A flood of light ran throughout the room, illuminating all that it touched. A single 레이 of light fell upon the face of a young adult, a teenage girl. Opening slowly, her eyes revealing their contents, for her eyes had no visible pupils, but rather, they appeared to peer into her soul, a window for all to see, a window of deep lavender. Today would be the beginning of an end. She knew it. As she slowly felt her world fall into place, piece 의해 piece as her drowsiness wore off a light tap came to the door.

"Hinata-san, please wake up, 당신 must prepare for the ceremony soon." A voice called through the door, a servant of the Hyuuga family.

"I'll be out shortly, just give me a moment." Came the soft spoken reply

She sat up upon her bed, rubbing her eyes, allowing memory and daily rituals to take place within her mind. Her hair fell along her back, long and dark, kept yet disheveled and natural. She climbed out of 침대 and walked towards the small water basin she kept to wash her face in the morning. Her body was lithe and graceful, yet strong and resilient; her frame portrayed a level of beauty women envied. As she washed her face, thoughts began to surface as her conscience awoke.

'Sixteen, today I turn sixteen… After today, I am no longer the heir to the Hyuuga throne; I am simply a shrine maiden. I am too weak to be that heiress, my father, my sister, my family all concur. I'm worthless in marriage, no one is willing to marry a carrier of the byakugan, even if it gives such power, even if it could create an alliance that could further elevate my family, people see me as….'

Another splash of water interrupted that last thought. The young shrine maiden to be began towards her drawer, taking off the 키모노, 기모노 she wore for sleep and putting on the clothes she would be expected to wear as a shrine maiden. A simple blue 키모노, 기모노 decorated with ash-gray leaves, beneath this was a pair of pleated shorts and an under-tunic. She then looked into the mirror overlooking the drawer, contemplating on what to do with her hair. After several moments of thought, she discarded the idea and walked to the door. As her hand reached for the handle, she hesitated, then firmly grabbed the handle and slid the door open…

Monks, priests, holy men, shrine maidens, chief followers of The Way flooded into the Hyuuga compound, a great fortress of stone, meant to protect the many members of the Hyuuga main and branch families. Amongst one of these 'holy men', a single, curious member wandered amongst them. A 로스트 monk he calls himself, a searcher of the way. His blonde hair, blue eyes and whisker marks separated him, causing him to appear quite unique. He wore an 주황색, 오렌지 saint's 옷, 가운 and a sakkat, carrying with him a monk's staff.

"Excuse me, may I find the young shrine maiden to be, and her father?" The outlandish monk asked a guard of the Hyuuga complex.

"Down that hall, there will be a pair of double doors, that is where the procession will take place, and where 당신 will find them both. The area will be closed until the beginning of the ceremony, however." Replied the guard

"Oh well, perhaps 당신 can point me out to the Zen garden? I've heard several stories about its magnificence."

"Right down that way" The guard pointed towards a corridor leading out of the main yard.

"Thank you." Said the whiskered monk as he walked down the corridor.

The passage seemed to twist and wind along a cobblestone path, slowly sloping downwards, until it led to a Zen garden easily the size of a standard four family 집 on a slightly lower elevation than the rest of the large Hyuuga keep, one could easily look upwards and see the several spikes places along the base of the castle. As he surveyed his surroundings he saw a young woman standing, admiring the Zen garden.

"Hello there, I didn't expect anyone else to be here, since everyone's in such a fuss over the ceremony I was hoping to get some peace and quiet" Said he, scratching the back of his head as he approached the young woman.

"O-oh, I-I'm sorry, would 당신 like to me leave? I-it wouldn't be any trouble at all." She said, turning around to face the whiskered one. As she turned around, he noticed that she had lavender eyes, yet no pupils, a member of the Hyuuga clan. She wore an amazing blue 키모노, 기모노 with ash grey leaves patterned all along it.

"Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that 당신 were a member of the Hyuuga clan, my name is Uzumaki Naruto" And with that, he bowed low.

"Oh, it is a pleasure to meet 당신 Uzumaki-kun, my name is Hyuuga Hinata" And she returned his bow with a courtly bow of her own.

"The Hyuuga Hinata? Then I am glad to personally meet the new priestess who shall be joining my brothers and sisters in the way."

"Y-you are much too kind. I find myself unworthy of this entire ceremony in fact."

"Unworthy?"

"Hyuuga-san, the ceremony shall begin soon, please 가입하기 your father in the ceremony room." Gasped an attendant that rushed through the same passage 나루토 had just come from.

"W-well, I am glad that I met 당신 N-Naruto-kun, I hope that I will see 당신 after the ceremony…" She then bowed low and left with her attendant in tow.

'Well, that was the infamous Hyuuga Hinata, daughter of the legendary Hisashi. She seems much to kind, shy and timid to be related to the bastard. I can see why she was rejected as heir of the Hyuuga clan and replace her with her genius sister Hanabi. Too shy and timid, those same characteristics that made her weird, yet cute…' Thought 나루토 as he retraced his steps towards the main courtyard.

'I sounded like an idiot…' Was the first thought that echoed through Hinata's head as she rushed away from the boy covered in orange.

"Hinata-sama, I implore 당신 to hurry, otherwise we may be late…" Hinata's attendant nagged.

With that Hinata's foot steps quickened in pace.

'I need to rid myself of that stupid suttering problem whenever I meet new people. Yet another reason why father detests me. Sometimes I wish I could just fade away, start a new life somewhere else, anywhere else, as long as it isn't here.' Thought Hinata as she exited the passage and entered the courtyard.

더 많이 thoughts rushed through Hinata's mind as she hurried to the ceremony chamber.

'That monk probably thinks I'm an idiot. Look at me, ugly, stupid Hinata can't even talk straight to a cute monk… It's not like he and me could ever get together, he's a monk, I'm a to-be priestess, yet here I am, stuttering, talking like a fool… Too flustered just because he looks so damn cute… Dammit, stop with these thoughts, I'm going to be a priestess soon, and this means no 더 많이 thinking like this…' Yet Hinata's rain of negative thoughts stopped as soon as she reached the door to the ceremony chamber, she could hear the room was abuzz, waiting for her to make her grand appearance.

Hinata held her breath as the attendant threw the doors open and announced her arrival.