What Happens Next?
Author's Note: Thanks for the review. I hope you guys like this chapter.
Chapter Notations/Warning: Shisui makes a dirty joke. I didn't feel it was bad enough to warrant a warning in the actual story. Summonland is just the name I have given to the place where Summons go, when they aren't being summoned. There is also some silliness involved.
Chapter 22
It didn't take long for the festival to arrive. Sasuke holds Hinata's hand reassuringly as they walk side by side. Hyugas and Uchihas were scattered all around the place, along with other ninjas and civilians. The festival celebrating founding of the Leaf was one of the few times that the Uchihas all interacted with other villagers at once.
Sasuke had grown to resent it really. The village would only use them to keep the internal affairs in order through the police force and for occasions like this. He felt a bit like a tiger at the zoo. It was a display the Leaf's power. This wasn't an invitation granted out of affection and that irked him.
"Don't worry. They know we are courting. Our families had to expect this to a certain extent." He says and kisses Hinata's cheek.
It was the Leaf's way of saying, "Don't mess with us." Look at how powerful our Noble Clans are. If you attack us, you will lose.
He noted that the Hyugas were generally treated with a cool reverence. His Clan was treated like a volcano that might go off at any time. Other Clans tended to fit almost seamlessly into the Leaf's larger culture.
"I'm not worried." Hinata lies.
"Your hands are shaking and you aren't a very good liar, kitten." Sasuke chides his lover gently and walks with her to find Hiashi.
He knew the Hyugas. Sasuke was aware that some were going to object, but they wouldn't cause a scene. Their public reputation was too important to them to risk it at such an event.
Sasuke was aware that last thought was a little devious. But he didn't care. He wanted the announcement to go as smoothly as possible. Doing it in public, was the easiest way to ensure it.
"Lord Hiashi." Sasuke calls out.
"Yes, Sasuke?" Hiashi says as he walks over to Sasuke and Hinata.
"Would it be possible for you to gather the Hyugas all in one place? My father can do the same. Hinata and I want to make an announcement." He inquires.
He simply nods and heads off to organize his Clan. Sasuke blinks. That was easy. It seemed the Hyuga Patriarch wasn't even going to ask him what announcement he wanted to make.
"That was weird. He didn't ask me why?" Sasuke muses.
"I think he trusts you at this point and father might already suspect what is coming anyway." Hinata says.
"Maybe." Sasuke agrees.
Ten minutes later, Sasuke was truly amazed. He would never understand how his father and Hiashi were able to corral that many Clan members so quickly. It was truly a gift.
They must have simply been born with it. To Sasuke, it was like herding cats. He doubted he'd ever be able to pull that off.
"EVERYONE SILENCE! Sasuke and Hinata have an announcement they wish to make. You will all be quiet until they are done. To do otherwise will be considered an insult to the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans." Hiashi warns them and Fugaku nods his head in agreement.
Sasuke had long ago learned that the quieter his father was at a public function, the greater the implied threat. You do not pull a lion's tail and expect nothing to happen. He looked perfectly calm now, but he suspected Fugaku would lose it even more than Hiashi if someone interrupted them.
"Do you want to do it or should I?" Sasuke whispers into Hinata's ear.
"I'll do it." She replies quietly and takes the microphone.
Where the microphone came from, she had no idea. She suspected that Shisui probably brought one to all the formal gatherings. The bluenette would not put it past the mischievous Uchiha to do so. It would certainly make causing a little mischief easier.
"Thank you all for gathering together on such short notice. Sasuke and I wanted to inform you that we are now engaged. He proposed to me and I accepted. We are very happy to have both Clans here, together while make this announcement." Hinata says.
Silence. Complete silence. Everyone was in shock. Hinata blinks. She hadn't expected that reaction. Sasuke wraps his arms around Hinata protectively, as if to shield her from what he expected to be the enviable backlash.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Someone yells.
"SHUT UP! YOU ARE EMBARRASSING OUR CLAN!" A second Hyuga yells at the first.
Soon there were shouts, whispers, giggles, and threats. Fireballs and Gentle Fists began to fly not long after. Kunais and swords were being busted out. Uh oh.
"Well that went about as well as I expected." Sasuke mutters and Hinata nods, trying to burrow into her lover's arms.
"QUIET!" Fugaku roars and every single combatant quickly lowered their weapons, fists, and voices.
Mikoto shakes her head. She really should have brought her frying pan. That tended to get fast compliance. It made an excellent improvised weapon. She smiles at her husband. He was very good at stopping fights. (You had to be when you were the father of two boys.)
"You have all shamed yourselves greatly. Hiashi and I approved of this courtship. We would not have done so, if we were not at ease with the possibility of a marriage. If you have an issue with the engagement, you are to bring it to me or him. Because you will be questioning OUR judgment." Fugaku snaps at them.
"I will echo what Fugaku said. Honestly, you are all behaving as though you were children. Learn to control yourselves better. We are Noble Clans. We should act like it and set an example for the rest of the village." Hiashi chimes in.
Just like that the Uchihas and Hyugas were suitably shamed into good behavior, for now. Both Clan Heads knew that this wouldn't last. They sigh and shake their heads.
"Welcome to the family. It will be so nice to have a daughter. I love Sasuke and Itachi of course, but neither of them have much interest in fashion, shopping, or spa days." Mikoto says and hugs Hinata.
"Itachi does like makeup to a certain extent though. Purple fingernail polish." Shisui says with a snicker and this earns him a dirty look from the other Uchiha.
"Purple is a regal color!" Izumi defends her husband and Itachi smiles, leaning down to give her a grateful kiss on the forehead.
Sasuke sighs in relief. It looked like at least for now things were calming down. He cuddles into Hinata, trying to reassure her that things were going to be alright after all.
"I love you, but your family is kinda crazy." Sasuke whispers to her.
"I was about to say the same thing to you." She whispers back to her lover and Sasuke smirks.
"Looks like the kitten does have some sharp claws." Sasuke muses.
Somehow the Clans manage to disperse. Everyone goes off to enjoy the festival. Sasuke slips off with Hinata and enjoys the rest of the night with his intended.
Elsewhere at the festival, Ino and Sai were on a date. The two of them were enjoying some cotton candy. Sai still didn't get the point of cotton candy. Ino was trying to explain the benefits of it.
"It's just because it tastes good and its fun." She says.
"Sounds like you." He observes and the blonde ninja blushes.
Sai had a way of being scandalous without meaning to. God help her, when he actually started trying to flirt. She smiles and walks with him.
"Well it looks like it was successful. Sasuke and Hinata are together. What is our next project?" He asks good naturedly.
Ino tilts her head to the side. The flower lover considers her boyfriend's question. It was a good one. Clearly, the Leaf needed their matchmaking talents. Hmm. But who should they target next?
"You guys aren't trying to match someone else, are you?" Naruto asks as he walks over to them.
"Ino seems to take great pleasure in doing so." Sai comments.
Naruto shakes his head. You really think the two of them would have learned their lesson by now. Apparently, Sasuke's threats hadn't done the trick. He didn't know if he should intervene or not. He might get dragged into it again and he was already on thin ice with his best friend.
"We should totally find you someone, Naruto!" Ino says happily.
'Um no. I'm good. Thanks. I'm gonna be over here." Naruto says and he runs off.
He runs right into Hinata. The two of them go flying and end up in a very awkward position. Needless to say, Sasuke was less than thrilled.
"Loser, get off of my fiancée." Sasuke growls at him.
"Fiancee?!" The blonde asks in disbelief, trying to process the fact that the bastard had proposed.
Hinata blushes and quickly scrambles off her first love. The bluenette stands between the two men. Sasuke was seeing red, literally. His Sharingan was now activated and the Hyuga Heiress realized that this time, it wasn't because he was feeling frisky.
"I proposed to her. She accepted. We just got done telling our Clans." Sasuke mutters and wraps his arms around Hinata, resting his head on top of hers.
The implication was rather clear. She's mine. If you even think about touching her, I will make sure you are never able to have children. Sasuke could be very expressive, when he wanted to be…without saying a word, sometimes.
"Wow! That's great! I'm really happy for you guys. So how did they take it?" Naruto inquires, hoping that Sasuke wasn't actually going to castrate him.
"Not that well. Fights broke out. But our fathers stepped in and stopped an all out brawl." Hinata mumbles.
Sasuke nods. He holds Hinata a little tighter. He knew that she was still upset about the reactions. Hinata was the type of person who wanted everyone to be happy. Sasuke wasn't. As long as he, Hinata, and his immediate family members were happy, he was fine. He didn't see the point in getting upset about insects.
"Oh well that's good that they managed to stop it. Was anyone seriously hurt?" He asks.
"I don't think so. The Hyugas are getting pretty good at dodging fireballs and we are getting good at evading "Gentle Fists."" Sasuke replies.
Naruto nods. Yeah that was good in a weird way. He didn't know why the two Clans were so tense around each other. But it had always been that way, as far back as he could remember.
"Maybe you guys getting married will help smooth things over." The blonde muses.
"I hope so. But you still aren't out of the doghouse. So help me loser, if you touch her again like that, I will kick your ass." He mutters.
Naruto gulps. It was an accident! Sheesh! Sasuke really could be a possessive bastard at times. He looks at Hinata. The blue eyed ninja wasn't sure how Hinata felt about said bastardly behavior.
"Sasuke, it was just an accident." She murmurs and caresses his cheek.
"I know. But I don't want the idiot to get any ideas. He had his chance. He was too stupid to take it." Sasuke says and places a kiss to her temple.
"You really are such a bastard sometimes. Make sure to keep him on a short leash Hinata. Remember he needs to be beaten up at least once a day or else he starts being a REAL bastard." Naruto nods energetically.
Hinata giggles. Some things would never change. One of them was that Sasuke and Naruto were always going to fight like cats and dogs. Men had such strange ways of bonding with each other. She didn't think she'd ever really understand their strange relationship.
"I don't need to beat him up. He's very nice to me." She says.
"Well you are the first then. You better take care of her, bastard." Naruto warns the Uchiha.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He briefly contemplates giving Naruto his daily beating. Hinata probably wouldn't like that though. Plus being snuggled up to her was far more fun than tearing into the loser for the thousandth time.
"You are such an idiot and I take very good care of her." He mutters after deciding that it wasn't worth it to fight Naruto right now.
"Right. Good. I should probably go. Looks like Sai and Ino set their matchmaking sights on me and I don't want to get caught up in the middle of that. They can be a little crazy." The blonde says cheerfully.
Sasuke smirks. He was tempted to say, "How does it feel?!" But he was with Hinata. He decided to behave for now. (Though he was never going to let the loser live this one down later.)
"They are very determined. You really should hurry before they catch you." Hinata warns Naruto with a quiet giggle.
The blue eyed ninja nods. He quickly flits off. Sasuke shakes his head and laughs. Only in the Leaf Village, would someone capable of leveling a village be afraid of two meddling matchmakers.
"This is such a weird village." Sasuke murmurs and Hinata nods.
"Want to go back home? I doubt they would be surprised if we left after the announcement." Her lover suggests.
"Sounds good to me." Hinata replies with a shy smile and walks off with Sasuke.
The next day, Hinata blinks. She was in the Uchiha District with her father, Hanabi, and Neji. Hiashi wanted to discuss wedding plans. Neji wouldn't admit it, but he was curious to see the Uchiha District. Hanabi wanted to be there for her sister, while she made her wedding plans.
Hinata couldn't stop blinking though. She would never get used to seeing Aoda. He was just such a giant snake.
Sasuke kept assuring her that he was friendly and she knew that Sasuke wouldn't lie to her. But when he started going on about his ideas for the wedding and talking about hatchlings, well it was strange to say the least.
"Yes, so obviously the wedding will have to be organized quickly. It will have to be an outdoor wedding. The Clans are too large for it to be held inside. Don't you agree, Master Sasuke?" The snake inquires.
"Yeah. That makes sense. It's alright, my love. Aoda isn't going to eat you." Sasuke tells her.
"Exactly. That's Sasuke's job now!" Shisui says cheerfully and Sasuke winces as the temperature dropped by ten degrees in under two seconds.
Hiashi didn't take kindly to that dirty joke. Everyone knew that his perverted cousin had just referenced oral sex and not cannibalism. The Hyuga Patriarch storms over there and smacks Shisui, sending him flying back twenty feet.
"OWE!" He protests.
"You deserved that one. Honestly, Shisui. Mind your manners. You do not have to express every deviant thought that enters your head." Fugaku chides him.
"You didn't seem to think such an act was deviant las-" Fugaku covers his wife's mouth.
Hiashi smacks his forehead with his hand. Uchihas, honestly. It was like they were programmed to things. Fighting and sex. He supposed every animal was hardwired to do this to a certain extent. But he had never seen a Clan more open about their sexuality. It was a bit disturbing actually.
"Mother, I really didn't need to hear that!" Sasuke and Itachi call out at the same time.
Kenji pat pats Fugaku on the back like good job. The Uchiha Patriarch sighs. He loved his family dearly, but sometimes they could be rather embarrassing.
"Humans can be strange sometimes. Well as I was saying, a short engagement. It would be unpleasant to hold it outside in the winter. You will need a very large cake or lots of small ones. Your families are so large." The snake continues.
Hinata nods and blushes at the discussion that had just taken place. She couldn't believe a snake of all things, was steering the conversation back to a "safe place." The bluenette never thought she'd be so grateful to a reptile.
"Lots of small ones might be more practical." Hiashi muses.
"Sounds good to me." Sasuke says.
"Mmm what kind of music shall we have?" Mikoto inquires.
Hiashi raises an eyebrow. It was obviously going to be classical. This was a formal occasion. The joining of two Noble Clans.
"Classical." He states.
"Modern would be better. Sasuke and Hinata are both young." Itachi chimes in.
"Classical." Hiashi states again and Sasuke watches in amusement as the two begin to bicker over the merits and demerits of each choice.
"Isn't anyone going to ask what we prefer?" Sasuke asks dryly.
"NO!" The two men yell in unison.
Sasuke shakes his head. He looks at Hinata in amusement. Sasuke offers her his arm. Hinata takes it and the two slip off.
"Somehow I doubt we'll get much say in the actual wedding." Sasuke observes and Hinata nods in agreement.
"It doesn't really matter to me. I'm marrying you. The rest is just decoration. Let them bicker over what kind of music is playing." Hinata tells him.
"I feel the same way." Her lover replies with a smile and kisses her forehead.
Hinata smiles. She knew that things would eventually work out. Their families would eventually learn to get along. Maybe. Alright, well probably not. But she was marrying the man she loved and that's what really mattered at the end of the day.
"Where would you like to go for our Honeymoon? I think they might actually allow us to plan that." She notes with a quiet laugh.
"We can go wherever you want. It's not like we'll leave our room much anyway." Sasuke replies with a smirk and adds ruby red as another shade of Hinata's blushes, to the list.
Her lover was a lot bolder than her when it came to teasing. Hinata was still getting used to it. She figured it was more of an Uchiha thing. Hyugas were expected to express their love in a more dignified and cooler fashion. Uchihas apparently didn't think much of making outrageous comments. (Then again that might have just been a Shisui thing.)
"Maybe one of the smaller island nations? They are really beautiful and private." She suggests.
"I like the sound of that. Alright, we'll go to one of them. Do you think they will actually come to blows over what type of music will be played at our wedding, kitten?" Sasuke asks.
Hinata winces. Hmm it wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility. Hyugas took weddings very seriously. It looked like Uchihas were the same way. They were in for a bumpy ride that was for sure.
She looks down at her ring and smiles. It really was beautiful. Somehow they would survive this crazy engagement. Hopefully their Clans wouldn't kill each other in the meantime though.
"It's a possibility. Should we go and try to break it up?" She wonders out loud.
Sasuke considers this. He wasn't sure he wanted Hinata in the line of fire. Itachi could be quite stubborn when he wanted to be and he knew Hiashi was. This fight could last for hours. He vaguely wondered if his father would intervene.
"Lets wait awhile. They might cool off on their own. Do you know which island you want to go to?" He asks.
"There is this one that is famous for its dolphins. I really like them." She says and answers his question.
"Dolphins are nice." Sasuke agrees.
"I AM TELLING YOU THAT CLASSICAL IS A SUPERIOR CHOICE FOR A WEDDING." They hear Hiashi roar at Itachi.
"Classical music has its place, but their friends will feel rather out of place if you choose that." Itachi says.
Aoda winces. Humans could be so loud. He was contemplating if he should ask Master Sasuke if he could sneak back to Summonland. This argument was painful to listen to.
"Hiashi, please stop shouting. You are making Aoda uncomfortable." Mikoto chimes in.
"He's a snake!" The Hyuga Patriarch counters.
Fugaku sighs. Oh boy. Here it comes. This wouldn't end well. Aoda wouldn't take kindly to "speciesism." It was like racism, but against other animals.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Aoda demands.
"If you don't like how loud we are being, you can slither off." Hiashi informs him.
Sasuke sighs as he hears that. He kisses Hinata quickly on the cheek and races back to prevent a major incident. Honestly, he couldn't leave them alone for five minutes without some sort of chaos breaking out. This was ridiculous!
"Will you all please stop fighting?" Sasuke asks.
"HE STARTED IT!" Itachi and Hiashi both say at the same time.
Fugaku chuckles. He never thought he'd see the day when Hiashi Hyuga acted like a child. These were very strange times they were living in. Still he was impressed that Sasuke was actually willing to risk breaking up the fight. That did show courage.
"How about for half the wedding we play classical music and the other half modern?" Sasuke suggests with a heavy sigh.
"Acceptable." Both men say and seem semi pacified by his suggestion.
Mikoto pats Sasuke on the shoulder. It was her way of saying good job. Sasuke smiles back at his mother.
"I hope the shouting didn't scare the bride to be off." Fugaku mutters.
"It did a little. But she's alright. I'm going to take her back to the Hyuga Estate." Sasuke says.
Hiashi nods his approval. Sasuke bids his family and the Hyugas good bye. He heads off to find Hinata. He didn't realize they were being followed by not one, but two Hyugas.
Hanabi followed because she thought them getting married was romantic. She wanted to see what Sasuke and Hinata were like with each other when they were along. But there was also Tenji. Tenji was hoping to find out something that would prove useful in breaking them up. He sighs, rather unhappy that the Naruto incident hadn't done the trick. But tomorrow was another day.