AN: So, this is the new Circumstances story. I decided to take down the first one, because I had all these reviews for chapters that no longer existed. This is my attempt at correcting that horrendous little fiction I put up here before. Going back over my own stories, I realize my writing wasn't as good as it is now. So you deserve something better than what I was doing.

I'm also going to try my hand at a non-AU story, but I'm not too sure how it will go. I fear that it won't be as good as the AU stories I've done, or that it won't come as naturally as my other fictions did. But, I promised I would try things I've never tried before. I'm also going to start taking requests for stories. I need to dip into other categories as well (it shames me to see that I've only written for Naruto.) So as long as I know the anime/manga, I'll definitely give it a go, even yaoi/yuri.

Thank you for reading.

Prologue: How They Began

This marriage is a company merger.

Hyuga Hinata stared at the letter that had decided her fate. The words were typed in 11-point font on a piece of heavy ivory stationary, stamped with the company's logo. She had read, and reread this very letter four times, from back to front, all two pages of it, discussing a business proposition that would involve her and Uchiha Fugaku youngest son. It was a business proposition that would take whatever aspirations she had for her life after college and break them in half, force whatever dreams she had and send them to the very back burner.

This marriage is a business deal.

She took in a deep breath, trying to find strength in the air that flooded her lungs. She was suppressing tremors; her back was held rigidly straight, her knees pressed together with her ankle tucked behind the other. The letter, the fate-deciding words, sat before her on the mahogany desk that outfitted a corner of her tiny living room. Her apartment was only six-hundred square feet, far too much for one woman, but at the moment, the walls were closing in on her. Her heart hammered rapidly inside her chest, threatening to break free of her ribcage.

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, scrapping away the lip gloss she had liberally applied earlier. Large, silver eyes darted around the room and she pushed out of the swivel chair with enough force to send it spinning away from the desk. With jerky movements, she walked over to the window in her living room and yanked it up, gulping down the air. The humid summer air stuck in the back of her throat, and did nothing to clear her mind. Her heart slowed by only a fraction, and she felt her throat constrict, her chest tighten.

She was trembling, like a leaf in a hurricane. A hot wetness began her eyes as she glanced over her shoulder to her desk. The furniture shimmered and wavered, as if she were looking through curved glass at everything. Her mouth grew dry, her throat suddenly parched, and she snapped away from the window, spinning on her heel and racing towards the kitchen. Her hands shook as she pulled a tall glass from the cupboard, the ring on her pinkie finger rattling against the glass cup. She gulped down her water quickly, not caring for the twin rivulets that dashed down her chin and onto her white blouse.

The cup broke as she dropped it into the sink and a soft cry left her lips as glass shards danced through the air. The sound was excruciating, porcelain plates colliding with glass rang in her ears as it cried shrilly. Quickly, she removed the glass shards, careful not to cut herself before depositing them in a trashcan. Her eyes swept the kitchen, noting the glossy white-tiled floors, the pristine counter tops, oak-wood cupboards and cabinets. There was a small breakfast bar in the middle of it all, a clear glass vase holding a few miniature sunflowers sitting in its middle.

She retreated from the kitchen, her house slippers slapping the soles of her feet. She sank onto the sofa, her hands between her knees, the denim fabric of her jeans soaking up the sweat of her palms. Her chest heaved as she gulped down air, and she could feel her pulse in her neck thrumming away. Her blood pounded in her ears, a steady rush of noise that filled her mind. She was dizzy and lightheaded, breathless and in the midst of a panic attack.

Her stomach sank to her toes; her heart lodged itself in her throat. She was angry, sad, upset, appalled, apprehensive, so many emotions at one time, so many thoughts running through her mind. Suddenly the room was stifling, threatening to cut off her air supply and leave her gasping like a fish out of water. She wanted to get up, to pull on a pair of tennis shoes and walk away, walk away and never come back. She wanted to never look over her shoulder, to see her father's face as he and Fugaku shook hands at the converging of their two companies. She wanted to walk right past the wedding ceremony, with Fugaku's son, whom she had only ever seen from a distance and never spoken to directly, waiting for her at the altar. She wanted to get up and walk far, far away.

A soft sob left her lips and she quickly clamped her mouth shut, rolling her lips in. This was no time for tears. She was a grown woman, a twenty-two-year -old female. She was in her last year of college, and after this, she would sign a contract for a job as an architect. She would buy five acres of land, and create this magnificent house, built from stone and metal, with arches and floor-length windows, and she would live in it –

No. I no longer have that freedom.

Her eyes closed and she clasped her hands together, pressing them to her forehead. Her shoulders hunched and she tried desperately to calm herself down. She was overreacting, she knew. It was only an arranged marriage; it was not as if she would be denied the chance to pursue her dream career, forced to stay home and pretend to be the good wife everyone expected her to be. She could still become an architect; she could still design beautiful homes for families, sample paints and look at carpet squares. It wasn't as if her marriage was going to confine her to one spot. She was a capable, independent woman. She could do as she pleased, without her future husband, or her father's approval.

She was jerked violently out of her thoughts as her telephone began to ring. She stared at it uselessly, wide-eyed with shock and anxiety. It was her father – she knew it was – calling to confirm that she had received his letter. That was the only reason Hiashi called, to confirm. To confirm that she was coming home for the holidays, to confirm that they were having lunch on Thursday, to confirm that she was the best pupil in her class and that she would not disappoint him by not graduating summa cum laude.

Mechanically, she pushed herself from the sofa and answered it. "Hello, chichiue."

"Hello, Hinata." Hiashi's formal tone stated that she should already know what he was going to say, and that he should not have to say it, but he would anyway. "I sent you a letter yesterday. You should have received it by now."

She nodded jerkily before remembering that they were conversing through a telephone. "Um, y-yes, I did." She cringed at the sound of her voice falling into the familiar stutter. "Chichiue, a-about this… proposal…"

"What about it?"

She licked her lips, perching herself on the edge of the sofa. Her eyes fell to her feet, and she felt as if she were a child again, trying to please her father when there was obviously no doing so. "It's… it's just th-that this seems so…" She trailed off, trying to put to words what her mind was so blatantly screaming. It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. An arranged marriage to combine two companies? Why not call their lawyers and arrange for a meeting? It would only take a few hours to create a contract that would please them both. Why was her marriage to Uchiha Fugaku's youngest son necessary to whatever was going on between the two men?

Hiashi sighed, as if reading her mind. "Hinata, there are some things that you cannot understand. Uchiha-san has something that I want, and I have something Uchiha-san wants. Your marriage to his son will gives us both what we desire."

She bit her bottom lip, feeling like the child Hiashi thought she was. "I-I still do not understand, chichiue. H-how does my marriage to Uchiha-sama's son –"

"Do not worry about that, Hinata. It doesn't concern you." He sound exasperated, explaining things that a child could not possibly understand. "Only be concerned with the marriage. That will be the only thing you have to do for this to work."

She glanced around the apartment, worrying her bottom lip. Her gaze fell back on her lap as she fingered with a loose thread on her jeans. "All I have to do is marry Uchiha-san?"

"Marry Uchiha Sasuke and provide him with children. You are to be a mother and a wife to the Uchiha, Hinata." She could hear the hint of annoyance that colored his deep voice. She hated how he was always so cool-headed, never reacting to anything, never saying a word he did not have to. Hiashi used the bare minimal necessary to explain whatever needed explaining, and just that. If she could not understand, then she didn't not deserve to.

She furrowed her brow and clamped her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "My m-marriage to Uchiha-san… It is a… merger?"

He was silent for a moment, which only added more anxiety to the moment. He was her father, after all, and though she was the family's black sheep, he did love her. He did try to keep her content with life, and asking her to marry Uchiha Sasuke was not something he prone to doing without encouragement from another, right? He understood that she did not like this, that she was appalled by the notion that he even had control over who she would marry. Didn't he?

"Yes, Hinata." He spoke calmly, choosing his words, but not to hide the truth from her. "Your marriage Uchiha Sasuke is nothing more than a merger. It is a contract between the two of you that will benefit you both, and the companies as well."

She hated the very words. They said so much, and yet not enough. What were the rules of this merger, the boundaries they were allowed? She was to give Uchiha Fugaku's son children, but she couldn't have children with a man she did not love, right? It was ridiculous, in her mind, that for the rest of her life, she would be married to a complete stranger, a man she had not once laid eyes on before their wedding. They would live under the same roof, eat the same foods, share the same bed, and she would not know more than his name, and the things that he would let her know, and the things that she would let him know. They would share memories, but none of them would be anymore significant because there was nothing significant about their lives.

Her throat constricted painfully as she pressed her finger to her lips in an old habit that had not yet died. "A-alright."

"Hinata, I know that this decision about your marriage to Uchiha Sasuke is not desirable for you, but you must understand that this marriage is very important. It will decide the future for both the Uchiha's and the Hyuga's companies. There are many possibilities, opportunities that will be opened up. With your marriage to Uchiha Sasuke, there are things that were once not possible to be ours for the taking. You are an intelligent woman, Hinata, and I know that once you get over your shock and apprehension, you will agree with me." In a softer, more convincing tone, he said, "Uchiha Fugaku has discussed this with his son as well, Hinata."

Her fingers slid down and pressed into the base of her throat as she nodded jerkily. "Y-yes, chichiue."

"In a week, I will be throwing a dinner party and inviting Uchiha Fugaku and his family. I expect you to be there to meet your fiance, Uchiha Sasuke. Six months after the dinner party, it will be publicly announced that Uchiha Sasuke and you are to be married. Is this understood?"

Another nod. "Y-yes."

"Good. I am glad we had this talk, Hinata."

She closed her eyes, forcing back her tears. "A-as am I, chichiue. P-please tell Hanabi and Neji-niisan that I said hello."

"Yes, of course. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." She dropped the phone back onto the cradle, her fingers pressed to the base of her neck so hard, it was sure to leave a mark. Her stomach peeled itself from the bottom of her feet and slowly made its way back to her abdomen, but her heart stayed lodged firmly in her throat.

She figured it would stay there for the rest of her life.

My marriage was a company merger.

My marriage is a business deal.

Sasuke glared at the email that he had received from his father. The family company specialized in the electronics, so Fugaku knew everything there was to know about emails and texts. What Fugaku couldn't comprehend was that some things were not meant to be sent in an email, such as important letters stating who and why his son would be marrying a woman he never set eyes on let alone heard of outside of the articles written about her in tabloids. The Hyuga name was a household name, known for their electronics as well as the Uchiha, and Hyuga Hinata was known for her charity work and the fact that she chose to go to one of the best colleges in Japan on a full scholarship, to major in architecture and interior designing.

The same college he was going to, unfortunately.

His charcoal-gray eyes crackled angrily as he snatched up his phone, dialing his father's office number. As soon as Sasuke had set off for college, Fugaku had been scheming behind his back, and maybe, even before that. The only reason Sasuke could think of for his father's plot to marry his youngest son to the Hyuga heiress was the Hyuga family's connections and prestige. The Hyuga and Uchiha were rivals in the business, and because of their companies being the in the same market, they were constantly trying to one up the other, while trying to keep the other competitors at bay. Combining the two companies would make them one of the most powerful in the international market.

"Hello," a woman's voice began, peppy and cheerful. "Uchiha Incorporated."

"It's Sasuke," he snapped, dropping into his desk chair. "Put Fugaku on the phone."

"Yes, of course, Uchiha-san! May I ask why you're calling?"

He ignored her standard question, instead saying gruffly, "Put me through to my father." He didn't bother with a please, or a thank you. He wasn't in the mood to be polite. He wanted to bite off his father's head. Who the hell did that man think he was? What right did he have to offer Sasuke's hand in marriage?

Gritting his teeth, he waited impatiently for the phone to click over. Fugaku had barely said hello when he barked out angrily, "You better have a damn good reason for this."

"Well, Sasuke, it's nice to hear from you too," Fugaku replied dryly. "That's hardly anyway to talk to your father, is it?"

"Don't start with me, Fugaku." Sasuke glared at his laptop's screen, fuming silently as he growled into the receiver of the phone. "Your audacity is truly stunning, sometimes. Who gave you the right to marry me off? I'm not some teenage girl you can't control. I don't need you deciding who I marry and what I do with my life, chichiue."

"Calm down, Sasuke," Fugaku muttered, shuffling papers around on his desk. "There's nothing to get upset about."

He was seeing red he was so angry, but he kept his voice was low and gruff. "You've got a minute to explain what the fuck you're planning before I take matters into my own hands."

Fugaku seemed unfazed, as if he were expecting this. "You're over-reacting, Sasuke. This is only an arranged marriage." He paused, a pen scratching against paper in the background. "I never took you for someone who cared for such sentimentality."

"I don't care for it," Sasuke snapped, growing more frustrated in his father's cool indifference. "But I at least like to think that I'd have the choice to marry someone of my choosing. So start explaining."

"As if you would ever got around to that," Fugaku said, for too easily for Sasuke's taste. "Your mother is actually agreeing to this. She wants to be a grandmother, and with your attitude, she's afraid she'll die without setting eyes on any grandchildren."

He scowled at the thought of his mother. Mikoto had complained from the very beginning that Sasuke wouldn't provide her with much wanted grandchildren. She wanted to pinch little baby cheeks and coo to little baby faces. He, of course, would have none of it, knowing that his children would be sucked into his father's dirty dealings and business deals. It was bad enough that he would be taking over the company after his father retired, he didn't want his children to have to go through it either.

"I'm waiting," he said, ignoring his father's words.

Fugaku was growing more irritated, sighing into the phone. "It's as simple as this, Sasuke; the Hyuga has something that I want, and I know that I have something the Hyuga most definitely desires. So – I offered a trade of a sort, and your marriage to the Hyuga heiress is going to be the contract that secures our trade off."

Sasuke was speechless for a moment, before gritting his teeth. "That's twisted. Who uses their children to form a contract? You are most definitely not in your right mind to think that I would even agree to something this ridiculous."

"You should have more respect for your parents," Fugaku replied dryly, though his voice was colored by his frustration. "I'm saving you a lot of trouble. The least you could do is thank me. I'm sure the Hyuuga girl will be up to standard." He sniffed haughtily and Sasuke wished to wrap his fingers around the man's insufferable throat. "She's one of those quiet women who looks good on the arm and won't speak unless spoken to."

Sasuke frowned. "What the hell could you mean by that?"

"I mean," Fugaku said slowly, and Sasuke could hear it in his voice, the smug lit of his baritone, Fugaku giving himself a pat on the back for a job well done. "She's a very attractive woman. She will accommodate a man's needs nicely."

If it were physically possible, Sasuke would have reached through the phone and throttled the man, but as it were, he had to content himself with glaring bloody murder at his laptop. "You are disgusting. If you want her, you can have her, though you'll have to explain to haha what the hell you're doing with a woman half your goddamned age."

Fugaku hissed through his teeth, loud and frustrated in his son's ear. "I love your mother very much, Sasuke, that much I won't lie about. There isn't need to get so defensive with me. I'm only stating the obvious."

"Oh good. I'm so very relieved that's how you feel," he replied, his voice dripping with his sarcasm. "Now, back to the matter at hand." His charcoal eyes hardened, his voice holding an icy edge to it. "Call off the engagement, Fugaku, I mean it. I won't be a pawn in one of your damned games."

His father was silent for a moment, with only the shuffling of papers on the other line to suggest that he were still there. Sasuke sank into his desk chair, propping his ankle on his knee and folding his arms. After a few moments, Fugaku replied smoothly, "I'm afraid I can't do that, Sasuke."

"Why not?"

Fugaku's voice revealed his deep frustration as he snapped, "I'm still waiting for the Hyuga's response! I can't call anything off if nothing has happened, now can I? And I doubt you can change Hyuga Hiashi's mind simply because you don't want to marry his daughter. It was hard enough catching his attention, and now that I finally have it, I won't let your selfishness get in the way of what I want."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. "My selfishness, Fugaku? What bullshit. You're the one sticking your damned neck where it doesn't belong. Why not have your hellhounds make up a contract, hmm? What the hell does my marriage to the Hyuga heiress have to do with any of this?"

"Like I said, it's the contract that will bind the two companies together." He heaved an irritated sigh, coming to the end of his patience. "Nobody will take much notice if the two companies were to combine simply because the heirs were to marry."

Sasuke glare returned full-force. "And by nobody, you mean the government."

Fugaku was quiet and Sasuke scoffed. "What a ridiculous idea, Fugaku. I'm sure you have contacts in the government–"

"I don't," Fugaku said in a low voice, "...but Hyuga does."

Sasuke fumed silently to himself. So that's what this was about. This was so very typical of his father. Fugaku would not only have more money and prestige to play with by combining the two companies, but he would have contacts that the Uchiha hadn't been able to secure before, without the Hyugas on their side.

Sasuke took in a deep, calming breath before saying, "You are a sick, twisted bastard. I told you from the very beginning I wouldn't deal with your bullshit, Fugaku. You'll be sorry if this goes through."

Fugaku was hardly fazed. "Sasuke, you can't threaten me. But it is reassuring that you try so hard to impress me."

Sasuke hung up on his father, too angry to reply to the obvious taunt. It made his blood boil to know Fugaku held such power over him, to change his plans with a few strokes of a pen. He should have been above the insults and taunting that were the epitome of their relationship, but he couldn't stop himself. Ever since Itachi left... He gripped the phone tightly in his hand, grinding his teeth. Alright, fine. Fugaku obviously didn't think he was capable of what Sasuke said he could do. He was just second-rate in his father's eyes, nothing could top his first son, despite Itachi being gone. So Sasuke would let it be known he wasn't his brother. Perhaps then Fugaku would know better than to fuck with him.

AN: This is the end of the prologue. I'm going to try and base this off the first draft of this I wrote, but I do have a few new ideas for the plot. To those who have read the original Circumstances, hope this version was a better read than last time. And for those who who are new, what did you think? School starts up in a few weeks for me, so I won't be as capable of updating as quickly as I'd like, but I do plan to update.

Thank you for reading. Please leave a review, they're much appreciated :)