One
Sasuke Uchiha had always wanted to rebuild his clan. To do this, he needed to marry and have many children, so that they could once again create a generation of Uchiha. The clan would no longer be pure-blooded, but at least the sharingan would not disappear. And that was what mattered. One of the most powerful Dojutsu in the shinobi world couldn't - shouldn't - disappear. That's why, since his return to Konoha, the young Uchiha had been on a quest to find himself a wife. And this was no easy task. Indeed, Sasuke had certain criteria he didn't intend to depart from. He wasn't going to gamble the future of his lineage on a girl chosen at random! First of all, she had to come from a prestigious clan. He didn't want to associate his clan with just anyone. Secondly, she had to have genetic attributes compatible with the Uchiha, a distant relationship being the best option. But she couldn't have too strong a DNA signature or she'd risk disrupting the appearance of the Sharingan. Finally, and this concerned Sasuke Uchiha's sanity above all, she had to be discreet, silent and even, in a certain sense, submissive. He needed a wife, not a girlfriend. The choice therefore seemed particularly limited, but Sasuke didn't despair of finding the person who would meet all his criteria.
For weeks, he had been combing through the genealogies of Konoha's clans. He needed to gather as much information as possible, even before informing anyone of his intentions. For a time, he had considered taking a female member of the Inuzuka clan, which was rather powerful but unlikely to interfere with the genetic attributes of his Dojutsu. But when the young Uchiha realized that in this way he would become related in some way to Inuzuka Kiba, he immediately abandoned the idea. Sakura didn't belong to a prestigious enough clan, and since this marriage was a loveless union, he couldn't put the woman who had always loved him through that. Ino was far too noisy. Tenten didn't even have a surname. A girl from the Aburame clan might have done the trick, but the mere thought of insects living perpetually by his side was enough to put the young man off. As for the Nara clan, the girls were still too young to be called "women". And Sasuke was already 24, with a clan to rebuild. He had no time to lose. And finally, one day in November, Sasuke had made his choice. He had found his bride. All that remained was to obtain the approval of his clan. And that was another difficulty over which the young Uchiha had little control.
"Send in Uchiha-san. I'm ready to receive him," declared a firm voice, used to giving orders.
It was Hiashi Hyuuga, leader of the Byakugan clan. The man was of tall stature, with a haughty face. He wore his hair long, a sign of belonging to his clan, and wore a sober black kimono. He was seated cross-legged on a tatami mat, in front of a low table on which two goblets sat next to a translucent bottle of sake. The man he was addressing was a follower of the secondary branch of the Hyuuga family. The seal that crossed his forehead was hidden by bandages. He acquiesced to his master's order and left the room with grace and stature.
A moment later he returned to the room, followed by a dark-haired young man. After receiving a nod from his master, the servant withdrew in silence. For a moment, the two men left in the room gauged each other. Each gazed at the other with the intention of impressing the other. Then finally Sasuke broke the silence.
"Thank you for receiving me, Hiashi-sama," announced the young Uchiha, bowing.
This was something Sasuke was not at all used to. He wasn't in the habit of bowing to anyone. Even if that person was the head of one of the most prestigious clans in the shinobi world. But if the young man wanted to get what he needed, he was obliged to respond to propriety.
"You have done us the honor of proposing an audience, and as clan leader I felt obliged to accede to your request, Uchiha-San," Hiashi Hyuuga replied, finally inviting Sasuke to sit down opposite him.
Sasuke didn't hesitate for a second and sat down on a tatami opposite Hiashi Hyuuga. The Byakugan clan leader then took the bottle of sake that was on the table, and filled both cups. He then placed one of the cups in front of Sasuke, and the other in front of himself. It wasn't in Sasuke's nature to drink; he didn't like to lose control. But offered in this way, he couldn't refuse. Nodding to his interlocutor, the young Uchiha brought the cup of sake to his lips. He let the liquid slide down his throat and put the cup back on the table. Hiashi had not touched his own.
"If I've come here today, it's to talk to you about something important," began the young man with the sharingan. "And I wanted to talk to you clan leader to clan leader," he continued, planting his jet-black gaze in Hiashi Hyuuga's pearly eyes.
The man with the Byakugan raised an eyebrow, as if interested in the turn of the conversation. And with a wave of his hand, he invited Sasuke to continue.
"As head of the Uchiha clan, I've come to make a proposal to the head of the Hyuuga clan," he continued in a strong, confident voice. "I have come to ask for the hand of a Hyuuga girl in order to make her my wife," he finally asserted, before taking out a roll of parchment from his black cloak. "This is a marriage contract to be signed by our two clans. I drew it up myself, but if you want to change certain elements, we can always talk about it," he continued, confident as ever.
Hiashi remained silent and picked up the parchment Sasuke had placed on the table. He undid the seal and unrolled the sheet of paper. Then he took a few seconds to read the outline of the parchment. Finally, he placed it back in the middle of the coffee table separating the two men.
"What makes you think I'd be interested in this proposal?" Hiashi finally declared in a stern voice.
"I'm proposing an alliance between two Konoha clans, which can only be beneficial," replied Sasuke in a firm voice.
"No, you're proposing an alliance between one clan and the last survivor of another," Hiashi replied harshly. "There's nothing beneficial for me in giving a wife to a clan that no longer exists," he added, looking Sasuke in the eye.
"My clan isn't dead, I'm going to rebuild it. What's more, you know very well that I alone have more power and strength than your entire clan," replied the young Uchiha, activating his Rinnegan-equipped pupil.
This display of power didn't seem to impress the Byakugan clan leader at all. On the contrary, Hiashi Hyuuga even seemed to smile for a moment. But this impression was soon swept away.
"I don't like being threatened, Uchiha-san, least of all in my own home," he declared, activating his genetic attribute: his Byakugan.
Small wrinkles formed around his eyes as his Dojutsu was activated.
"I beg your pardon Hiashi-sama, I didn't mean to be unpleasant. I just wanted to remind you that I'm not just anyone. And that an alliance between Konoha's two most powerful clans could only be an affair worthy of at least some consideration."
Sasuke apologized for one of the first times in his life, and his tongue burned. He didn't like this position at all. Hiashi seemed determined to make him understand that in clan terms the Uchiha was inferior to the Hyuuga, and Sasuke didn't like that at all. He didn't like being reminded that he no longer had a clan. And this was precisely what the head of the Byakugan clan seemed to insist on.
"I accept your apology, Uchiha-san. And as for your proposal, let me study it with the clan elders. I'll come back to you when a decision has been made."
Sasuke nodded. He had understood that the audience was over and that Hiashi Hyuuga was dismissing him. The young Uchiha stood up, curtsied and disappeared in an explosion of smoke.
A young woman was resting under a tree in the Konoha forest. Looking at her, we could see that her body was covered with microscopic cuts and that her forehead was bathed in sweat. The girl's eyes were closed and she seemed to be struggling to regain a normal breathing rhythm. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Then, after a few minutes, she seemed to have recovered her calm, silent breathing. This girl was Hinata Hyuuga, and she had just taken a break after hours of training. The girl had risen at dawn to train in her favorite corner of the forest. Even if, since the end of the war, ninjas had had less and less reason to fight, Hinata continued to train. She didn't want to stop. She wanted to keep trying to become stronger. She owed it to him. She owed it to herself to get stronger and stronger in order to honor the memory of her cousin who had died in battle during the last war. Indeed, Neji had died during the war trying to protect Hinata. He had sacrificed his life so that Hinata could live hers.
"I'll keep training Neji-niisan, I'll get stronger and stronger," she whispered to herself in a strong voice.
The young girl had stammered for many years. But since the end of the war, it seemed to have disappeared. The girl was as shy as ever, but her stammer no longer prevented her from speaking. She seemed stronger than ever, even if her self-confidence was still sometimes put to the test by her father. He still saw her as a flaw, a weakness that should never have seen the light of day in the Hyuuga clan. She was too gentle to be a shinobi, and even more so to be a Hyuuga. That's why her father had stripped her of her title as clan heiress and given it to her younger sister Hanabi. Hinata had no resentment towards her younger sister, but that didn't stop it hurting. It hurt to be rejected in this way by the one person who was supposed to love her unconditionally: her father. But Hiashi Hyuuga wasn't really a man for fatherly feelings. Only strength and obedience counted in his eyes. And Hinata may have been obedient, but she was far from strong.
"Eh Hinata-chan!"
A spirited voice broke the calm of the moment. But Hinata didn't care, for this voice belonged to the person she loved most in the world. The person for whom she was ready to give her life to preserve his. It was the voice of Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who had once been rejected by the entire village, but had now become its Hero. Indeed, the blond-haired young man reached her just as the girl opened her eyes.
"Oh hello Naruto-Kun!" she greeted him as she stood up.
Naruto was wearing a white T-shirt, which was now covered in mud, and an orange jacket and black pants. He appeared to be in training gear, and it wouldn't surprise the young man that he'd been training at least as long as she had. The young man had always trained hard, and the end of the war had in no way altered his routine.
"What are you doing here, Hinata-chan? Are you still training?" he asked, a radiant smile plastered on his face.
Hinata had always loved the young man's smile. The way his eyes would almost close under the impulse of his lips climbing up to form a smile. That smile was what had always managed to give the young girl hope. It was that smile that gave Hinata the strength to keep going, to never give up. It was that smile that had helped Hinata find her Nindo.
"Yes, I've been training, but I think I've done enough for today," she replied, letting out a smile of her own. "Were you training too? " she finally asked, resting her eyes on the traces of mud staining the young man's T-shirt.
For a moment, the young man looked embarrassed and ran a hand through his now short hair. For a moment Hinata had been disappointed by this new haircut, she so loved the shaggy locks of Naruto's hair, but this cut also gave Naruto a much more grown-up, mature look.
"Yes, I've been training all morning, and uh," he paused, looking down at the floor. "I'm still having trouble doing my laundry," he finally admitted, his cheeks turning pink.
Hinata let out a small laugh. She could easily imagine the young boy struggling to do his laundry. After all, he'd never had anyone to teach him such things, or servants to do them, as Hinata had been used to.
"I could help you if you like," Hinata offered spontaneously.
For a moment she imagined herself in Naruto's apartment, helping him with his laundry while he told her stories. She imagined cooking for him, and waiting for him when he came home late from a mission. She imagined making him breakfast before he left in the morning. She ima-. In reality, Hinata imagined many things, but deep down she knew exactly what she wanted: to be Naruto Uzumaki's wife. His unconditional support. His partner, and perhaps one day, and this was her dearest wish, the mother of his children.
"I wasn't saying that so you'd help me Hinata-chan! Naruto replied, offering the young woman a smile. I don't want to bother you, you must already have a lot to do with your clan, and then Sakura-chan comes by often enough to make sure I do some laundry anyway, " he added, his smile growing again and again.
The mention of the pink-haired girl brought a pang to the Byakugan girl's heart. Although she and Sakura had always been on good terms, Hinata had always felt inferior to the girl from Team 7. She wasn't as strong as her, not as pretty, not as smart, and above all she didn't attract Naruto's attention like Sakura could.
"Oh well then, I'm glad Sakura-chan is helping you," the young girl replied softly.
Just as she was about to tell Naruto she was leaving, her name was called out in the woods.
"Hinata-sama!"
It was the voice of Kô, her former bodyguard and friend. The man had been born into the secondary branch of the Hyuuga clan and his life had been dedicated to protecting Hinata Hyuuga. He had thus always been close to the young girl, and more than a bodyguard, Hinata considered him her friend, even her confidant. The man with the Byakugan walked confidently towards the two young people. His gait was solid and quick. He soon reached Hinata's side.
"What's going on, Kô?" asked Hinata in a soft voice.
She looked kindly at the man from her clan before placing her arm on his. This gesture always reassured her bodyguard, letting him know that the young girl was well.
"Hiashi-sama wants to see you Hinata-sama," he announced in a frank voice.
Without realizing it, Hinata let out a sigh. She knew that it didn't bode well when her father sent for her like this. Hinata was sure to receive a reprimand from her father, and this prospect worried her.
"Very well, Kô, you can tell my father I'm coming," she replied, nodding towards her bodyguard.
The bodyguard then disappeared in an explosion of smoke. The young girl turned back to Naruto. The boy kept his hands behind his back and hummed an unfamiliar tune to Hinata.
"I'm going to have to go now, Naruto-Kun, it was a pleasure to see you," she finally told him, before disappearing before the young man had time to reply.
As Hinata disappeared into the Konoha forest, she seemed to hear a whisper: "It was nice to see you too, Hinata".
When Hinata arrived in the Hyuuga district, she noticed that the place seemed particularly quiet. The district had never been one of Konoha's most cheerful places, but never had the silence seemed so profound as at this very moment. Hinata entered her home, and immediately servants led her to the Council of Elders room. Hinata let out a small cry as she noticed where she was being taken. "If my father wants to see me in the council room, it must be serious," she thought to herself. She'd only been in this room a few times, and the last time was when she'd been stripped of her title as heiress. What was to be taken from her today? It wasn't as if there was much left for her to take.
"Hinata-sama your presence is expected," a servant announced when the young girl stopped in front of the council chamber.
Hinata nodded softly and, after taking a deep breath, entered the room. As she entered, she noticed that all the elders were seated in a semicircle, facing her. But also that her sister and father were present. Hinata stepped forward slowly, bowing to all present before kneeling before the Elders and keeping her head bowed to the floor. She knew she had no right to speak before the Elders addressed her. Such was the tradition. Even with her Byakugan deactivated, the young girl could feel that all eyes were on her.
"Hinata Hyuuga you have been summoned before the Council of Elders," began her father's voice.
The latter was at the center of the semi-circle of Elders, wearing his ceremonial kimono. A kimono the clan chief only wore on particularly important occasions. Hinata finally raised her head and looked at her father.
"You're 24 now; it's time to talk about your future," he added, giving his daughter a hard look.
"They're going to put the seal on me," Hinata thought worriedly as she saw the image of the seal on her cousin's forehead again. As terror began to take possession of her body, Hinata did her utmost not to show it. "They mustn't see my fear" she thought, clenching her fists. Her only concern was her sister's presence. Hinata didn't want Hanabi to be present during the process, she didn't want this to frighten her younger sister.
"The clan recently received a proposal that they thought would be of interest. Hinata Hyuuga, it's time for you to get married. A marriage proposal has been made to us by the head of the Uchiha clan and we've decided to approve it. Within eight days, you will be given to Sasuke Uchiha and become his wife. Your children will be Uchiha, but your heart must remain Hyuuga."
Hinata couldn't help but let out a small cry. "Marriage? With Sasuke?" she thought fearfully as everyone seemed to judge her reaction. Hinata glanced at her sister and noticed that she kept her gaze fixed on the ground. Hinata did the same, but couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
"Your future husband will be officially presented to you in two days' time, and the announcement of your marriage will then be made publicly. You will be representing the Hyuuga clan, do not disgrace us."
After this last order, the elders rose in a single movement and left the room. Hanabi was about to go and see her sister, but her father stopped her and showed her the way out. The young heiress bowed her head and left. At last, only Hinata and her father remained in the council chamber. Hinata was still kneeling on the floor, tears streaming from her pearl orbs. She was crying silently, but it was easy to guess her emotion from the twitching of her shoulders. Her father watched her for a few minutes and finally approached her. He took her by the shoulders and helped her to her feet. His gaze was as hard as ever, but his mouth trembled.
"Hinata, he began in a firm voice, placing his hand on his daughter's chin to force her to look at him. This marriage is an alliance. An important alliance for our clan," he added in an almost gentle voice.
"Yes, Father," Hinata replied between sobs.
She was really crying now, the sound of her sobs seemed to echo through the council chamber.
"You'll get used to it," he said finally, before abandoning his daughter to her misfortune.