Dedications: this chapee is for all those 51 readers/reviewers of this fiction! I owe you guys a lot!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... well I do own NAOKO! lol.

WANTED: Hyuuga Neji's Bride Wannabe!
by: Eleonor Dale

Prologue. The Deal

Everyone in Konoha preferred to call it as, 'The Betting Domicile' and for some it was better to call it as, ' The Waster's Lounge' instead of its existent name, 'Gambler's Lounge'. It was known in many ways and no one cared whatever name people made up just to ruin its reputation. The Gambler's Lounge was very popular to those who rely on luck and its customers knew better than anybody else.

Tonight, the manager and the other staff of the lounge were all panicking for the arrival of two highly respected people. They arranged the VIP Room two days before the reserved date. They polished the floor three times that it now shone like gold bricks under the maroon carpet. The chandelier, which appeared as if it was made out of diamonds, was suspended in the very middle of the casino table and was shimmering so brightly that it could attract anyone who entered. Usually, a lot of chairs were placed around the room, but this time only two seats were prepared at both ends of the table. A wine waiter, holding a luxurious wine and a white cloth hanging in his arm, had positioned himself steadily beside the table thirty minutes before their most important guests arrived.

At last, the main door of the Gambler's Lounge ruptured, making a long creaking sound that made all the gamblers and waiters stopped abruptly to whirl around the door. The gamblers all have this same idea in mind: to invite whomever it was to play with them.

To everyone's surprise a massive man, who was wearing sunglasses and a black suit, had opened the huge golden doors of the lounge. He studied the whole room, making everyone wondered if he could still see in those sunglasses he was wearing. He turned to his shoulder and began to murmur something at his back. Everyone was still watching him attentively. What made everyone gasped and made their jaws dropped, was when the man moved aside and a short, obese woman, who was in deep red gown, entered. She was fat and her brunette hair was so unkempt. She looked as if she was the first one to grab all the ugliness God had sent to his people. Her plump face was rather scary and was even scarier when she gave everyone a forceful smile. There was only one word to describe her, yes, only one word and that was: ugly.

Some simply stared without a clue who the fat woman was; some gave a long whistle just to josh the new customer; and some, who knew the fat lady, had their eyes steadied on her as though any minute their eyeballs would pop out.

Her smile, which appeared to be a smirk, widened as she raised an eyebrow. Obviously, she liked the attention everyone gave her.

A black carriage had parked in front of the Gambler's Lounge. The door opened and a tall boy of nineteen went out, his long dark hair dangling as he did so. No doubt that he was Hyuuga Neji, the Hyuuga clans' prodigy. His pale, blank, pearly eyes studied the place before he opened the door again and a medium sized man, who was holding a cane, followed him next. They looked much the same. The man appeared as though he was the exact replica of Hyuuga Neji only he looked much older and Neji was taller than him.

The boy closed the door and turned to look at the older Hyuuga, who then coughed to get his attention.

"Neji," the man said in a deep, serious voice, "Something bad will happen after this night, I'm sure of it." a sigh escaped his lips. "I really don't like the idea of being here with her."

Neji raised an eyebrow but before he could question his uncle, Hiashi walked towards the main door of the Gambler's Lounge. Neji had no choice but to follow, though puzzlement dawned on him as he kept up his pace to catch up with him.

Two attendants opened the large door of the VIP Room as Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Nej entered.

"Hmm… late than ever huh, Hiashi?" a sarcastic tone of a woman said at the far left side of the room.

Hiashi immediately turned his head and recognized a fat lady in deep red gown, standing alone in front of one of the large windowpanes of the room. She was pretending to watch the dark sky outside to have the reason not to look at the new arrivals.

Hiashi smirked with intent, "Yeah… better late than not to arrive eh?" He then made his way towards the casino table and made himself comfortable as he handed his cane to an attendant beside him. "You haven't change, Naoko." Hiashi said.

The fat lady smiled at his remark. "You're still calling me by that name eh?"

Neji, who was still standing at the door, looked curiously at the fat lady. But to his surprise, she was also looking at him with so much interest. His eyes widened that he immediately looked away from her gaze. He heard her giggled but ignored it.

"Hmmm…" she placed an unlighted cigarette on her mouth and an attendant instantly brought out a lighter, "Who is this young man with you, Hiashi? I never knew that you have a son."

"Tsk…" Hiashi muttered with a frown. "He's my nephew."

She laughed once again, covering her mouth with a hand as she did so. To be frank, it gave Hiashi and Neji the creeps (including all the attendants inside the room). She then sat across the table and gestured another attendant to pour wine on her goblet. "Hmm… interesting young man you've got there, Hiashi-kun."

Hiashi's eyes twitched. His eyebrows met and he slowly closed his eyes. He opened his mouth to reply but he immediately shut it as though calming himself down.

It was not a shock to Neji why his uncle acted that way. He knew that his uncle felt irritated in the way Naoko, as Hiashi called her, used –kun at the end of his name.

However, it wasn't only Neji who noticed this. Naoko smirked and took a sip at her goblet. She knew him, too. For being friends for almost 10 years, she knew how to bring the hell out of Hyuuga Hiashi and she loved to see him getting pissed off. Really pissed off.

It was rather a long story; their friendship was something that Hiashi wanted to finish and she, herself, knew it.

How did they become friends? They don't know either. Maybe it had begun when Naoko had saved Hiashi once while having an S-rank mission when they were still a jounin. It was really a bitter memory if you'll ask Hyuuga Hiashi. Being befriended with someone like this fat woman was like a curse to him. She was a demanding person, tricky and wise. He always ended up trapped in her evil plans. She always got what she wanted or else HELL will pay! Hiashi was really relieved that he didn't end up marrying her when she proposed marriage to him. Yeah, she did propose to him and good thing she was stopped by her father, who was triple fatter and triple scarier than her, or else he was DOOMED forever.

"Now, now," Naoko said, waving her hand dismissively, "shall we begin the game now, Hiashi… -kun?"

Hiashi's face was now obviously pissed off; he crossed his arms and nodded without opening his eyes.

"Ha." She smiled, took a sip of her wine and crossed her legs. "Good."

"By the way," Hiashi said, his eyes still closed, "Neji, you may go now or better yet, wait in the carriage."

Neji nodded and left the room without a word.

"Now, Naoko." Hiashi said after Neji left the room. "Stop beating around the bush. I know you need something from me."

Naoko stared at him for a moment and laughed so loud Hiashi got even irritated. "Smart." She laughed some more. "Really smart, Hiashi-kun." Now, she couldn't stop and began to clap. "Impressive."

Now, Hiashi's face, which served as a warning sign, darkened and with that she knew that it was time to stop. Her laugh quickly subsided.

If these innocent people weren't here, Hiashi could have turned berserk. He could have turned this ugly, fat, jerk into a pulp without even activating his Byakugan. 'Grrr… I'm going to…' He told himself but was interrupted by Naoko, who cleared her throat.

"Actually, Hiashi…-ku…" she amended herself abruptly, "Hiashi, I was only planning of seeking your help. But then, seeing that nephew of yours gave me a much better idea!" She smiled again and reached out for her goblet. "A much, much better idea."

Hiashi gritted his teeth, his heart pounded like it was about to burst out of him. He doesn't like where this topic was going… not even a bit.

"Actually, Hiashi…-ku…" she amended herself abruptly, "Hiashi, I was only planning of seeking your help. But then, seeing that nephew of yours gave me a much better idea!" She smiled again and reached out for her goblet. "A much, much better idea."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "A much, much better idea?" he echoed softly. "Why did I suddenly feel nervous about that?" he thought as he gulped audibly enough to make Naoko giggle.

"My niece," Naoko began to explain. "I'm looking for a fiancee for her and I think your man is the right guy I'm looking for! Hehe…" She laughed again.

Hiashi's eyes burst open as if a flash of lightning had just struck him. He thought the pros and cons of this idea – an idea that could only be made by…her.

She giggled at the sight of his face and placed her cigarette on an ashtray, which was on the corner of the table. "You see," she said, explaining the fact why this idea suddenly popped in her head, poisoning her brain that is. ("Sigh…here she goes again…" thought Hiashi then gave a mental gulp.) "You see…" she repeated more loudly, "I suddenly remembered the contract you signed when we were still…" she paused and placed a finger on her chin as though thinking, "…Jounin and we were already in the age of… of… adolescence that time I suppose," she laughed. "And since I don't have a family of my own, I would like to give all my inheritance and estate to one of my dearest niece. But, I would like to be sure that she was in good hands before I do so. I want her to have a husband, who I could trust."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. Now, this was nothing but a serious trouble that could be spelled as: N-A-O-K-O. And Hiashi knew what was coming but his mind seemed to congeal that he couldn't think of a way OUT!

Crap.

Just crap, man!

Up until now, this remained as a mystery: why a Hyuuga like him always find himself trapped in her evil plans without given any choice whether he wanted to do it or not.

But then again, what she wants is what she gets, and with that he knew he couldn't refuse… cause refusing was against her principles.

"Now, Hiashi," she called his attention, more seriously than ever. "I want my niece to be married to your nephew as soon as possible. Don't forget, you signed a contract…" she then brought out a piece of parchment and unrolled it in front of him. Smirking, she said, "Remember this?" and with that she pointed an unappealing signature at the bottom of the parchment.

At that instant, Hiashi's eyes widened in shock and, without noticing, his mouth dropped open. He let out a silent scream at the sight of his very own signature. His old signature that is.

He remembered that scribble beneath it. It was his signature when he was still a jounin. The memory of him signing it flashed quickly.

Naoko, who was already fat that time, was crying when her father told her to stop her proposal of marriage to Hiashi. She dragged him in the forest, her eyes were so angry he couldn't -, as usual - refuse. In her hand, clutched a parchment and a pen. She handed the pen to him and told him to sign at the very bottom of it. Without questioning what it was for, he followed her with trembling hands. And afterwards, she smiled. Yes, for the first time, she actually smiled. A real smile as Hiashi could remember it. "Now this is going to be our contract, Hiashi-kun." She declared. "Since I am not going to marry you, my daughter or most probably someone in my clan will be married to your son or any of your relative in the future. They will be the sign that we are somehow married to each other." She giggled softly and without saying good-bye she hopped back to the village, leaving the confused Hiashi alone in the woods.

Now, back in the lounge, Hiashi felt the ends of his hair tingled. "But…but…" Hiashi stuttered, trying to form the right words. He already saw Naoko's father. The both of them really looked alike, they look both…ugly. Yes, indeed! Of all the adjectives invented in this whole world that was the only word that would always come in his mind whenever Naoko was included in the matter.

And now, she wanted Neji to marry her niece? Oh, for god's sakes… he could see the future already…his nephew would suffer even though he haven't seen her niece. His nephew was just too… too… handsome.

Naoko's clan seemed to have this family genes passed from one member to another; and that is the ugliness we're talking about. .

"For sure, her niece is as ugly as her." Hiashi thought. "Like auntie, like niece. And uncle, like nephew!"

And at last… for the first time… Hiashi's mind suddenly flickered… he got an idea on how to get out on this one.

When he got his posture back, he smirked at her that made her puzzled. "Tsk…" he shook his head, trying his best to act naturally. "I'm so sorry Naoko but this time I really am sorry."

This time, it was Naoko's turn to raise an eyebrow. And it wasn't really appealing, believe me.

"Neji, my nephew, as you will know, is now engaged and is about to be married." He smiled. "So, what you are thinking is impossible."

Naoko laughed hoarsely. Whoa, did she find out his little act?

"Oh. Why didn't I think of that?" she said between her laughing. "All right. All right. I will give you around five days Hiashi, to prepare another engagement party for the couple. I want to go and greet the couple myself. I won't be here forever you know?"

"Oh. Their engagement party was already celebrated last, last week!" Hiashi said.

"Then make another one! This time, I'm invited."

Hiashi rolled his eyes thinking, 'Right, you invited yourself...Grrrr… this woman is just pure evil.'

Hiashi wanted to debate with the idea. Was she trying to tell him that he was lying? Yeah, as we all know, he was indeed lying. So, he knew it wasn't the right time to argue. Yes, NOT now, especially not with HER!

"Wha-?" Hiashi could almost shout but refrained himself before he could do so. He then coughed, clearing his throat. "All right. If that's what you want Naoko."

And the deal was closed.

Chapter Two: My Lips are sealed!