"I've chosen my own destiny. I control how my story ends." Sasuke said. He leaned towards her until she could feel his breath near her ear. "And my story doesn't involve you, Hyuga." SasuHina. [Fated Pair/Mate/Soul Bond plot]

A/N – This is my first fanfic ever so… yeah LOL.

Chapter One

Current Age: Hinata, 18

Hinata let out a giggle as Shino decided to share another one of his weird bug facts with his teammates. This time it was about the praying mantis and how they were apparently known for eating their mates.

"Sometimes even during mating." Shino said in a matter-of-fact tone. A fitting topic choice for the evening, one might say.

"Right on, bud." Kiba said with a roll of his eyes. He took this as his cue to get up from their booth at the bar to order more saki.

Hinata turned her head to look out at the window near their booth. She let out a small smile at the festivities that were going on outside. So many bright lights, happy people and pretty kimonos.

It was the night of the annual Fate Festival in Konoha. The village put on this festival every year during the summer and encouraged everyone to attend for one purpose… to hopefully run into their chakra bond. In other words, their soulmate.

It is said that before a soul is created, their chakra is split into two. Those two splits of the same chakra are then given to two souls with the sole purpose of connecting once more in the future. The connection of those two splits is called a chakra bond.

Everyone is told from a young age that the person they were supposed to end up with is already destined for them. It was fate, written in the stars. Every person had someone that their chakra was supposed to bond with. And that once that bond happened, the feeling would be like no other. An indescribable, all-consuming feeling of connection to another person. It was known.

But even with all this information that was given about chakra bonds, there were still a lot of unknown factors that came with it. People have shared stories of some who have never bonded in their lifetime, which some have speculated could be because of an unexpected death on their bonds part before meeting.

And then there was the phenomenon of people who have met previously but bonded to each other later in life. Some have speculated that this was because their chakra just wasn't ready to bond yet. And yet, no one can explain when or how one's chakra became ready to bond.

"It just happened randomly." Sakura had once told Hinata. "One day, Naruto was just an annoying dobe. The next day, he was… the answer to everything I was looking for. I don't even know if love fully explains what I feel for him. He is just… everything. I can't imagine life without him."

Still, even with those unknown factors, there was the one fact that remained. Every person in the world was destined to have a literal other half… a soul mate.

No one was meant to be alone.

And that was enough of a reason for everyone to celebrate.

"Here's to another year of being convinced my bond lives under some mountain or in a cave alone." Kiba said once he returned to the booth with a fresh bottle of saki. He topped off all three of their glasses.

"In a cave alone all the way in the Land of Bears." Shino chimed in.

"That was then raided by aliens who abducted them. And now they are at a planet far, far away." Kiba raised his glass. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" They all said in unison. Hinata giggled again once she consumed her drink. Alcohol always made things giddy for her.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh away Hinata-chan." Kiba said before pointing his finger at her. "It's because I know you think you'll bond way before me and bug man will. But I'll have you know, I am on a mission this year. I will scout every cave in the world if I must!"

"And don't forget about the different planets as well." Hinata said before Kiba let out a defeated sigh.

"Kami, why me?" Kiba ran his hands through his hair. "Shino, I understand, but why me!" Hinata giggled again.

"Hopefully, this will be your year, Hinata." Shino said, completely ignoring Kiba's rant. "I would hate to see you deal with Hiashi's desperate attempts at finding your bond more than you already have."

"I've learned to… ah… ignore my father's antics on this um.. topic." Hinata answered before reaching for her drink again. "But I do hope so too, Shino. For you, as well."

"Well, we sure won't find them by staring at each other all night." Kiba finished the rest of his glass before standing up. "I'm going to walk around and mingle. Who's with me?"

Hinata and Shino followed Kiba out of the bar and into the streets of Konoha.

Mingling, conversing, and hopefully bonding. That was the purpose of the night for everyone in the village. The Fate Festival was a way to unite any unbonded individual with their other half if they both lived in Konoha.

But for Hinata, it was just another festival. For her, it was just another reason to wear one of her mother's many beautiful kimonos that were passed down to her and Hanabi after her death. It was a night to spend time with her closest friends and hopefully forget about her problems… even just for a little while.

Because unbeknownst to all the people who were currently in her life, Hinata had already met her chakra bond.

She already knew what it felt like to bond with someone because she had already met her supposed other half. Her soulmate.

And he wanted nothing to do with her.

A/N – Sorry if I didn't explain everything well, I promise I'll go more into detail in the coming chapters LOL.

All feedback is appreciated!