. This time, he would do anything in his power to kiss her again and earn her forgiveness. Yes, no need to worry now; tomorrow would turn out to be a bright day.


A ray of light shone on the young man's face. He woke up, smiled and turned his head to his right,

"Good morning, Hinata."

There was no answer. The room was filled with dead silence and the ominous atmosphere of a storm coming the young man's way but of course our hero was too stupid to realize any of that now. However, he did feel sadness and loneliness without his wife by his side. He got out of his futon, cleaned the room, brushed his teeth, and dressed up. While he was combing his hair, he took a glance of his own image in the mirror. He sighed, trying hard to comb his hair again.

"Ok. I can go and meet her now, dattebayo."

But as he opened the door, he met a person he had not expected the most.

"Sasuke-teme. What are you doing here?"

"To help you open your eyes a little."

With that, Sasuke coldly led Naruto to a bar. He pulled Naruto into a dark corner and sat still there.

"Sasuke-teme, what..."

Sasuke placed his finger on his lips, signaling Naruto to keep quiet, and smirked. Whatever Sasuke planned to do with Naruto certainly would not be in his favor, but Naruto still waited to see what Sasuke was up to; although all what he wanted to do right now was to rush to Hinata's side and …....*blush*...so that she could forgive him once and for all. However, Naruto didn't have to wait long for the show to come.

A group of shinobies came into the empty bar and sat themselves in the middle of the room. They spoke loudly, totally unaware of the hidden ninjas in the dark corner. One shinobi with a pale face threw a bag of money on the table and cursed:

"I can't believe he is so stupid. How can a legendary shinobi like him have no idea how to ...*playing his fingers in a weird way that Naruto had no idea what he was trying to say*... after more than one month with one of the hottest kunoichi in this village."

"Accept your fate, dude. You lose. Thanks for the money. Anyone else wants to go for another bet?" Another shinobi with a monkey face smirked.

"Huh. You are so lucky lately. I wouldn't want to bet with you." The third shinobi who had a scar on his face answered.

The monkey faced shinobi tossed the money bag up and down before place it firmly on the table.

"I bet that by the end of next month he would able to become a full husband. Who's in?"

The rest of the group looked at each other hesitantly before the shinobi with the scar on his face pulled a bag of money and put in on the table.

"I'm in. We have watched them for more than one month already. If anything could happen, it would have already happened. I have watched him closely; he is really clueless about girls and stuff. There is no way he will be able to do anything in such a short amount of time."

The monkey face shinobi crossed his legs and drank a whole sake bottle before he laughed,

"He is the number one surprising ninja, after all; we would never know. Before we assumed that he would score her in a matter of one second; considering he is the most powerful shinobi in the village, a natural pervert and a student of the two most perverted men of our village. Look, more than one month has passed, and all that he could do is to kiss her on her cheeks or forehead."

They both laughed loudly before calling for more drinks. Naruto frowned; he didn't know what was going on, but he felt a little blood boiling in his stomach. He had no idea who they were talking about and although he felt sorry for the poor shinobi, he could not help but feel that the story sounded very familiar. Maybe he knew the guy. He hoped it was not Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke, or he would crash right into those ignorant shinobies faces and teach them a lesson. He listened more carefully as a shinobi with a baby face asked,

"If so, why do you bet confidently that he would become a real husband in just one month?"

The monkey face shinobi laughed before continued,

"Like I said; he is a very unpredictable shinobi. When we think of him one way, he would become the other. That's the way it is. Moreover, don't forget the army of the Hokage. Their forces are fifty times larger than Hiashi's. Don't underestimate them and that Hokage-sama is one of the most intelligent shinobi in this land. Sooner or later, he'll know."

Naruto clenched his fist. Somehow even Ba-chan and Otou-chan were involved with this famous shinobi. Now he really wanted to know what was going on. He felt so angry at the fact that everyone knew something that he was totally clueless of.

The pale faced shinobi got another drink before he himself joined the conversation:

"My sentiment exactly the same. The problem is whether we could get the timing right. Mine is a little too early, but maybe you will be luckier."

The monkey faces shinobi slipped himself another drink. He leaned closer to the group and talked in a lower voice:

"Do you know who will always win in this kind of bet with or without luck?" Satisfied with the curious looks in his friends' eyes, he answered, "Hokage-sama has won tons of money from betting about Naruto's marriage, consider that she is the one behind pulling all of the strings. I believe she will decide when and how he will make Hinata truly his wife."

"So you mean all of the crisis going on lately is part of Tsunade-sama's plan? And she intentionally delayed letting Naruto know how to become a true husband so that she could win more bets and earn more money?"

Before the monkey ninja could answer, the table was smashed into pieces by Naruto-he was angry beyond recognition. The whiskers were clearer and marked into his face deeper. His eyes had changed into red. He ordered in a deep and low tone:

"Tell me what happened. Tell me what you mean by Ba-chan betting on my marriage and being behind all the scenes." He grabbed the shirt of the monkey ninja, "I don't know what is going on, but I'm not going to allow you to slander Ba-chan like that."

"Slander your Ba-chan like what?" Sasuke smirked, "Naruto, you haven't changed one bit. It seems like you are still as naive as ever."

As Sasuke turned his back and began to leave, Naruto called out, "Sasuke, wait. What do you want from this?" and started to run after Sasuke. They ran deep into a forest and Sasuke continued to run with his full speed despite Naruto's constant cries for him to stop.

He slowed down and let Naruto catch him as they headed toward a deserted training ground.

"Where have you led me to, Sasuke? What do you want? Why did you let me hear those lies about Ba-chan?"

Sasuke turned his face toward Naruto; this time he let his smirk stay on his face a little longer. He looked into Naruto's eyes. They were confused but still as clear as ever; there were no traces of doubt in it. How he loved to taint those eyes, make them full of hurt and pain, as dark as the night, no light, no hope! How he loved to see the man in front of him turned into the monster he really was and destroyed those that he loved the most, those that he treasured the most so that he would live the rest of his life in darkness and solitude, full of despair and resentment. Yes, it was only fair that the man in front of him lived in the same hell as he did. Just a little longer and he could see if his words worked the way out.

"Naruto", Sasuke slowly placed a hand on Naruto shoulder; he leaned closer and whispered into Naruto's ear, "You are no different than the kid seven years ago. Naive and stupid. You believe in every word that people pour into your ears and swallow them like they are the most delicious food you have ever eaten."

Naruto firmly shook Sasuke's hand away. He looked deep into Sasuke' eyes. His face remained cold and emotionless, unaffected by Sasuke insults,

"Stop your nonsense. What do you want, Sasuke? What are you trying to do?"

Sasuke massaged his hands together and leaned his back toward a tree.

"Oh, continuing to play hero, I see. But do you think the village really thinks you are as their hero? Did you just hear what they said? You are just a fool they use for their bets; no more, no less. To them, you are no different than the prank puller you were seven years ago. But now they are not throwing their hate at you, but pretend to be your friends, pretend that they love you so that they could take advantage of you a little longer; so that they could see how much a fool you've turned out to be. They laugh behind your back and you still think they admire you with all of their hearts." He laughed deep in his throat before continuing, "What a joke".

But before he could say anything else, Naruto grabbed his shirt and pushed him harshly toward the tree behind,

"Sasuke, you can insult me to no end and I could care less, but I will not allow you to insult my friends and my village any further."

"Your friends and your village?" Sasuke mocked. He placed his hands on Naruto and slowly took them off. "I don't know what you are talking about; you have no friend, Naruto. No one considers you their friend. And you have no village either. They never consider you a part of the village in the first place and even now. You are just a weapon; a monster they are afraid of. The more powerful you are, the more they are afraid of you. Before they still had enough courage to show you their hate, but now you have become too powerful. They don't even dare to tremble in front of you."

Still seeing no response from Naruto, Sasuke continued,

"Yes, they are too afraid of you that they don't even dare to show you their fear. Instead, they put a mask on their faces and lie to you instead."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke collars and calmly told him in a deep and serious tone,

"One more word and I will crush you into pieces." Naruto let his Kyuubi's chakra flow into Sasuke's body, paralyzing his body completely, "Do you fear of me now?" Naruto pressed some of his chakra onto Sasuke's skin, threatening to cut him deep into the bone. Sasuke had gone too far; this was the time to teach him some lesson, to show him his ragging anger,

"Sasuke, you always hate to feel inferior, don't you? That's why you never accept me, you never recognize me. You always hate to feel helpless, don't you? That's why you keep seeking more power. Before I also feel inferior to you; that's why I keep chasing after you, asking you to recognize me. But now I understand that no matter how much I chasing after you I did you would never recognize me. Because.." Naruto looked at Sasuke with sad and sympathetic eyes, "because you always feel inferior to me..."

Sasuke's chakra suddenly raised rapidly and pushed all of the Kyuubi's chakra away. He pinned Naruto against a tree,

"I am the one who feels inferior to you?" He laughed, "To you, the one who is blinded by lies from ones who are considered friends and family? You are living in an illusion, Naruto. You think that everyone loves you but the truth is they hate you deep in their hearts; they lie to you so that they could keep their lives and they can take advantage of you for their own good."

"Your slander will do nothing against me. I believe in them. They are people who believe in me and recognize me. No lie will affect my resolve."

"Really?" Sasuke smirked, "You are confused now, aren't you? There are many things you don't know, do you? For example, how to become a real husband?"

"What are you talking about, Sasuke? Of course I know how to become a husband; I have been properly educated by Otou-chan."

Sasuke laughed in a high and pitched tone, "Naruto," he waved his arms harshly, "Did you hear what the others talking about you, about your relationships? Are you dead stupid? How old are you now? Nineteen! And still don't know how to kiss a girl properly? What did you do yesterday, trying to kiss her the same way you had been kissed by a guy seven years ago? Do you have the brain of a third grade kid?"

As Naruto's face burned bright red, his blood boiled faster by the second,

"Shut up, Sasuke. My marriage is none of your business. And how dare you spy on us?" Thinking of Sasuke spying on their daily life and even watching Hinata when she... Naruto clenched his fists. Unforgivable. No one was allowed to look at Hinata in an improper way. He would kill any man who dared to look at her...to see her...that way...even if that man was his best friend.

Like he was able to read Naruto's thought, Sasuke smirked again,

"Don't worry, Naruto. I didn't take a glance of your dear wife, but I couldn't guarantee other's would not. Neji, for example. I wonder how many times he has watched her get out of the bathroom, in her..."

Naruto couldn't stand it anymore, he punched Sasuke right into his face, sending him several feet away.. Sasuke wiped out his blood on his mouth and widened his smirk,

"But I am afraid that, seeing her get out of the bathroom was only the smallest thing he is able to do. I wonder how far they have gone in their cousin relationship. Certainly much farther than you do as a husband. He might be able to become a much better husband than you are, or maybe...", Sasuke paused before he pressed the words, "he is already a better husband than you are."

Naruto's blood had boiled too fast to control. His whole body was on fire. He was not sure where Sasuke wanted to get him to, but his words were killing him slowly and badly. He didn't want to hear any of his poisonous words or he would go crazy and be unable to control his temper.

"SHUT UP. I SAID SHUT UP." Naruto covered his ears,

"Truth hurts, Naruto. But as your best friend, I have to let you know." Now Sasuke's tone changed into a caring and concerned voice, but all Naruto could feel was mockery and cruel intents. However, to Naruto's dismay, Sasuke's voice kept pouring into Naruto's unwilling ears, unwanted words torturing it and hurting it until it would be exploded into thousand pieces,

"Naruto, let me tell you the whole truth beginning with your marriage. Do you know why your dear Ba-chan forced you into the marriage? It is because she lost a bet to Hiashi. And do you know why Hiashi wanted you to become his son-in-law?"

Sasuke paused again, watching Naruto's face. Seeing Naruto in such dismay and pain was the best. Oh, the sun was begun to die. When you shut down its sources, the sun wouldn't be able to shine ever again. And when the sun died, the trees and other livings would die with it, letting the land wither and be covered in darkness and despair. He would finish the sun after that, only after it had suffered the same fate as him, only after it suffered worse fate than him.

"Naruto, it is because he knows how much a fool you are. He needs you to shoo away any unwanted suitors so that his nephew and his daughter could do their deeds."

"ENOUGH! I SAID ENOUGH! IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR MOUTH UP I WILL KILL YOU!"

Suddenly, Sasuke smiled and muttered something to himself, "Just in time" or something like that.

"Naruto, if you don't believe me why don't you see everything with your own eyes and question them with your own mouth?"


Sasuke turned away and walked into a small path, signaling Naruto to follow him. They went deeper into the training ground, turning into a small path that led into another training ground. Sasuke stayed behind a tree and pointed to Naruto to the scene unfolding before them.

"They lied to you. All of them; your Ba-chan, your Otou-chan, your friends, and especially your precious wife. They all poured into your ears sweetness and honey while the truth is that they hate you deep in their hearts and want nothing more than your death so that they wouldn't have to lie anymore, wouldn't have to pretend anymore, so that they could be with the ones they really want to be with.

Hinata was leaning her head against Neji's shoulder, while Neji himself turned her around and kissed on her forehead. He then looked close into her eyes and leaned closer with an attempt to kiss her on her lips.

The whole world whirled around Naruto's head; past, present, future, friends, enemies. He didn't know what was what, who was who anymore. He didn't know who to trust and what to do anymore. It seemed like everything he had done and had experienced was all a dream, an illusion. His body moved on its own, following his most dark and wicked thought, threatening to destroy all that he had believed and hoped for.

He punched Neji on the ground and ready to give him the final blow before he was thrown out by a gentle kick from no one other than Hinata.

Hinata panted heavily, still in her defensive stand,

"N-Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" Suddenly aware of her offensive position, she rushed to Naruto and tried to touch his hand.

"Are you ok, Naruto-kun? I'm sorry; I just acted on my instinct. But what are you trying to do Naruto? You almost..."

Naruto coldly shook her hands away. He looked deep into her eyes, hurt and pain still evident in his eyes,

"Why did you marry me, Hinata?"

Hinata stood dumbfound, completely surprised by the question. Why, he asked. How could she answer him? That she wanted to be with him so badly that she didn't need to think before saying yes when her father asked her into the marriage. But now that he asked her, it meant that he had regrets about marrying her. So it was true; he still loved Sakura. How she should answer him now? Just tell him the truth. Whatever would happen, just be true to herself and she would be fine; that what he had told her. That was their nindo.

"Because…Naruto-kun…my father told me you asked me…*blush*…to become your wife, and…I said yes…because I really like you, I always…"

"Stop it. Tell me no more lie…"

Hinata looked at Naruto, full of confused. Naruto was very strange today. His eyes now were full of anger and hurt. What did she do to offend him so much?

"Naruto-kun, what happened?"

"I never asked to take your hand in marriage."

Her heart beat fast at the sudden news. She always had the doubt. No, actually, deep into her heart she always knew her father was the one who arranged her marriage and by some unknown means he had successfully forced Naruto into it. She felt so filthy about herself; she had conspired with her father to deceive him, interfering with his life and his happiness.

"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry."

"You are sorry!" Naruto cried in his high, strange, distant voice, "And here I am, agreeing to marry you because Ba-chan told me you would be married off to an old man from the Land of Storm if I didn't do so."

"The Land of Storm?" What was Naruto-kun talking about?

Seeing Hinata's confused face, Naruto's suspicions were confirmed. Just one more time. He didn't want to accept this truth completely so he would ask her one more time. Maybe she forgot; maybe she didn't want to remember all of those bad memories. Naruto grabbed Hinata's arm, his hand trembling in fear of the anticipated truth while his voice still shaking with anger and sadness,

"You know, Hinata; before we got married, your father forced you to married an old man in the Land of Storm. The land that was surrounded all year with storm. The land where no one could survive even for just one month. The land where…"

Naruto's voice trailed off as confusion and guilt became evident in Hinata's eyes. Naruto could not stop himself as the pain grew stronger and stronger, threatening to slice his heart into pieces. He hugged Hinata tightly; his voice was strong and low as he asked her one last time, trying to confirm the truth one last time.

"So there is no land of storm? No arranged marriage?" Naruto tightened his hold, his voice now sounded desperate and cracking, "Hinata, please try to remember. Please tell me that you remember now."

That was when Neji placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, shaking his head,

"Naruto, get off Hinata now. She doesn't know anything about it. It is between Hiashi-sama and Tsunade-sama only. Hinata doesn't play any part in it."

Suddenly anger devoured Naruto completely, he never hate someone that strongly before. He felt like Neji was the source of all of his unpleasant feelings now. He was the one that would take away all of his happiness, take away his Hinata. He released Hinata and took some steps back away from her. He turned his head toward Neji, clenching his fist,

"So you know the truth. You are the one behind all of these."

"All that I know is that Hiashi-sama asked Tsunade-sama to arrange the marriage; how she asked you into the marriage I didn't know. But Hinata didn't know anything about it. All Hiashi-sama told her was that Naruto asked her to marry him. She was totally unaware of all the hidden plans between them."

"What are those hidden plans?" Naruto asked in a calm and authorizing tone, but he still could not hide the anger and distress behind it.

Neji hesitated before answering. Naruto was truly not himself today. To Neji and other shinobi of the village, Naruto was their leader; they respected Naruto greatly and would follow him no matter what. Naruto never asked or ordered them anything, but if he did, they would even sacrifice their lives to complete his wish. However, Naruto always treated them as friends and family; never thinking of himself as superior to them. This was the first time Naruto used this authorizing voice to Neji, firmly ordered him to answer his question. And…before…Didn't Naruto just want to kill him?

A chill ran through Neji spine. This was the first time Neji was afraid of Naruto, but ironically if Naruto wanted to kill him, he would be happy to comply with it. He wasn't afraid to die for Naruto or to die by his hand. The sudden realization shook Neji to his core. When he had faced the difference between death and life, he suddenly realize how much he admired and respected Naruto; that he always looked up to him and considered him as a family member, or something even more; the core of the village, the foundation of his existence.

Neji looked at Hinata again. The mere sight of her face, of her presence, never failed to speed his heart's race, to make his blood boil in excitement and happiness. But if to be with her would betray Naruto, he could not do that. If he had to choose, he would choose the village; he would choose Naruto. And someone like him could not make Hinata happy anyway. She only loved one person and one person alone; and that person was not him. Love; finally he could understand it a little. Before he was afraid for Hinata that Naruto was not in love with her, but now he knew for sure Naruto was madly in love with her, and he might even love her more than Neji did.

Now Neji would be honest with Naruto, telling him everything. He, after all, could never lie to Naruto. If it was Naruto, he would know what to do and he would make Hinata happy. That he knew for sure.

"Naruto, Hiashi-sama wanted your marriage for some personal reason, so he had tricked Tsunade-sama into a bet and made her agree to arrange the marriage for him."

"So it is true." Naruto voice became higher as his anger reached its limit. He waved his hand, pounded it hardly on his chest, "So it is true that you lied to me all of these time; tricked me into this marriage so that you two could do your deed, being together for your personal means."

Naruto grabbed Hinata's shoulder and shook her roughly,

"Answer me. Is this true? Is this true that you just took advantage of me so that you could be with Neji to do this?" He waved his hands around the training ground.

Hinata mistook that Naruto was implying the training between her and Neji; so that why he was angry. He was upset because she hadn't told him about her special training with Neji yet.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, for not telling you about this."

"So this is true." Naruto's heart ached so badly that tears threatened to burst out at any moment. He clenched his T-shirt, right where his heart was. He looked at Neji,

"So Otou-chan's speech about marriage was all bullshit, lies, so that I and other men will not get close to her, so that you and her could…" He could not finish the sentence; the pain was too much for him to handle.

Neji nodded, guilt evident in his eyes. So that was true. Naruto's whole world tumbled before his eyes. All that he had believed in, had treasured, were lies, deceit, and illusions.

Sasuke smirked. The plan had gone better than he imagined. Those idiots just acted exactly like he expected them to.

'Kill them now, Naruto. Kill them with your own hands. Then go berserk and kill the whole village. Kill everyone that's important to you with your own hands. Then I will tell you the truth and make you live in loneliness and regret for the rest of your live. You will curse yourself and wish for your death, but I will not let you die that easily. I will make you live in a hell that is even worse than mine. I'll never let a single light shine your way.'


A/N: As the story reaches the climax, it becomes more difficult to write. So it will take longer to be updated. But I do want to complete this story, in fact I want to complete it ASAP.