Wide of the Mark

Chapter four

Sasuke grimaced at the aura of excitement coming from the girls. He had his own problems to worry about. Here he was, dressed as a girl, in what could be termed ‘rival territory’, and employing ninja arts not commonly used, underhanded even. What if Hyuuga Hiashi saw through his jutsu? What would he think? What if his being here, dressed as a woman, implied that he was somehow interested in…in...Neji!?

Sasuke almost gagged at the thought, his mind racing as he imagined the look on Neji’s face as he burst out laughing before roughly tossing the Uchiha out the front gates and telling the entire village of his ploy to get into the Hyuuga’s bed.

Or maybe he’d just beat the absolute hell out of him.

Or maybe, he’d sti-

He was cut off from his downward spiraling thoughts by the click of a shoji door and the quiet tread across tatami mats. He didn’t dare look up, already picturing the incredulous look on Neji’s uncle’s face as he realized that it was Uchiha Sasuke, tensai ninja, standing in line with a group of women. And not just any women, prospects for Neji’s hand in marriage.

He swallowed and hesitantly raised his eyes to see Hiashi slowly surveying the line from afar. His pale eyes swept over Sasuke and paid him no more mind than any of the others. A wave of relief engulfed the Uchiha. It seemed the he was undetectable for the moment. He silently swore to himself that the instant he got home, he’d change back, find the dobe and beat him within an inch of his life for creating such a ridiculous jutsu.

Hiashi had moved closer, standing only a few feet away as he perused the line. He stopped in front of a blonde to Sasuke’s surprise.

‘I always thought Neji would like…brunettes…’ He mused, suddenly resisting the urge to pat worriedly at his own dark hair. It was a pity that the hairdresser had piled it all up on his head. He thought it would have looked far more attractive down. Maybe Neji would have liked it bett- ‘What the hell am I doing?!’ He though to himself, vaguely shocked. ‘I don’t actually want to win this damn thing! I want to go home and eat!’

But Uchiha’s were very competitive and Sasuke still didn’t like the fact he might lose to a bunch of ordinary village girls. But, on the other hand, the prize was something he really, really didn't want to win.

What to do…

He was still mulling over his predicament when he noticed that Hiashi had stopped in front of him. He stopped short of a glare, realizing it wouldn’t be good to insult the head of the clan with his expression. Suddenly Hiashi stepped forward, crowding into the Uchiha’s personal space. It was most probably designed to provoke him, test his mettle, and, even though Sasuke knew this, he couldn’t help but let his eyes flash in anger, his fists clenching.

Personal space was personal space after all.

Hiashi stepped back and Sasuke caught the tiny flicker of a smile, so small it might have been a figment of his imagination, a trick of the light. He watched with trepidation as Hiashi left the line without looking at anymore girls and bent to speak to one of the women. He glanced back one more time before he left, seeming to wonder if he had made the right decision. Sasuke didn’t look up, didn’t want to see if Neji’s uncle’s eyes lingered on him before he left.

‘Ohshitohshitohshit…’ His mind rambled as the girls turned to leave down the hallway they had come from. ‘Please let it be the blonde…please…I’ll do anything…’

Fate deemed to think that Neji didn’t like blondes because, as they reached a juncture in the hallway, the lady who had dressed him came up beside ham and gently took his hand again, leading him down another hall and away from the jealous and angry glares of the girls remaining.

The old lady patted his hand lovingly and sat him down in another chair, in another room. This one was elaborate and had many decorative screens whereas the other had been plain. Sasuke was still wondering what had happened, his own fear keeping the truth from his mind. That was fine, until his dresser burst into excited chatter, startling the normally on-guard Uchiha.

“We did it! We did it, girl! You’ve been selected! Now, we must get you ready to greet the young master!”

Anything else she said was lost as white noise filled up Sasuke’s ears. Selected? He’d been…picked…from all those girls? But…um…but…

But…

Sasuke’s mind blanked. There was supposed to be a reason that he wouldn’t be picked. Some obvious mistake had been made and once he pointed it out they would all just laugh over it and let him go.

Wouldn’t they?

He tried not to think about all the things he’d read in the Uchiha library when learning about his clan for his studies. Tried not to think of all the case-studies of reluctant women forced into marriage with shinobi despite their own lives and wishes. Tried not to think about how the bride-to-be was practically kept a prisoner until the wedding where she would be…would be…’ He swallowed heavily, trying to keep the panic from his mind. ‘…would be…bound to her new husband by jutsus that were specific to that clan, never to leave.’

It was a measure taken to help pass on the bloodline limit. With new blood being introduced with each generation, it would seem that any special talent the clan possessed would eventually become watered down and fade from future generations. With the marriage jutsus, it instead altered the new party somewhat so that when the child was conceived, it was pureblood.

He had to escape. He had to get out of here before this went any further. Surely Neji could happily find himself a new bride. One that would be happy to wed him, one that would, and could, further the Hyuuga line, one that wasn’t…a guy. He didn’t want to do this! It suddenly seemed such an injustice!

“I don’t want to be a Hyuuga!” He shouted angrily, before he realized he was speaking out loud.

The startled dresser had turned around from picking out a new kimono for him, no doubt so he could be presented to Neji.

“Nonsense, dear!” She tutted, turning to pour a clear glass of something and handing it to him. “Of course you do! Why, have you not met the young master?” He voice turned sly as she left the glass in his hand and he gulped down the contents without caring. “Why, he’s the picture of grace. A ninja, of course, and so beautiful when he fights. Did you see the Chuunin exams a few years back? I don’t suppose you did. But he fought well against that…child.” Her voice had turned sour with the mention of Naruto and, although Sasuke was curious as to why it seemed every adult in the village hated the dobe, his head was starting to feel a little strange.

“What…what did you give me?” He voice wavered and he put a hand up to his head, his sight beginning to swim slightly.

“What? Oh..” The lady turned from where she was embroidering something quickly on the hem of the kimono she had picked out. “It’s okay, dear. It’s just something to relax you…can’t have the new bride becoming hysterical.” She said this with such calm and irony that Sasuke suddenly realized that she’d been though all this before with other girls and had probably been a member of the Hyuuga household for many years. She would have seen many girls both eager and reluctant to wed into such a high-profile clan where they would be in the spotlight. Mostly likely, she just thought that the Uchiha’s unwillingness was just a by-product of the shock of being picked and, as his head started to clear again and an aura of forced calm overtook him, Sasuke found himself beginning to despair that he would never get out of this.

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Sorry about the lateness of the chapter! Please review!