Prompt: You've just been jilted at the alter, what do you do?
Note: This is the first in a series called the Konoha Chronicles - 10/29
"From this day forward let it be known that Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji are engaged to be married on the fourteenth of July."
Two weeks.
Neji was still numb as his hand was lifted by his uncle's and a softer, smaller hand was placed within it. The skin was very smooth when he closed his fingers around it--too smooth. Hinata. His cousin. It was just so wrong.
Of course, the Uchiha Clan did this, too, but...
I can't marry Hinata. I... I...
I wonder if this is a good time to mention to Hiashi-oji-sama (1) that I don't like girls...
All around them there was polite applause and few smiles. Neji glanced over at Hinata, who was as wide-eyed and shocked as he was. Her pale eyes stared straight through him and her hand twitched nervously in his. Even when his uncle released their joined hands, Neji didn't dare to let go. Hinata looked like she was about to faint.
This is not happening... He was part of the branch family. Why on Earth would Hiashi do this?
"Uh... well... uh..." What did one say after such a momentous and life-altering moment?
"M-my h-h-husband will have l-longer hair than m-m-me," Hinata commented in her typical shaky voice. Blood rose up to her cheeks in a rush, and Neji gasped, grabbing hold of her slender form just before she hit the ground, holding her uncomfortably against his chest. She had fainted dead away. Again.
---
There was simply no way this situation could get any worse. Two weeks later found Neji standing in front of a mirror, scowling at his reflection. All the thick, ceremonial silk he was wrapped him made him feel as though he were hefting around an extra two-hundred pounds on his shoulders. Not only that, but his hair had been knotted traditionally. Everything had to be "perfect" for the wedding of the family heir, of course.
Is this really my destiny? To marry Hinata? I know I'm supposed to protect her, but--
But he didn't want to marry her. Just the thought of--
Neji resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands and flee from the Estate. His uncle would be most displeased with him if he backed out now.
But... but this is my destiny. My destiny is what I make of it! Is it really my fate to marry Hinata? But I don't want to marry her. I... I... I'll go up to the alter and when he asks me to take her as my wife I'll... I'll say no. I will. I'll object! I don't care what Hiashi-oji-sama thinks! I won't marry Hinata!
Taking a deep breath, Neji lowered his hands to his sides and stood up straight. He had a wedding to crash. Besides, he doubted Hinata would be too heartbroken. She hadn't seemed all that interested in marrying him either...
---
They were in front of dozens of people, all eyes focused on them. Hinata wore a beautiful kimono, lavishly decorated with brilliant flowers and tied with a bow bigger than the girl's entire torso and head. Neji had thought he was suffering, but she must be dying with all that silk hanging off her.
"And do you, Hyuuga Neji, take this woman to be your wife..."
This is it. Say no! Say it! No, no, no, no, no...
"I... d--"
NO, YOU IDIOT, SAY NO!
"I do."
Oh Kami, you didn't-- What's wrong with you? Inside, Neji was suddenly panicking. Maybe it was his fate to be married to Hinata. He had actually just agreed to marry her. Nothing had gone as planned! He was going to stand up to his uncle and--
"And do you, Hyuuga Hinata, take this man to be your husband?"
He waited painfully for the pitifully whimpered "I do" to come from his cousin's mouth. Seconds passed by, and to the panting, sweating Hyuuga it felt like ages. Hesitantly, he glanced over at Hinata's face, waiting... waiting...
"HELL NO!"
The sudden noise almost caused Neji to trip over his robes as his body instinctively jolted into a fighting stance. It took a few long seconds for him to realize where that noise had come from.
Hinata.
The shy, soft-spoken heiress... had just shouted... and sworn... in front of the entire clan... in front of the entire village.
Had the world just ended?
No one spoke for a few long moment, and then... "I... I..." Hinata turned, facing him, and gave him a wide-eyed look. "Sorry, Neji-nii-san (2)." And then she was gone in a flurry of silk, abandoning her shoes right there at the alter as her body formed a blur. She was out the door within seconds... gone.
All hell broke loose.
"What-- HINATA, GET BACK HERE! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? HINATA!"
And there went Hiashi-oji-sama.
There was shouting and screaming and much flailing. Neji just stood and stared, watching everyone freaking out as his uncle took off after the wayward bride. And then he sat on a step near the alter, staring straight ahead.
She's gone.
He didn't move. Eventually, the rest of the family ambled out, some fleeing the scene as if embarrassed to be seen by the rest of the village, others taking off after Hiashi in an attempt to track down the young bride and drag her back to her shell-shocked soon-to-be-husband. And Neji didn't care. He should have been first in line to hunt her down and force her hand, but he didn't care... at all.
It took several more minutes after all the chairs on the green lawn were abandoned to collect himself. Hinata is gone. I'm not getting married. I'm not marrying Hinata.
And then, abruptly, relief flooded him. Invigorated, he stood, stripping off the top two layers of his ceremonial kimono, throwing them into the grass and stepping on them sacriligiously. A genuine smile broke across his face as he threw his hands over his head and--
Did a victory dance.
"Yes! I'm not marrying Hinata! I'm not marrying my cousin! My destiny has been revealed! Fu** yes! I'm free, damnit! I'm fu**ing free! Take that, you old bastard, Hiashi! HA! I'm not marrying Hinata! I'm not marrying Hinata! Yeah, this is fu**ing awes--"
Neji blinked, abruptly cutting off his victorious tirade and embarrassingly off-key singing when he met a pair of pale eyes boring straight through him. A little girl was still seated in the front row on her own folding chair, her eyes curiously staring at her older cousin who had just vandalized family property and was dancing in a very unmanly fashion. Neji's arms were still raised over his head, and all he could do was stand there like an idiot.
"Neji-san (3), what are you doing?" Unlike her sister's, Hanabi's voice was not hesitant or shaky, but curious. She cocked her head. "And what does fu** mean?"
Oh Kami... This is so humiliating... Granted, it was only Hanabi, but still, no one could ever find out about this! No one!
"I'm going to my room," he said quickly, trying to look dignified as he lowered his arms. "You should return to yours, too, Hanabi-chan (4)."
"But Neji-san, what does fu--"
"Never mind," he interrupted quickly, already walking swiftly away across the lawn. "Just... just never mind."
He would continue his dance in the safety of his room beyond locked doors. Nevertheless, he couldn't keep a smile off his face.
Take that, you bastard. This is what you get for making me marry a gi-- I mean Hinata! Ha! Look who has the last laugh now!
He hummed all the way there, too.
And they all lived happily ever after... sort of.
Note: Poor Neji-kun. He's never actually forced to marry Hinata or anything; that would be more than slightly incestuous. However, I couldn't resist playing off this idea. I got it from an adorable comic on dA.
(1) -oji-sama - a very polite way of saying "uncle"
(2) -nii-san - a somewhat polite way of saying "older brother"
(3) -chan - honorific signifying affection, generally towards a young girl
(4) -san - rough equivalent of saying Mr. or Mrs. (or Miss, if you're an unmarried girl)
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