Uh? I think I mentioned that I was going to do a Neji pov... Here it is...

Metamorphosis

Chapter VI

Destiny

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." - William Shakespeare.

When his father died, Neji felt as if his world had fallen apart before his eyes. Shattered to pieces. At the tender age of four, he had experienced agony so deep that it would forever be seared into his soul. It was not until he had grown older that he had realised why exactly his father had died.

It was for the sake of the Hyuuga. For the sake of the head's daughter, who was about to be kidnapped and probably tortured - for her, he had been shot through the head, his brain splattered onto the wall behind him. All for the Hyuuga. The Family. The stupid, unforgiving Family.

Because of this, of course, when he grew older, Neji came to hate the Hyuuga, and all they stood for. He especially hated Hinata for whom his father sacrificed his life for; after all, Hinata was a weak, stuttering fool that would never be able to amount to anything. It was her destiny, just as it had been his father's destiny to die for her sake. Just as it had been his destiny to be a prodigy: just as it is his destiny to lead the Hyuuga. Because, even though he hated the Family, the mafia, and all it stood for - it had been exactly for this purpose that his father sacrificed his life. And because of this, Neji would never let Hizashi Hyuuga's efforts be in vain - he'd make the Hyuuga better, stronger, richer, as only he knew he could.

And that was recognised by the rest of the Hyuuga, including his uncle. So when he was crowned the heir at age twelve, he was invited to live in the Hyuuga mansion; accepting the invite, he had intended to observe the way his uncle did things - in order to find ways for himself to do better when he inherited the business.

That was when he had met Hinata, once more. She had not changed from when she was a child - which further led him to believe that this was her destiny - to forever be weak, to forever be protected. She was still soft, and as much as he had hated that, he couldn't deny that a small part of him - minuscule - had loved it, too. Because she denied everything a Hyuuga was supposed to be; but she was everything a woman was supposed to be.

And he'd never admit it, to himself even, but she would probably be his ideal woman.

The more he thought of her, the more he had hated her. In a way, he felt like he was betraying his father: when he woke up after experiencing a wet dream with her as the main heroine, her remembered shivering in disgust, curling up into a ball and remembering his father, and how it was her fault (however indirectly) that he died. How this, this attraction that he was experiencing - was showing that he preferred the fact that she was alive and his father, dead.

And even now, he still remembered how after that, and how after every wet dream he ever had (because she was always the main star) he had to go vomit. Because he had felt sick. So mentally sick, that it became a physical sickness - he'd had to retch uncontrollably, until he'd forgotten every bit of the lust that haunted him.

That lust had made him hate Hinata even more. The way she still smiled, while he suffered - like it was his destiny to suffer, even though he was strong, like it was her destiny to be happy and healthy and alive, even though she was weak.

So he had tried making her suffer, to counter his own suffering - but when that didn't work, since she paid him back in full at night (even though if she herself wasn't very aware of it), he decided to avoid her. That way, maybe, just maybe the dreams would stop. And they had - not fully - but they had decreased, and had become an occasional occurrence.

And then he had realised that he wasn't affecting her the way she was affecting him. No, not at all - she didn't seem to care less that he was doing his best to avoid her. And he didn't know why, but that annoyed him: why did he have to go out of his way to avoid her, when she didn't even give a damn?! So he began to stop avoiding her - and then it became a circle of his misery.

Because the wet dreams would resurface with a frivolous passion, and then he'd try to avoid her once more, until he realised that it was only one-sided, henceforth he'd stop avoiding her.

And this cycle continued many times - until he learned that they were going to marry her off.

He didn't remember ever feeling quite so angry as he had then - how dare they marry her off?! His father sacrificed his life for her! Didn't his uncle give a damn? It was his own daughter! More than anything, a Hyuuga - why was she becoming a mere bargain chip for the family? This was preposterous - he'd never let another bastard touch her.

With that thought in mind, he searched for a loophole, and found it within mere seconds: himself. If he thought about it that way, it was actually a good thing that his uncle had forced something like this upon Hinata: because now, she'd have no choice but to marry either one of the five strangers or himself. Of course, she'd choose himself - since there was no one else, and knowing Hinata, she'd definitely prefer him (no matter how evil or cruel he was) over an unknown man.

So with a smugness that seldom existed, he had informed Hinata of this, and sadistically watched her face pale as she accepted her fate. Or her destiny.

Since he was her destiny, and she was his... the moment his father had died. Maybe even before that.

Urk... Short. Very short. But you know... it was an intro, so...

Reviews please? Aurora.