Oath 5

[catriana_fiction]

Title: Oath
Series: Naruto
Rating: M
Pairings: GaaHina, NejiHina, SasuHina if you squint
Chapters: 8(incomplete)
Summary: When the villages were first established the founders tried to acquire many clans under their banner, the two most sought after being the Hyuuga and the Uchiha. Konoha acquired the Uchiha, Suna acquired the Hyuuga. Hinata, an outcast socially and in her family at her young age one day runs into a red-haired child who just so happens to possess a demon. A 'What If' story. The initial idea was from a fanfic I read but it was never finished. I'm going to completely different route for the most part, but I thought the premise was intriguing. The story has actually taken a really huge twist, to the point where I'm not entirely sure the story will still end with Gaara and Hinata together romantically...I honestly don't know. It might turn into a friendship fic and they end up with different people...I have no clue and I am baffled by what's going on ATM.
Warnings: I've taken huge liberties with the actual series and the general flow doesn't 100% match the Anime...and it ain't gonna.

5

 

The Uchiha disappeared for some reason or another and then everyone was informed that because there were so many people that had made it that they were going to do preliminaries before the final part of the exam. Versus battles, completely random.

“I will forfeit if I have to go against you Gaara-kun.” Hinata tells him and he looks at her for a long moment before smiling briefly.

“Always so self-sacrificing.” He says. She returns his smile.

“For Gaara-kun, I would do anything.” She admits and a flash of happiness and guilt crosses his features. “You are the only one who matters.”

They are standing at the top of the ring while some random shinobi fight each other for the right to proceed. He squeezes her hand. He looks as if he wants to say something but changes his mind.

“Will you forfeit if it’s you against me Hyuuga?” Kankuro asks, grinning slightly.

“You would need to forfeit to her, if anything.” Gaara says blandly “Hope you’re not paired against the other Hyuuga.” His older brother scowls at this and Hinata says nothing. She would not forfeit, the challenge would be good but she felt that Gaara tended to exaggerate her skills.

“Whatever,” Kankuro puts his hands in his pockets and begins to walk towards the other side where the Konoha shinobi are. “I’m going to go do some reconnaissance. Don’t wait up for me.”

The redhead looks bored and is staring off into nothing when Kankuro walks up to the blonde who had called her ‘cute’ earlier. She had felt so embarrassed, no other boy had ever called her pretty or cute besides Gaara. It had been completely unexpected.

“Hey!” the object of her thoughts suddenly yelled out loud. Blinking, she looks over and sure enough, he is grinning and waving at her. “Hinata-chan! You made it!”

“Why is he speaking to you with such familiarity?” Gaara was no longer staring out into space; the words came out through his teeth “He is beginning to seriously annoy me.” His gaze snaps to her and he scowls at the slight tint to her cheeks “Do you like him?”

Looking up at him she frowns slightly “He is strange, but I love you, Gaara-kun. I have never seen someone like him before.”

Obviously, he does not like her observation but he forces himself to look back out into nothing, his grip on her hand tight. Smiling, she leans against him and smiles, at least he was trying. Under normal circumstances she would have had to seriously calm him down from a jealous rage.

“Hyuuga Hinata versus Tenten!”

“Oh.” Hinata looks at the board with her name, she was indeed going against a fellow Suna shinobi, right off the bat too. “She specializes in taijutsu too.”

The redhead snorted “She’s a weapons master. That shouldn’t be a problem for you. Be quick about it.”

Landing inside the ring she takes in the short haired brunette and the two girls smile at each other.

“Go Hinata-chan!” she hears the blonde call and she can’t help but to giggle at his silliness. Really, who cheered for someone from another village who they barely even knew?

“Are you ready, Hinata-san?” Tenten asks and she nods.

The battle begins with three kunai being thrown in her direction at once with high accuracy. It was said that Tenten never missed a target; the Hyuuga briefly wondered if that included moving targets as well.

The one thing Neji and Ko-sensei had forced her to work on was her speed. She was not a naturally strong person, so speed and precision would be her asset. Speed was also something she would need as a short ranged fighter, especially against someone who could keep her at a distance.

Remembering the plan between her and Neji she activates her Byakugan and runs, dodging the various amounts of weapons being flung in her direction. A few slice through cloth but nothing serious. Tenten is aware that if Hinata gets too close it’s over, so she immediately begins to pull out her trump card. With a scroll in hand she bites her thumb, spreading her blood along the paper. Hinata’s eyes widen when a rather absurd amount of weapons fly in her direction. She cannot avoid them all and she can’t use ‘that’ technique yet…

That…hurt… she thinks miserably after the attack, her body cut and bruised in various locations. Gaara is pissed; she can actually feel his anger from where she was standing. He knew she could have easily stopped those weapons and he doesn’t know why she didn’t. It would not be fun explaining that to him and she would probably have to lie because he wouldn’t like the truth. She did not like telling him untruths but he had broken that promise a long time ago and so, when necessary, she did as well.

However, Hinata had moved forward, not backward, so when the smoke had cleared and the blades were on the ground the Hyuuga girl emerged. She did not use the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho, instead she cut off every vital chakra point that enabled Tenten to move her arms and legs. The girl falls to the ground hard and the match is over in less than five minutes.

 

xxxxx

“I fail to understand how you even have a cut on your body,” Gaara began as he watched her wrap the last of the bandages “when you have a defense that is on par with mine.”

Oh yeah, he’s pissed.

“I want to save those techniques for the finals.” She explained and it was the truth. “All of the important Hyuuga are here, including father. I don’t want them to know until then.”

He did not approve. Gaara never did enjoy her getting hurt and it was more than just because he cared for her. Her health and physical well-being was extremely important to him, because she was the one who validated his existence, no one else mattered. Without her, however, he would be lost, without a purpose, and that frightens him. She is his strength and she is his weakness.

“Hinata-chan!” a voice calls and alarm spreads through her. It was the blonde again, running over to her and waving, more than likely to congratulate her on winning her match. She abruptly stands; he needs to leave, Gaara was already in a horrible mood and had been edgy since arriving in the village. She does not look behind her as she closes the distance between the two of them, she merely tries to signal to the other boy that he needs to stop and go. Apparently, he was not the brightest crayon in the box because he takes this as her encouraging him to come over.

“You were awesome Hinata-chan!” he is the same height as her with the bluest eyes she has ever seen. She prefers Gaara’s cool green but this boy’s eyes are nice as well. He was nice, she would have liked him if she had been able to have him as a friend. Unfortunately, it was not possible. She would like to have friends, but none of that would be important if it meant not being with Gaara. “Where’d you learn how to fight like that?”

He grabs her shoulders, giving her a huge grin. She returns it slightly before she is yanked back and behind Gaara. He is glaring at the boy.

“You must have a death wish,” he begins “I thought I made it clear that Hinata is mine.”

The boy frowns at that “You make it sound like she’s your property instead of your girlfriend.” He doesn’t seem very pleased about his observation. “She seems like a really sweet person and it’s like she’s a special toy to you or something.” The boy’s eyes take on this strange squinty look, making him look like some sort of animal, she couldn’t tell which. “Why won’t you let Hinata-chan have friends?”

At first Gaara just stares at him. Some of it is in shock. No one has ever spoken back to him about Hinata, and certainly not in that manner. Then the rage emerges and Hinata actually grabs onto his arm before he strikes at the other boy.

“She doesn’t need anyone but me!” he shouts, gaining the attention of everyone else on the platform “I’m the only one who matters!”

The boy was becoming unstable. Sand is pouring from the gourd and slowly moving towards Naruto, who was stunned by the violent reaction.

“Oh, so sorry about that.” A silver haired man emerges from what seems to be thin air and picks Naruto up, covering the boy’s mouth. He was obviously a jounin and Hinata feels that the protector covering his eye was not because he is blind. There was a strange foreign sensation coming from him but she didn’t want to activate her Byakugan and draw unneeded attention to herself. “I really should put a leash on him, he’s always running off.”

“If he comes near Hinata again,” Gaara says to the man calmly, coldly “I will kill him.”

The man smiles nervously behind his mask although it seems forced, as if he’s not really afraid at all “Right, right, so sorry. C’mon Naruto, you’re making Sakura-chan worry about you.”

Hinata looks over to the pink haired girl who looks more like she wants to murder him. Gaara turns to her when they’re out of hearing range.

“Do you like him?” he’s asked her this question before. In truth, she does think Naruto is funny and nice, but if she told Gaara that he would go over there and kill him.

“Why won’t you let Hinata-chan have friends?”

For the first time in her life, she feels seriously exasperated with her long time friend and now boyfriend. She loves Gaara, she loves him immensely, but it definitely was trying how her very personality and nature seemed to always be directly at odds with his. She was a kind person and despite her anger towards her family she did like others, such as Neji and Ko. But she wasn’t allowed to hold any sort of real bonds with these people because if she did, Gaara would kill them. She wonders if maybe she’s bad for him, she’s always making him upset or jealous because she can’t help but to want to be around others.

“No, I don’t.” she says it softly and sadly and walks away from him without looking up.

“Hinata-chan?” he is surprised and confused, he doesn’t understand why she’s upset. He who should know her inside and out. But he doesn’t trust her and it was hurting too much at this point. He doesn’t trust her not to leave him. How could one love without trust?

Something sharp hits her chest and she has to fight back unexpected tears. Turning, she looks at him, eyes shining with unshed tears and her expression a mixture of realization, hurt, and pain.

He doesn’t love her. He never has.

His eyes widen at her in alarm. Something was seriously wrong. He goes to make a step towards her but then realizes that he was next. Deciding that he would talk to her about it later, he empties his mind and focuses on the fight. It was with the boy named Rock Lee, the boy Hinata had been wary of earlier.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t shake the look his Hinata just gave him. He’d never seen her look so…broken. She had that look he had held as a child when someone had hurt him emotionally. Had he…hurt her? He was now confused and his confusion turns into rage as he faces this boy with the ridiculous green outfit. Hinata had never had a reason to look at him like that until coming here. He was beginning to seriously hate this place, because he was suddenly gripped with a strong fear. This place…these people…they were pulling her away from him, she was slipping through his fingers, he could feel it. He would hurry and kill these people, finish the mission and take her back to where she belonged. He couldn’t lose her, he couldn’t.

 

xxxxx

 

For the first time, not only had Gaara been hit, he had been knocked down. The boy known as Rock Lee had done the unthinkable and he was only thirteen years old. Still, it had not been enough to seriously damage him although he had ended up having to use a considerable amount of chakra and it would be a little while before he could really move at one hundred percent. For the first time in his life Gaara…hurt. He had felt pain and he did not enjoy the sensation, he didn’t like it at all. How did Hinata deal with it during training sessions? It felt agonizing.

Speaking of Hinata, she has not spoken to him since joining him in the infirmary. She was sitting in the chair beside his bed, peeling an apple for him. Her eyes are blank, like the time when he had first met her on that rooftop years ago. Real panic begins to wash over him. She has never looked like this, and he knew she was looking like that because of him. Somehow, he has seriously hurt his other half.

Finished with the apple she slices it and sets it on his tray where he can reach for it if he wants to. She does not look at him, her eyes stay glued to the floor. It was obvious that she had been crying earlier.

“Hinata…” he reaches for her hand and for a moment he fears that she will not take it. “Hinata,” it is said more urgently, his fear laced within. She couldn’t be that upset with him…she wouldn’t…leave him…would she? Was she that upset? “Hinata -“

Those beautiful white eyes that he loves so much blink up at him and once again they are shining with tears. “Gaara-kun,” she begins, her voice watery “Do you believe that you need trust in order to love?”

The question confuses him, the answer was obvious “Yes,” he says “that is why I’ve been trying harder, I don’t want you to think that I don’t…”

Then he gets it, the words beneath the words. It has to be it, there would be no other reason for her to look so completely heartbroken and pained.

Tears fall and she wipes at her face “I…I have never left you,” she begins shakily “I learned to fight for you, I’ve been so loyal to you, you have been my entire world. So why Gaara-kun? You’ve never trusted me, not ever and…that means you’ve never lov –“

“No!” he shouts at her, sitting up in the bed, ignoring the pain in his limbs “Hinata, do not say things like that, you know that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” she asks and true pain fills his heart when her hand moves over her own. “Every time you haven’t trusted in me or held faith in me it’s…it’s hurt. Here. There is nothing I can do to make you trust me s-so how could you possibly love me? T-there doesn’t seem to b-be room for me in your heart.”

“My entire existence is you!” he shifts, moving so that he is facing her “Without you I have no purpose, I have no meaning. You are everything to me, how could I not love you? It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that if I don’t have you I have nothing. I’m afraid.” He admits it finally and turns his head when she looks up at him “What would happen if you were killed? Or if someone took you away? What would be my purpose? Why would I exist if not to love you? I’m…a monster remember?” he does look at her now “You have been the only one to love me and the fear of losing you is overwhelming. I’m afraid to share you, I’m afraid you’ll find them to be better than a monster, or perhaps someone betrays you or hurts you to get to me? You are all I live for, without you, what am I?”

Slowly she rises but he does not speak and he does not look up at her. How could he get her to see? The fact that she felt that he didn’t love her, the pain in her eyes, he is afraid of that as well. What if…the damage was too large to fix? What if…she didn’t believe him and truly continued to think that he doesn’t love her? Would she leave? He…he wouldn’t be able to…

Arms wrap around him and she buries her face in his shoulder. She is crying.

“I-I’m so sorry Gaara-kun!” she sobs, her arms tightening around him “I should have known…of course you love me…for me to doubt…”

His own arms wrap around her tightly, relieved that he was able to make her understand. “We will love each other and only each other.” He says.

“No one else matters but us.” She finishes and he pulls her onto the bed with him, pulling her close.

“I am sorry my anger and jealousy has caused you to believe I don’t care.” He says to her, kissing the top of her head “I will always love you, Hinata. I do believe you love me, I wouldn’t be able to be with you if I didn’t. I will try harder, whatever I have to do, I can’t lose you.”

Looking up at him she places her hand on his cheek and then kisses him. He does not allow her to pull away, instead he wraps his arms tighter around her, and returns her kiss with hard passion, an effort to try and show her that yes, he does love her, more than anything else. They part after a long moment, breathless. He pulls her closer.

“I will make it up to you when we return.” He promises her “Whatever you would like, it is yours.”

Shaking her head, her small hands clench his shirt “I just want you.” She says against his chest and the guilt hits him once more. He had been hurting her for so long; when they returned he would definitely make it up to her, he just had to figure out how.

 

xxxxx

 

One day, while they were on their one month break from the exams, Gaara returned to the hotel looking…intrigued. He had actually left Hinata behind, trying to give her space in an attempt to show her that he did in fact trust her. He hated leaving her alone but the small smile she had given him made it worth it. She should always be smiling at him, not crying.

“You might have been right about Uchiha Sasuke,” he tells her while they’re in their room. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed; looking at her while she sat on the bed. Her eyes looked a little bleary so she had probably been napping. He gave her a brief smile, he did not sleep but he had always enjoyed watching her, taking in her serenity. It was something he would never be able to accomplish so it only made sense that his other half would balance them even in that.

“Who?” she asks sleepily and his smile widens slightly. A few rapid blinks and recognition lights her white eyes “Oh, the boy with the bloodline limit.” She yawned and he crossed over to her, sitting down and wrapping an arm around her waist. He briefly wondered if he should tell her that he finds her to be beautiful, he has never said such things before. He has called her cute and pretty but never in a deep romantic sense. More than likely, she would blush, which he didn’t mind, he loved how it made her look.

“Yes. I saw him today, he was working on a jutsu with that silver-haired jounin.” He told her “His eyes…they are filled with anger, pain, and betrayal.”

“I have heard that the majority of the Uchiha clan were either exiled or executed for acts of treason,” she told him “Temari-san and I did a little research while you were out because she is saying that people have been making a very huge deal about how he’s an Uchiha. Apparently, there are only five families from Uchiha that are still in the village, his family is one.”

“Ah.” He smiled slyly at her “So you weren’t sleeping this entire time.” She lightly pushes him and he only wraps his other arm around her, pulling them backwards to lie on the bed. “I’ve heard the name Uchiha Itachi often.” He admits to her “They call him a traitor.”

“The Uchiha do.” She tells him “Apparently, there was supposed to be a coup and he ‘sold them out’. So all guilty parties were executed and the remaining were banished. He is considered an outcast in his own clan.”

“Hm.” Was all he said “You’re an outcast.”

Nodding, she snuggles closer to him “Yes. But um, that’s because your father tricked us into getting married.”

In response he kisses her deeply, surprising her. When he pulls away there is a very strange look in his eyes, a very intense look “I do not mind being married to you.”

Smiling, she nods “I…I don’t mind it either.” She blushes, looking down shyly.

She can feel his gaze on her still and when she looks up his lips close over hers again, a hand moving up her side. Hinata is pulled closer and another hand moves up her back. He does not part, in fact he seems to be shifting his body until he is halfway on top of her. This alarms and frightens her because it is very new and he is acting very strangely.

Then he does part from her and she can feel him kissing down her neck and she gasps, still a little afraid. “G-Gaara?” her voice is shaky.

He suddenly jerks away from her, a mixture of confusion and shock on his face. So it would seem that he had been as surprised about his actions as she had been. He was still sitting beside her but was looking down at his lap, still confused. Why had he started doing that? He had been staring at her and then the next thing he knew he just wanted…he wasn’t sure but it had been something intimate, that much he understood.

“…I’m sorry.” He says, his voice sounding a bit distant “I don’t know why I did that.” The fact that he wanted to do it again wasn’t something he was going to tell her. Obviously something was wrong with him. It had to be this place, he hadn’t started acting so strangely until he had arrived here.

“It’s okay.” She says and sits up, her face a bright red “Um, I guess…it’s okay since…we’re…you know.”

His gaze is impassive as he looks at her. She is nervous and uncomfortable and that tells him all he needs to know. He has known Hinata for as long as he can remember and the last thing he has ever wanted was her discomfort. He would need to put a clamp down on whatever it was that was causing him to act strangely until she was at a point where she wouldn’t mind it. Whatever ‘it’ would have been.

 

xxxxx

 

“Next match is, Hyuuga Hinata versus Hyuuga Neji!”

“You should forfeit.” Gaara says when the matches are announced “If you go against him –“

He stops when he notices her demure smile, that smile that told him she knew something he didn’t and was planning something she but wasn’t going to tell him. Around her he is trying to control himself better, so he merely glances at her instead of becoming upset as he normally would have.

“I have to go against Neji-niisan,” she says to him “In fact, it’s essential.”

A hairless brow raises “Essential?”

A small nod “Essential to changing the clan.”

The arena was twice the size of the ring they had fought in a month ago. More than likely it would be unnecessary space, the two taijutsu users were close ranged combatants. Her cousin stood a few feet from her, his face impassive, devoid of all emotion. Her face shows a bit of uncertainty although in reality she feels excited. She has wanted this for a very long time, ever since she realized that she was actually good and not the failure she had been told she was growing into. He has praised her on her skills more than once and looking at him she can tell, despite the lack of emotion, that he is just as excited as she. Training and sparring were one thing, this time, they would go all out.

“Are you insane?” Neji asked her, not even bothering to be polite because of her position “Never mind…that should be a rhetorical question considering the company you keep. In any case, you can’t be serious, Hinata-sama.”

A little miffed she pouted slightly and shook her head, pale eyes filled with determination “No, Neji-niisan it will work! If we do this, it’ll be the start of change for the Hyuuga.”

He shook his head “How can you even feel an attachment for the clan that abandoned you and called you an outcast?”

“Because I am a Hyuuga and you are a Hyuuga and…I love you Neji-niisan. The clan has to change or you’ll never be happy.”

He was very glad Gaara was out hunting, otherwise he could have killed him and possibly turned on Hinata for uttering such words. “Hinata-sama, what you are speaking of is very risky.”

“It will work.” She was being stubborn and so he had no choice but to go along with her schemes. She was normally not that determined unless it was something extremely important to her. “Even though I’m an outcast socially, I was still heir when the Kazekage tricked Gaara-kun and me into that marriage contract, meaning that I am still officially a member of the clan. Not only that, but the daughter of the clan head of the main house. The fact that I’m where I’m at because of two ‘branch’ members will be a firm slap in the face for them, when they see what you can do…it won’t do anything at first, it’ll take time, but I’m positive this will help change the clan. They will be unable to claim that the branch members are inferior.”

“What do you get out of this, Hinata-sama?” he sighs “This entire plan, which is insane by the way, does nothing but make the branch house look good. You throw the fight and –“

“No,” she explains “because I will show them a bit of what we learned, the techniques that we weren’t supposed to know, the ones we learned on our own. You’ll beat me, but…” she smiled “I will not hold back, Neji-niisan. I will show you and Ko-san the fruits of your labors in training this outcast. It would only be fitting that the master defeat the student,” her smile was wry “and it’s not really throwing the fight because you’d win either way.”

“What of Gaara? Will you tell him?”

She shakes her head “He…wouldn’t understand.” She says sadly “B-but I will make him understand. He’ll try to convince me to forfeit because you’re the stronger fighter and I’ll convince him to let me fight and not to go after you if you win. If I tell him how much this will mean to me, Gaara-kun will understand. He’s been understanding all these years with our training, even if he hasn’t liked it.”

Her cousin sighed “I…what makes you think this will change anything? Nothing you or I do will change the way things are, it is predestined.”

“Well then…I should be weak still, right?” he blinks at her “When I left the clan, I was branded as weak, it had already been determined that I wasn’t going to be a good shinobi. But…look at me. A-and you Neji-niisan…I know you may not believe me but…indulge me?” she gave him her best ‘I’m cute and I love everyone’ smile and he sighed once more.

“You will not hold back?”

“No.”

There was a long pause, then he smiled at her, a genuine smile “I will look forward to it then.”

“Neji-niisan.” Hinata greets, she seems a little nervous but he knows it’s not nerves, it’s excitement. She has trained very hard to reach this point, they have trained her hard to reach this point. It wasn’t just for the clan that she was doing this, she wants to show him how well his training has been for her. Perhaps she wants to make him proud. The fact that she is actually on a level where she would be a challenge is nothing short of astronomical as far as the clan would be concerned.

Slowly, he smiled. It was definitely good that she had left the clan. She never would have become the person she was now, they wouldn’t have let her. Now, because she left and because branch members trained her she was highly skilled. In a way, she was rubbing it in their faces, that they had not only underestimated her, but the capabilities of the branch house as well. That was his cousin, the quiet girl with a will and determination made of steel. She was also self-sacrificing and loving. He’s grateful he let go of his initial hatred of her.

The two shift into offensive stances, white lavender staring into white silver. She is also smiling. Yes, he is curious as to just how far she’s truly come because if he knows anything, it’s that she hasn’t been showing him her full potential…just like he taught her.

The proctor raises his arm and lowers it “Begin!” he shouts.

“Byakugan!” the two cry out at the same time and then charge.

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