Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18 and DarkAnonymous324 for your wonderful reviews, and to everyone who's added this to their favorite and alert lists!

Author's Note: Lots of interesting things going on in this chapter... And the last one before you finally get to see Neji! He'll be making his first official appearance in the next chapter, which I'm really excited for. Until then, I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

*~Chapter VII~*

~Arrangements~

With a little sigh, Tenten laid aside Thursday morning's edition of the Konoha Daily, with Naruto's interview of the village's current most famous couple prominently displayed on the front page. "I hope love does come to Lord Itachi and Lady Temari," she said wistfully. "It would be terrible enough to be forced into a marriage with someone you barely know. But then to spend the rest of your life with someone who will never be your soulmate, no matter how hard you try? I can't imagine what a nightmare that would be."

"My p-parents' marriage was arranged," Hinata said softly. "I c-cannot speak for Father, b-but I know Mother loved him and was happy."

Tenten felt her cheeks go hot. She automatically inclined her upper body in a bow. "I'm sorry, Lady Hinata! Truly, I meant no disrespect! I spoke without thinking."

"T-Tenten, it's all right," Hinata said quickly, reaching out to touch her hand with a featherlight touch. "You d-don't need to apologize, I know you d-didn't mean anything wrong. I j-just wanted you to know it's quite possible you'll g-get your wish, that's all." She picked up the abandoned paper and sat gazing down at it. "The Hyuuga and Uchiha used to live in p-peace, secure in the knowledge of how each of our respective roles c-complemented the other's in making Konoha strong and p-prosperous." She brushed her fingertips across the front page, and Tenten noticed how they lingered ever-so-slightly on the photograph of the article's author. "This is g-going to make Father even more f-furious than before."

Tenten felt puzzled. "Because the interview was published?"

"Partly, b-because it will keep the betrothal in the public eye and k-keep people talking about it," Hinata said. "But," her cheeks turned faintly pink as she looked away from Tenten as if it were her turn to be embarrassed, "also b-because of the p-positive tone throughout it. If this pairing were to prove," she hesitated as though searching for the best word, "incompatible, then the alliance of the Uchiha and Sabaku clans will be severely undermined, if not completely negated. That would b-benefit the Hyuuga, t-to Father's way of thinking. However, if Itachi and T-Temari can achieve a happy union, as they seem c-committed to doing, then Father will f-feel even more threatened."

And Lord Hyuuga does not react well to threats, Tenten remembered with a chill. Some of Kakashi's tales of older times - of clan rivalries, bitter power struggles, and bloody civil wars - filled her mind with too-vivid images. Was such a horrific thing about to happen in Konoha?

The sound of Hinata drawing a deep breath recalled Tenten to her surroundings. She refocused her eyes on her mistress in time to see her replace the newspaper on the table with great care, almost as if she feared handling it roughly would cause an explosion. Her pale eyes lifted to Tenten's, and she forced a tremulous smile.

"D-disloyal as it may s-sound to you," she said in the whispery voice that made Tenten's heart ache for her friend, "I agree w-with you and not F-Father. I, t-too, hope they c-can salvage h-happiness and even l-love from this situation."

"I think that just proves what a wonderful, goodhearted person you are, Hinata," Tenten said firmly, wanting to add, And one of these days, you'll be a greater leader of Konoha than Lord Hyuuga ever dreamed of being, and you will heal the breach between her two strongest clans.

I just pray you will have that chance.

Tenten shifted restlessly on her futon, caught in that eerie limbo between sleeping and waking where dream and reality coexisted uneasily. She knelt in front of a memorial stone, palms pressed together in prayer. She did not know for whom she mourned, but inside her chest her heart was breaking-

Denial fierce enough to be almost physical wrenched through her. Waking fully, she sat straight up with a gasp, cold sweat prickling along her hairline and between her breasts, What was that? the clearest thought her mind could formulate. She wiped her face on the lapels of her pajama top and tried to still her trembling. A sound penetrated the throbbing pulse in her ears, faint but clear enough to set her scrambling free of the covers and across the room: the unmistakable sound of muffled weeping.

"Milady! Hinata!" Enough moonlight filtered through the thin panes of the shouji giving onto the garden to let Tenten see the figure curled into a tight a ball under the covers on the far side of the big bed. Pausing just long enough to snap on the lamp sitting on the little bedside table, she climbed onto the mattress and reached for Hinata. "What's wrong? Are you sick? In pain anywhere?" Her heart pounding in panic, she frantically cast her mind back over the day as she tugged away the cocooning covers. Poison? No, they'd taken all their meals in the suite again and Tenten had eaten the same exact food as Hinata. They'd spent some time in the garden to practice shuriken-throwing with the new practice dummy the heiress had ordered; but any bite or sting potent enough to cause this severe a reaction would not have gone unnoticed when it happened. "Hina," the familiar diminutive Ino used slipped unnoticed from her lips, "please, talk to me! Tell me what I can do to help!"

Taking hold of her mistress, Tenten tugged as gently as she could given her own fright, trying to get her to roll towards her. Hinata resisted for a moment, tucking even more tightly in on herself, before lifting her head and turning it slightly toward her bodyguard. "I-I'm s-sorry, T-Tenten," she said, her voice thickened by tears and barely audible even with Tenten bending right over her. "P-please g-go b-back t-to s-sleep. I-I'm f-fine."

The heck you are! Tenten thought grimly. Your stutter hasn't been this bad since the day I met you! Aloud she said in a soft, neutral tone, "I may be wrong, but people don't normally cry their eyes out when they're fine. You know I'm here to protect you in every way possible. But more than that, we're friends now. So as your friend, Hina, please tell me: what can I do to help you?" She sat back on her heels to give the other girl some space, fully prepared to stay there the rest of the night if necessary.

From that position she watched the heiress's body language as she fought for self-control. It took a while but finally Hinata uncurled and sat up, though she still kept her face down. In her lap her fingertips began tapping against each other frantically. After an even longer time she whispered, "T-Tenten, if I should have to l-leave K-Konoha, w-would you g-go w-with me?" Almost immediately, though, she shook her head and clenched her hands together. "N-no, I'm s-sorry, that's s-selfish of me. You would h-have to l-leave your brother, and I d-don't want to b-be the cause of that."

Tenten felt as though the room, and beyond it the whole world, had suddenly skewed sideways. "But," she said hesitantly, feeling her way as though along an unstable clifftop, "you're the Hyuuga heiress, the future leader of your clan and village. Why would you have to leave Konoha?"

Hinata's lips kinked in a brief, bitter grimace. "I'm only the heiress b-because I'm the firstborn. F-Father would much rather have Hanabi f-follow him. Since Mother's d-death, he's had the entire shaping of her and in - certain w-ways, she's as w-warped as he is."

"One of those 'certain ways' being his hostility toward the Uchiha," Tenten guessed; then, greatly daring, added, "And his paranoia in general?"

Hinata dipped her head a little lower in acknowledgement, then raised it so she could look at Tenten through the strands of night-dark hair clinging to her wet face. "In h-honesty there is a reason f-for that, which I will t-tell you. B-but Lady Temari has two brothers. If Father were t-to arrange a marriage for me with one of them - p-preferably Lord G-Gaara himself-" Her voice failed her, but Tenten immediately saw where she'd been going.

"If he could do that, then you would have to abdicate your position here. Plus the Hyuuga would also have a connection with the Sabaku, offsetting the Uchiha's! And Hanabi would become the successor your father wants." Tenten shivered at the coldbloodedness of it, but did not doubt for a second the accuracy of Hinata's analysis. "Hina, that's-" She couldn't find the words to continue.

After a long pause, Hinata went on. "Of course, he v-views it as d-doing what's best for the clan and the v-village. But I love Konoha t-too, and I d-don't believe that w-would be the best thing for its p-people."

No indeed! Even though she didn't speak the words aloud, Tenten could tell that Hinata had read them from her expression. She tried to visualize Kakashi treating her with such calculating callousness, and utterly failed. "You said he has a reason for being so-" she started to say, then cut herself off. Not sure if she wanted to hear any more she made a gesture, as though to erase her words.

But if Hinata saw it, she ignored it. "My f-father had a brother, Hizashi. They were identical twins, and inseparable throughout their childhood and young manhood, as if t-true halves of one whole. When my father inherited the headship of our c-clan and v-village, Uncle became his most trusted advisor. They remained as c-close as always, even marrying in a d-double ceremony. B-but then, one horrific day, everything ... changed."

As Tenten sat frozen with dread, Hinata's silvery lilac eyes shimmered with fresh tears which rolled down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. "When I w-was three years old, my f-father discovered a p-plot by my uncle against him. Evidently, even though he was the younger t-twin, Uncle Hizashi had h-hoped the l-leadership of the c-clan would s-somehow p-pass down to him, instead of my father. My b-birth t-tipped him over the edge. F-from that d-day on, he l-laid plans to t-take it by f-force." She lifted shaking hands to her face, hiding it from Tenten's view as she fought for enough composure to choke out, "F-Father ordered Uncle Hizashi b-be p-put t-to d-death f-for his c-crime in a p-p-public execution."

Tenten didn't know exactly when she'd lifted her hand to cover her mouth, but when she realized it, she lowered it so she could speak. "Hinata!" she whispered helplessly; then felt herself go dizzy with horror as the full meaning of her friend's words penetrated. "You mean you were there when-" She couldn't finish her sentence. Instead she impulsively lunged across the width of the bed to grab Hinata in a fiercely protective hug.

Hinata clung to Tenten in return. "M-my father was n-never the s-same after that. Knowing h-his own t-twin brother - the one m-man in the world he unquestioningly trusted above all others - had c-conspired to t-take p-power for himself b-by any m-means necessary-" She shook her head against Tenten's shoulder. "He has k-kept Hanabi and me s-separate m-most of our lives, as though to k-keep history f-from repeating itself. B-but I d-do not know my s-sister. How will that m-make things b-better f-for us? Except for I-Ino and now you, T-Tenten, I have b-been so alone f-for so l-long. And s-so afraid of this d-dark shadow I sense c-creeping over Konoha." She lifted her head and pulled back to stare with frightening intensity into Tenten's eyes. "I d-don't know how to describe or explain this f-fear I f-feel, Tenten. But I w-will do anything to protect my village: even enter into an arranged m-marriage myself if I believed there were one p-possible that would somehow k-keep Konoha safe. I promise you I would!"

Feeling very much like Kakashi must have felt when she'd woken with night terrors, Tenten pulled Hinata back in a comforting hug. "Sh-sh, I believe you," she said in a calming murmur. She instinctively began to sway from side to side while smoothing one hand across her mistress's back in a soothing, circular motion. "I'll always be your friend, Hina, no matter what. That's my promise to you. Go back to sleep, now." She found herself repeating the same words Kakashi had spoken to her so many times in her childhood. "I'll be here to keep watch over you, and when the sun comes up, we'll see that the morning has brought us brighter things."

It wasn't long before her actions had their desired effect. Tenten felt Hinata's arms loosen from around her as her whole body gradually slackened. She very carefully eased the sleeping girl down onto the bed and pulled the covers over her again. But instead of going back to her own futon and interrupted sleep, she settled into a cross-legged position on the foot of the bed after turning off the bedside lamp. Her mind flitted back to the last occasion she'd sat thus, during Ino's sleepover. After the shocking revelations of this night, the lighthearted chatter among the three girls seemed almost to have happened in a different lifetime.

Tenten's hands clenched into fists. Once, twice, a third time she pounded them lightly on her knees. It made her angry to think Lord Hiashi could legitimately deprive Hinata of her birthright by arranging a marriage for her outside Konoha. Not for the first time, she thought about how seriously she disliked that man.

Her eyelids grew heavy. As she hovered in a kind of waking doze, Hinata's recounting of the tragedy in her clan's not-so-distant past began to muddle together with bits and pieces of her brother's history lessons. It's almost as though I've landed in one of those tales, went hazily through her mind.

And then her breath caught sharply, nearly triggering a coughing fit, as her eyes flew wide open. All Kakashi's vague hints and subtle warnings coalesced into a single horrifying thought: Was he trying to tell her Hinata might possibly be in some kind of danger from her own father?

Leaning his aching forehead into the palm of his left hand, Itachi stared at the screen on his laptop as he scrolled through various reports. Though technically relieved of his clan duties during Temari's visit, he didn't want things piling up. He'd been staying up late to work ever since her arrival, and the long hours were beginning to take a toll on him. Taking his right hand off the mousepad long enough to pick up his cup of tea, he sipped it, then made a face at the taste: Cold again. He debated the merits of making a fresh pot, but rejected it as too time-consuming. And he was nearly done anyway. But there would be no chance of a long, relaxing soak in the family bath house tonight; he'd just have to make do with the more basic facilities in his quarters.

A soft tapping at the door of his quarters brought his head up with a jerk that sent a hot jab of pain from behind his eyes to the base of his skull. Stifling the urge to grab his head between both hands and groan, he glanced at the time display in the screen's bottom right corner before he went to slide the shouji open to reveal his brother.

"Are you just getting home, Sasuke?" he asked, then held up both hands in a fending-off gesture as the serious expression on his brother's face registered with him. "Sorry, that didn't come out right. Please, come in."

Sasuke's lips quirked briefly in that lopsided grin Itachi had always found endearing. "'S okay, Itachi. It is pretty late." His black eyes slid sideways to the open laptop. "But I see you're working. Maybe this isn't the best time for you."

"Not to worry. Make yourself comfortable while I shut this down." Itachi's long fingers glided smoothly over the keys, saving his work and shutting down the machine, as Sasuke settled in one of a pair of low chairs facing each other in an inner corner of the room. "Would you like some tea?"

"No, thanks. I lost count of how many pots we went through at Akimichi's."

Itachi took the remaining seat, his eyes automatically taking in and approving the other man's white slacks and navy blue shirt. "Mother said at dinner you'd accepted an invitation to meet some friends there."

"Yeah. Some of the old gang from school. Itachi-" Without warning, Sasuke gripped the arms of his chair and dropped all pretense of this being a casual visit. "Older brother, I need to ask you some questions. Like, Why hasn't Father started teaching me how to run the police force if I'm supposed to take it over someday?"

Itachi nearly flinched from the raw pain in his younger brother's voice, but managed to keep his own calm and matter-of-fact as he replied, "I think, perhaps, because you are more like Mother in your nature: you were always such a happy child. Whereas I - for some sin I must have committed in a past life - have always been more like Father." As he'd hoped, a gleam of appreciation for his sally lit Sasuke's black eyes. "It's your birthright and heritage, though. Maybe it's time you reminded Father of that. I certainly don't want it."

For a brief instant, so brief Itachi half-wondered if he'd imagined it, a look of panic flitted across the younger man's face before the seriousness returned. "Yes, you're right, I should do that." He drew a deep breath. "Okay, next question: Why do Father and Lord Hiashi hate each other so much?"

Itachi's eyebrows arched at the unexpectedness of the question. "'Hate' is a very strong word," he said to buy himself time to think.

"Very strong, but very accurate," Sasuke countered swiftly. "Don't try to tell me you haven't noticed the look he gets in his eyes when the Hyuuga are mentioned, Itachi, because I won't believe it."

"All right, I won't, then. But in all honesty," Itachi's forehead wrinkled as he considered the matter, "I'm not really sure. Even though I don't think they ever really liked each other, it seems as though it has gotten more extreme in recent years - on Father's side at least. It almost seems as though he's become," he hesitated over the word, "obsessed with the idea that we Uchiha should be Konoha's ruling clan rather than the Hyuuga."

Sasuke's expression turned grimmer. "And so he arranges the marriage between you and Lady Temari." Itachi felt his facial muscles, and the rest of his body, freeze. Before he could respond, Sasuke leaned forward and said intensely, "Wait, and hear me out, Itachi, please. I told you I met some of the guys from my class tonight. And of course your betrothal came up, because you know everybody in the village is talking about it."

Itachi managed a stiff nod, trying not to bristle over a still very sore subject. "May I ask if Uzumaki Naruto made one of the group tonight?"

"Yes, but don't worry about that. He's a straight-up guy; still hyperactive, but starting to outgrow the knuckleheadedness. Trust me on this, he absolutely knows everything we discussed among ourselves tonight is strictly off the record. But another member of the group was Nara Shikamaru." He paused expectantly, his eyes still boring into his brother's.

However much Itachi disliked the fact he and his future wife had been a hot dinner conversation topic for a bunch of young men barely out of high school, he willed himself to be patient and believe his brother had a valid reason for this conversation. "Nara Shikamaru," he repeated slowly. Of course he knew the Nara to be one of the other noble clans of Konoha, but- The name suddenly clicked into place. "Isn't he the one everyone calls the 'lazy genius'? Spends most of his time playing shougi with Sarutobi Asuma?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, when he's not letting himself get reeled in by Yamanaka Ino. Anyway, his IQ is supposed to be off the charts. He drove our teachers crazy by answering just as many questions on exams as he needed to make a passing grade, then sleeping through the rest of the class. Asuma says in any given game, Shikamaru looks hundreds of moves ahead. But he doesn't just see and analyze the patterns in shogi. He does the same thing with real-life situations: Like inter- and intravillage politics, and the impact of arranged marriages on the status quo."

Itachi sucked in a sudden sharp breath as the realization of why Sasuke had come straight to him from his dinner engagement tingled clear to the tips of his fingers and toes. "May I ask what Nara Shikamaru's analysis of this - situation - is?"

He saw his brother's shoulders sag the least bit, as though a weight had been removed, then square again. Sasuke kept his voice low, but he took on a clipped tone, as though he were making an official report. "First, we aren't the only ones who have noticed the change in Father. The heads of the lesser noble clans have seen it as well, and their sons have, ah, overheard some conversations. The way Shikamaru sees it: Despite however he presented his reasons for this alliance with the Sabaku to Lord Gaara, Father's whole purpose in securing it is to make Lord Hiashi feel threatened by a perceived tipping of the balance of power in Konoha toward the Uchiha. Our parent is counting on the current village leader's well-known paranoia to push him into making an aggressive move against us to 'pre-empt' our 'grab' for power. As a consequence of you being related to them by marriage, the Sabaku will be forced to support the Uchiha's defensive response, effectively giving us the advantage. If the leadership of Konoha changes hands in the ensuing struggle-" Sasuke spread his hands. "That would just be the fortunes of war, right? Or that would be how he intends for it to be seen."

Itachi's head hurt so badly he felt physically ill. Or maybe the nausea came from truly comprehending how far Uchiha Fugaku was willing to go in his quest for power. Before he could rein back the impulse, he struck the arms of his chair with his fists and uttered an uncharacteristic profanity. Sasuke still leaned foward in his chair, watching him closely but giving him a chance to come to grips with what he'd just heard: As he'd had to come to grips with it earlier. Empathy with his brother quenched his rage and allowed him to regain his balance.

"All right, Sasuke," he said, amazed on some level at how normal and calm he sounded. "Postulating Shikamaru's analysis is one hundred per cent correct: What countermeasures did he recommend for restoring the status quo?"

Something oddly like mischief glinted in Sasuke's eyes. "Well, that's just it," he said apologetically. "He says in shougi, there's no such thing as 'restoring' or 'maintaining' the status quo. The whole object of the game is to tip things so far in your favor that you win." In mock exasperation, Itachi slowly raised his right hand, the first two fingers extended. His brother breathed a laugh, then turned deadly sober again. "For real-life situations, however-" His jaw muscles bunched, abruptly making him look years older. "Shikamaru could only see one possible way to 'even the playing field,' as he put it."

No! No! Itachi, no mental slouch himself, abruptly anticipated what Shikamaru's solution hadto be. Without willing it, he sprang to his feet, shock and horror vibrating along every nerve in his body. He didn't even realize he'd spoken that passionate denial aloud until Sasuke slowly stood to face him, standing nearly eye-to-eye with him.

"We talked it over for hours. If we're to save Konoha from a civil war that would cost a lot of lives, older brother," Sasuke's voice held just the faintest trace of unsteadiness, but his eyes never wavered from Itachi's, "another arranged marriage has to happen: Me with Hyuuga Hinata."

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: Okay, I have to say it. I adore writing Itachi and Sasuke together. Their interactions pre-massacre are some of my favorites in all of the Naruto series, and I'm really enjoying exploring how they might have turned out in an alternate world where that didn't happen. Anyway! Next chapter is Neji's first official appearance, so until then, thank you for reading, and I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!