"W-What?" I asked.

"The wedding is back on," he repeated.

I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach and I suddenly felt faint. I knew what my father had told me, but I had difficulty making sense of it. When I finally processed what he had just told me, I asked him "H-How? Why is it back on?"

"When you left on your mission, Lord Toneri came to me at the estate, demanding to know the reason why I annulled the wedding. Once I gave him the reason, he refused to accept it and made a series of threats," he said.

"You, nor anyone else in our clan, takes lightly to threats. Surely, you attempted to escort him out?" I said.

My father nodded his head. "I had one of my guards attempt to escort him out of the estate, but once my guard grabbed Lord Toneri by the arm, he called for one of his men; this was something that I had expected, seeming as our unwanted guest was very unsatisfied with my decision to annul the wedding. However, I did not expect what Lord Toneri had in mind at the gesture."

I felt myself becoming anxious. "What did he do?"

The grim expression never left my father's face. "His guard restrained mine and held a kunai at his throat, forcing him to release Lord Toneri. Lord Toneri then resumed his series of threats and told me that he can show me what he meant by them."

"What threats did he issue to you?" I asked.

"He told me that he has the power to wipe out the Hyuga bloodline."

"What? That is not possible," I said. "Our clan is too powerful. He cannot take us out."

"He is not planning to take us out through battle, Hinata. He is planning to eliminate us with a weapon."

Disbelief took over me. "No, that is not possible."

A frown remained on my father's face as he proceeded to inform me on what took place at the estate. "I thought so as well, however, he proved my doubt otherwise. While Lord Toneri's guard restrained mine, Lord Toneri pulled out a syringe and injected its contents into our clansman. Instantaneously, his eyes began to bleed and he keeled over, dead. When Lord Toneri left, I received the opportunity to examine his body… His eyes had melted and his chakra network system had been erased."

My eyes widened. "How is that possible? Are you saying that he has the power to erase our clan from existence?"

"It seems so," said my father. "He told me that if you do not marry him, he will destroy our clan and make you watch, ending it all with Hanabi."

I immediately felt sick. "Why does he want to marry me so badly? What does he have to gain from it?"

"He never said – he told me that I would never understand. Regardless, you know that I had no choice but to call the wedding back on."

My father was correct to call the wedding back on, and even though it made me sick to even think about wedding that man, I knew that I had no choice but to accept my eminent betrothal to Lord Toneri.

"When is the wedding?" I asked.

"As soon as possible," answered my father.

"Who is attending?"

My father shook his head. "It will be just you and Lord Toneri. Your friends and family are not allowed to attend. He does not trust us to allow the wedding to proceed without casualty after what he just showed me."

I nodded in understanding. "Where is it being held?"

"In the Land of Iron."

"When should I leave?"

"Tomorrow at first light."

"Alright," I said, feeling terrifyingly numb. It was as if all of the emotion I felt earlier had been sucked out of me. "Ko? Can you please inform my friends inside that I must leave the party early? If they ask why, tell them that I have an early day tomorrow and I cannot afford to lose sleep. Knowing them, they will not believe that story in its entirety so also tell them not to worry."

He bowed to me and said "Yes, Lady Hinata," before heading inside of the restaurant. It was not his place to share his opinion with my father present, but I could tell that Ko was more than unhappy hearing the news of my inevitable betrothal to a monster.

My father placed a firm hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. He said "This displeases me more than you will ever know. Can you understand why I had to give in to Lord Toneri's demand?"

"Yes, Father, I understand. Do not worry. I will fulfill my duty and protect our clan," I said. "The wedding will commence as soon as I arrive at the Land of Iron."

Brows furrowed, my father said "Come. Let us return home so that you can prepare for the long journey tomorrow."

There are five great nations, or countries, on our planet that are led by feudal lords with Kage as their figure head. These countries are the Land of Fire, Land of Wind, Land of Water, Land of Earth, and Land of Lightning. Each are known notoriously throughout the shinobi world due to their large size and militia strength, but there are other countries, smaller countries, that many seem to overlook. The Land of Iron is one of them. It is a small neutral country on the mountains just past the Land of Earth that is covered in snow. Instead of shinobi running and protecting their country like all of the other countries, it is samurai. The Land of Iron was easily forgotten, and I had never heard of it, until they joined our battle in the Fourth Great Ninja War two years ago.

To reach the Land of Iron from the Land of Fire, it takes about a week on foot if one takes very few breaks and is sprinting the entire way. In my specific situation, when I returned home, Lord Toneri left a carriage and four of his guards to escort me in the morning. Travelling by carriage from the Land of Fire to the Land of Iron will take about three week's time, making it very difficult to pack the items necessary for such a long journey. In my room, it took me approximately two hours to gather what I needed for the trip. When I finally finished packing, I then realized that I did not have an outfit for the wedding ceremony, and I searched my closet for anything formal enough to wear but to no avail. It was at that moment when I felt myself entering a panic that I heard a soft knock at my door.

I recognized the knocking, opening the door to find who I suspected to be on the other side – Hanabi. Her shoulders were slouched and her head hung low with her long brown hair covering her face. Her mouth took the form of a frown and her brows were furrowed, making her look strikingly similar to our father.

Just as I opened my mouth to invite her in, her head shot up and her white eyes burned with anger. She shouted "It's not fair!" as she invited herself into my room.

I closed the door behind her. "I assume that you heard, Hanabi?"

"Of course I heard! Word of what happened spread all over the estate like wild fire. It isn't fair," she said once again.

I exhaled. "Nothing about this is fair, but I still have to do it. I need to protect our clan, I need to protect you. If I do not marry Lord Toneri then our clan will be eradicated."

"I know! It's just that…" she trailed off, her voice reducing to a whisper.

I put my hand on her shoulder, offering her a genuine smile as I did so. "Everything will be fine. I can assure you, Hanabi. I will protect you."

She stared at me for several moments with hope in her eyes, but in a split second that hope turned to ash and anger took over. She smacked my hand off her shoulder and said "I don't care about that! You don't need to protect me, Hinata! I've trained just as hard as you; I can protect myself and our clan if I wanted to. If you just refused that bastard's ultimatum, then you could see how strong I've become and we could come up with a plan to take him out before he does."

I shook my head. "I have no doubts in your strength, but there is no time and we cannot take that risk. I need to do this and I need to do this now."

Frowning, Hanabi stared at me with hate filled eyes. She stared for what seemed like hours, trying to convince me to change my mind but I did not back down as I continued to meet her gaze. Eventually, her eyes softened and she released a heavy breath. Whatever she saw in my eyes persuaded her to think otherwise, causing Hanabi look towards the floor in defeat.

She said "I don't want to lose you, Hinata. There's no telling what Toneri will do to you after he marries you."

"And I do not want to lose you, Hanabi, which is why I must to do this not only as the leader of our clan, but also as your big sister. It is my job to protect our people – to protect you. If I stood by and did nothing, I would feel more than just regretful. I may not like what I must do to save our clan, however, it is better than standing by and doing nothing at all. This is the only option we have."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she mumbled. For whatever reason, Hanabi was carrying a knapsack on her back. I had only noticed it when she pulled it off, sitting it on my bed.

"Why are you carrying a knapsack around?" I asked.

"In case I couldn't change your mind, I brought something handy you could use for the wedding ceremony."

Hanabi opened up the knapsack, removing what she was harboring. My mouth dropped in awe at the sight of what she offered to me.

"Here," she said as she handed it to me.

I accepted the item with earnest, holding it carefully in my hands. What my little sister gave to me was a silky vibrant red kimono designed with white and gold lotus flowers. The color and texture of this material was so unusual that I immediately got lost in it. Unfortunately, realization struck me and I found myself handing the piece back to my sister.

"I cannot wear that," I said.

"Yes, you can," she said as she shoved the kimono into my chest. "It wasn't easy getting that, you know. I'll be offended if you don't wear it."

"I simply cannot! Have you forgotten what this means?"

In the Hidden Leaf Village, whoever wears red silk to a wedding is assumed have the intent to take a life. This assumption was made about one-hundred years ago when war between countries frequently took place, spreading massive bloodshed. Many lives from the Land of Fire were lost, and red reminded people of the ones that died. Years have passed since then, and many people overlook wearing red to a wedding, however, the elderly have difficulty letting it go. If I was seen wearing red to a wedding, that would mean that I wish for the groom to be murdered by my hand or by another's.

Hanabi shrugged. "I think it's perfect."

"Hanabi," I chastised.

"What? It's not like he'll know the meaning behind it. It's a Land of Fire thing," she said. "Not only that, you have nothing to wear. If you won't wear that, you'll have to wear nothing at all."

I sucked in air as a mental battle ensued. At the end of this battle, I realized that she was correct.

"Alright, I will wear it," I said.

"You're welcome," she said with a smile as she headed for the door. "We both have an early start tomorrow, so I need to go to bed. In the morning, Father and I will see you off."

"Thank you again, Hanabi."

"What are sisters for?" she said.

Once she left, I felt alone almost immediately. I sat down on my bed with the kimono in my hands and as I stared at it, I could not even begin to imagine where Hanabi found this. The color was so vibrant, the design was so precise and elegant, and the texture was so smooth and light that one would have no knowledge of touching it if they were not watching their own hand caress the fabric. If she bought this, this must have cost over one million ryo.

To prevent it from wrinkling, I folded it carefully and placed it into a bag of its own. By the time I felt as though the fabric was secure enough to not wrinkle or dull during the three-week trip, it was well pass the time I needed to go to bed for a good night's rest. It was rather difficult to fall asleep knowing what awaited me the following day, but when I finally did, I woke up the next morning feeling like I did not receive an ounce of sleep. Nonetheless, I got out of bed and I completed my morning routine.

Now dressed and clean, I exited the estate to meet Lord Toneri's guards taking post by the carriage. When I reached the front yard where it was parked, not only were my father and Hanabi outside to see me off just as my little sister had said, the entire Hyuga house was there to watch me leave as well. Seeing them watch me leave with such faith in their eyes made my stomach turn. While I was not yet their leader, they depended on me to save them. I did not allow them to see it should their faith falter, but it put a lot of pressure on me to know how much they relied on me, causing me to question myself. I was not sure if I was worthy enough to lead them.

One of Lord Toneri's guards opened the carriage door for me and I entered it hesitantly. Though small, there was sufficient space to stretch my legs should they grow stiff during the long journey, and there were two small windows on either side of the carriage for me to look through.

The guards wasted no time in departure and before I knew it, we were on the move. We took occasional breaks for the horse to rest and for me to stretch and we never travelled during the night, making the journey the longest trip that I have ever been on. To try to pass the time, I attempted to converse with the guards every so often, however, they never spoke back. They continued to march on beside the carriage as if I never spoke to them at all, which I found rude at first, but as the days went by with still no conversation, not only with me but with their partners as well, I began to find their behavior odd.

And it did not take me long to find other odd behaviors they exhibited.

While I ate, they did not. While I slept, they did not., While I stretched, they did not take that time to rest. It made me wonder if they were human.

Snow covered the ground, telling me that we were near the Land of Iron. We still had at least one day left to reach the mountain peak where I am to meet Lord Toneri, but with the progress we were making, I speculated that we would achieve our destination by mid-evening.

As we began to trek up the mountain, I decided to wear the red kimono. I knew that as soon as I reached the mountain top, Lord Toneri would want to wed me immediately, so I carefully pulled the kimono out of my bag, lying it on the seat next to me. I was hesitant to undress inside of the carriage while there were four men walking next to the carriage outside, but I pushed past that and quickly took off my clothes.

Just as I finished putting on the kimono, and all of the extraneous parts that come with it, the carriage came to a halt, and with it, confusion came.

I peeked out of the window to find out why we stopped when a bolt of lightning surged past the carriage. I could not see what it hit, but I heard a loud boom sound when it collided with its target. Whatever its target was, it was near the carriage.

One of the guards ran past the carriage towards the direction of the attack, but was soon pushed back with another bolt of lightning. Now realizing that it was us this person was attacking, I attempted to exit the carriage. However, when I tried to open the door, I discovered that it was locked. I tried again to force my way out of it by slamming my body against it, but to no avail.

Boom. Another bolt of lightning struck.

It took every fiber within me to not enter a panic and to convince myself to think rationally. Pulling the handle on the door obviously will not work, so I chose to kick the door with as much strength as I could muster. One kick slightly dented the door outward.

Boom.

I kicked it again, making the door bend even more, which allowed a gust of wind to push into the carriage along with flakes of snow. Warmth covered the inside of the carriage during my stay, so I was not used to or prepared for the frigid air. The sudden gust of freezing wind took my breath away but only for a moment.

Boom.

I saw lightning strike next to the carriage and fear ran through me. I used that fear to fuel my blows to the door and I successfully broke the object off the carriage. I waited inside for a moment in case the attacker decided to strike as soon as he saw me destroy the door and then I decided to make my escape.

I only had the chance to poke my head out of the carriage when I saw a bolt of lightning coming for me in my peripheral. I did not have time to think or move. It hit the side of the carriage, sending it and me over the mountain.