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The bell above the shop’s door tinkled as Hinata opened it to step out into the crisp winter morning. The sky was cloudless today and the sun had started the warm the air, providing respite from the harsh cold they’ve been experiencing the last week. They were slowly creeping towards spring, Hinata’s favorite season of the year. She looked down into the paper bag she held clutched to her chest and smiled; in it were several packets of seeds that she was planning to sow today when she got back home.

Turning in the direction of the Hyuga compound, she began the walk home while continuing to peer into her bag. She was so lost in thought imagining how her garden would look in the spring that she didn’t notice the man standing in the middle of the path with his back towards her until she bumped into him.

Hinata’s face instantly flushed with embarrassment and she bowed her head to hide her face with her bangs, but before she could stutter out an apology an all-too-familiar voice called her name.

“Hinata! Have you been walking like that with your hair in your face? No wonder why you walked right into me!”

Hinata could now see the toes of the man standing before him; he had turned around and was now facing her. She could feel the heat in her face spreading to her ears and even down her neck. Naruto Uzumaki was standing in front of her and looking at her, and she felt like she was going to combust. She tried to take subtle deep breaths to calm her racing heart before looking up into his eyes.

“Sorry Naruto-kun. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”Hinata mentally gave herself a pat on the back for barely stuttering while delivering her apology.

Naruto scratched his head and muttered back, “Ahhh it’s ok! I’m just worried you’re gonna get yourself hurt! Anway, how have you been?”

“I’ve been good,” she replied with a smile. Naruto grinned in return, all teeth and crinkled eyes, and for the first time in years she felt that his smile was genuine. Even after Sasuke had returned Naruto had remained gloomy and grim, burdened by Sasuke’s twelve year sentence to be fulfilled in Konoha’s Strict Correctional Facility. But today, Naruto looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“How about you Naruto-kun? You look very lively today.”

Naruto’s grin grew impossibly wider. “Oh was it that obvious? I actually just got back from a meeting with Granny Tsunade. She told me that the elders finally agreed to shortening Sasuke’s sentence. Actually, if he agrees to their conditions, they’re going to release him immediately!”

“Oh! That’s wonderful Naruto-kun!” Hinata wasn’t very fond of Sasuke, in fact she would go as far to say that she liked him the least of all their classmates, but she couldn’t help but feel happy about the news seeing Naruto so excited.

“May I ask what conditions Sasuke must agree to in order to be released?” There was no way the conditions would be anything simple, and Hinata wondered what they could possibly make Sasuke sacrifice that would justify an early release from his sentence. Especially since he had only fulfilled a little more than a year of it.

“I actually don’t know…” Naruto crossed his arms and scowled in annoyance before continuing, “I tried getting the old lady to tell me but she’s so stubborn, she kept telling me I’d find out eventually. Anyway, I’m going to see if I can visit Sasuke so I can tell him to suck it up and accept whatever it is those old geezers and granny Tsunade ask him to do. What could be worse than spending a dozen years on that stuffy prison island!”

Hinata wished him luck and waved goodbye as he jumped onto the nearest roof and sprinted away. Smiling softly, she continued on her way back home, looking forward to more days in the future where she could see Naruto smiling just as he had today.

Sasuke’s right eyebrow twitched, but otherwise his face remained impassive. He had just been summoned to a meeting with the elders and Lady Tsunade to discuss the shortening of his sentence, but of all the possible demands - or “compromises”, as Naruto had phrased it when he had broken into the correctional facility a week ago - this had not been one Sasuke was expecting.

He remembered Naruto with his obnoxiously loud voice insisting, “What could they possibly suggest that would be worse than spending twelve years in prison!”

This, he thought, this could be worse than twelve years in prison.

“Well? Are you going to give us an answer anytime soon?” Tsunade asked impatiently. She seemed to be enjoying this just as much as he was.

“Are there no other more suitable options?” he asked with a sneer. He almost couldn’t believe they were asking him to do something so ridiculous. He wondered if they were doing this out of spite… what about this would help strengthen the village and help him repay his debt to society? Moreover, how would she be able to keep an eye on him if he decided to run off and betray the village again? Shifting his gaze to the elders, he once again questioned the decision making capabilities of these bags of bones sitting before him. Surely they were senile?

“Hinata Hyuga is from a powerful clan, an heiress,” Tsunade responded with a raised eyebrow, “Your social standing would have a considerable boost. Not to mention she’s the village sweetheart… that might help people look upon you more favorably as well. And you’ll finally get to restore the Uchiha clan. This deal couldn’t be any more ideal. We’re basically doing you a favor.”

Sasuke began to feel a dull throb against his temple. He resisted the urge to reach up and massage his forehead. Suddenly, an image of Naruto popped up in his head from when he visited him in prison. His eyes had been downcast and his lips screwed up.

“Sasuke,” he had said, a pleading tone to his voice, “You might be back here in Konoha, but you’re still not home. Please… come back to us.”

Sasuke pushed the memory out of his mind and focused on the incessant tapping of Tsunade’s shoe on the tiled floor.

“If I agree to this… I will be fully pardoned?”

Tsunade nodded her head.

“I won’t even be on parole?”

“No parole,” she agreed.

“Okay.”

“What?”

“I agree to your terms. I will marry Hinata Hyuga.”
Tsunade’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. Despite claiming it would be a mistake to decline this offer, she was still surprised to see the boy actually agree to their demands. What could she say, stubbornness ran in the leaf nins’ blood, hers included.

One of the elders - the lady - finally spoke up.

“I guess we should inform Lord Hiashi.”

Hinata dropped the heavy tome on her desk with a thud. Opening it up halfway, she arranged the plum blossoms that she had collected from her garden on the page. Just as she pressed the book shut, she heard a knock at her door.

“Come in,” she called softly.

The door was pushed open to reveal Hanabi with a strange expression on her face. For a moment she just stood there watching her.

“Father has summoned you. He’s in his study,” she said quietly before walking away.

Hinata heard a door slamming shut from the direction of Hanabi’s room. She wondered what had put her in such a mood as she started towards her father’s study.

She approached the study with slow steps, knocking lightly and waiting for a response from behind the door before finally entering. Her relationship with her father had improved since her genin days, but their interactions were still limited and awkward. Right now, Lord Hiashi was sitting with his elbows in front of him on his desk, his hands pressed into his temples. Hinata could not see the expression on his face with him sitting hunched forward like that, but she deduced it was not a happy one.

“Father, Hanabi said you summoned me.” She tried making her voice as loud and clear as her cousin Neji. She hated that she was still comparing herself to him, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted her father to look at her with the same respect that he did with Neji.

Upon hearing her voice, Hiashi let out a deep sigh and straightened up in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. Hinata recognized the expression on his face to be the same as the one she noticed on Hanabi. She started to grow uneasy.

“Hinata…” He paused and cleared his throat. “Hinata, I’ve received a marriage proposal for you.”

Hinata felt herself stiffen. She tried calming her nerves down, but it did nothing to stop her stuttering as she asked, “From who?”

“Sasuke Uchiha.”

Hinata reeled back in shock. Sasuke had proposed to her? How? Wasn’t he in prison? Surely this was some kind of joke…

Hiashi seemed to have read her confusion through her face and rushed to explain the situation. When he was done, Hinata thought back to the conversation she had with Naruto when she was coming back home from the nursery. So this was the condition he had been asked to accept in order to end his sentence?

It made no sense to her… There were so many other stronger kunoichi that the elders and Lady Tsunade could have paired him with. In what way would this benefit the village? Her heartbeat was so loud in her ears that she was having trouble hearing her own thought. Once again, she mustered up her courage and asked, “What happens if I refuse?”

“I’m not sure, but knowing the elders, they will insist that their demands be met.”

Hinata finally understood the eyebrows pulled together, the sorrowful eyes. Her father and Hanabi were looking at her with pity.

“What do you want me to do Father?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want, or what you want. If Lady Tsunade is asking this of you for the sake of the village, you must accept.”

Hinata felt sick. At least he looks a little apologetic, she thought bitterly.

“Very well then Father. I accept.”

She took her leave and swiftly headed for the safety of her own room. Closing the door quietly behind her she sunk down onto her shaky knees. She replayed the words her father had said again and again.

It doesn’t matter what I want, or what you want.

That statement was only half true; yes, what she wants doesn’t matter, never had mattered, and never will. But her father - head of the Hyuga clan - had enough power and influence to get what he wanted… at least most of the time.

Would he have been this quick to give up if it were Hanabi that was proposed to? She immediately shook her head to get rid of the thought. This didn’t have anything to do with Hanabi.

She looked up and saw her book still lying on the desk, half-filled with pressed flowers. Next to the desk was her bag of seeds that she got on the day that she bumped into Naruto.

Naruto.

She felt a pang in her heart and couldn’t stop the sob that spilled out. Biting her lips and clenching her fists hard enough to leave marks, she tried to stop herself from crying, but the tears continued to flow unbidden and unwanted.

The reality of what she had agreed to had finally caught up with her and her breathing became panicked and shallow. Why didn’t I fight? Why can’t I ever fight back? Why can’t I say no to him? Somewhere among her muddled thoughts she knew she wasn’t getting enough oxygen, but she couldn’t find any strength in herself to do anything about it.

A strong push against her back forced her to shuffle forward. She turned around and blinked. Hanabi had burst through the door and was looking at her with eyes narrowed and lips set in a grim line.

“So you accepted?”

Hinata responded with a sob followed by a few hiccups.

“Why?” Exasperated, Hanabi put her hands on her hips. “You’re obviously not happy about it.”

Hinata couldn’t look her sister in the eye. Her courageous and brash sister, who would have been able to say no to her father, who would have somehow found a way to get herself out of this situation. Hanabi would never have agreed to something she didn’t want, she would’ve fought until she got her way.

She felt a weight against her back and turned to see Hanabi sitting on the floor next to her with her arm around her. There was a determined glint in her eyes.

“Hinata, if you’re not gonna do anything about it, then I will. You’re not marrying that snake.”

Hinata tried to match her sister’s conviction as she nodded her head. Hanabi pulled her into a hug and she rested her head on her shoulder as more sobs racked her body. After she calmed down a bit, she pulled away with a confused expression on her face. “How did you find out about the proposal?”

Hanabi laughed before replying, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you after we deal with your soon-to-be husband.”