[A few days later...]
Third Person's P.O.V
"Hey, Yuda-chan. What are you doing?" asked Reina as she entered Ayuda's bedroom.
Reina watched as Ayuda took a small wet cloth and wiped her metal bow with it. She smiled sweetly at her big sister and replied, "I'm cleaning my bow. After that, I'll be cleaning all of my arrows."
The older sister sighed and could only shake her head at her younger sister's love for bow and arrows. Ayuda had always loved them ever since she laid her eyes on her mother's bow and arrows. She said it looks cool. Even though her parents clearly disagreed at her decision, she insisted on using them as her weapon. Her parents wanted her to use katana but Ayuda refused.
"I think you have to stop for a while and go see father and mother in their bedroom," Reina said, "They want to see you now."
"Huh?" Ayuda's eyes showed a hint of fear as she asked, "Are they going to ask me to learn more techniques?"
Reina shook her head, "No. Just go and listen to them. But remember, Yuda-chan, this is for you and your family's reputation. Father and mother will do anything to keep their reputation high as clouds."
With that, Reina left the room. Ayuda was so curious that she immediately stopped cleaning her bow and went to her parents' bedroom. She knocked on the door twice before she entered.
There she saw her parents relaxing on the bed. Her father was reading newspaper while her mother read a novel. She stood in front of the bed and asked, "What is it?"
Her parents exchanged looks before they put away the newspaper and the novel away. Ayuda knew that this topic must be pretty serious because their actions showed it. Seeing how her parents acted, Ayuda couldn't help but felt nervous.
"We hope that you will think positively in this matter, Ayuda," her mother started.
Ayuda frowned, "What?"
******
Ayuda's P.O.V
I had a feeling that something bad will happen. Father and mother's eyes were glued to my questioning gaze. Father looked at me with that same gaze such as when he told me to learn more ninja techniques, but this time, his eyes were practically coercing me to obey his next command. Mother looked at me with stern eyes.
"Ayuda," father called, "we are going to put you in an arranged marriage."
I could feel every muscle in my body halted and asked one another the "what the hell?" question while my heart skipped a beat. The things that only moved were the muscles around my eyes since they widened in surprise and the muscles around my jaw as they dropped.
"WHAT?!" I screamed and I was pretty sure that my neighbours heard it.
I lost my patience at this point.
Mother began to chide me angrily, "Ayuda! Do not raise yo-"
"Arranged marriage?!" I cut my mother's words off without worrying even the slightest bit that I sounded like a misbehaving and rude daughter. But I couldn't care less. My parents did something I hate without my permission!
I added, "I obeyed everything you told me and now you want me to marry a stranger?! Why?! Oh! I know! Because I am an obedient daughter who automatically follows your orders! You think that I will instantly agree to this madness because of how obedient I am! Well, no! I am not going to marry in such a young age!"
Mother glared at me, "Young lady! How dare you talk back to your parents who raised you! We will put you in an arranged marriage and you will have enough time to get to know the man you are to be betrothed with! You and this boy will engage after the Chuunin Exam and you will marry him when you are over 18 years old! We and the boy's family agreed to this and-"
"Tada! Happily ever after!" I started to sound like I lost my mind, "But no! Arranged marriage may have good endings to some people, but not me! I want to find love on my own! I want to live freely! I want freedom!"
"Nonsense! Your father and I were put into an arranged marriage and look at us! We are now nobles and there will be more great chances in the future for us! This is how some nobles and wealthy people in this era live, Ayuda!" mother explained angrily, clearly losing her patience.
I shouted, "But I don't want to be one of the nobles!"
"Ayuda," father sternly called me, "the only words you can utter using your mouth from this point are yes or no."
What the freaking crapfuck?
"Do this for the sake of your family, Ayuda," mother lowered her voice and practically pleaded, "This is for your own good as well. Once you agree to this, bright future will await you. You may not know what I'm talking about since you have no experience in arranged marriage, but once you do, you will realize that our decision in putting you in an arranged marriage is a good idea. Do you understand, Ayuda?"
I scoffed and thought to myself, 'I don't care about the bright future that awaits me once I'm in an arranged marriage. All I want is to live freely and find my true love on my own. What if this arranged marriage is a mistake? What if the man I am going to marry is the type to abuse people? What if he's an old, fat rich man?!'
I really wanted to say that out loud to my parents but my father set a rule for me to only say 'yes' or 'no'. And so I did...
"No! No! No no no no! No no no no no! No!" I barked the same word while I shook my head and moved my arms furiously as if gesturing what I was trying to say.
Father and mother gave each other glances after witnessing their daughter's ridiculous outburst. They probably thought that I was insane, but they were the ones who made me lost my mind!
My father then spoke, "Ayuda, you actually don't have a choice in this matter. This boy's family also agreed to take you as their future daughter-in-law."
In my mind, I saw an image of me and a boy who I thought was my true love. Upon hearing what my father said, huge cracks appeared on that image before it shattered completely.
Father continued, "Once the Chuunin Exam is finished, the engagement ceremony between you and the boy will be held in his compound-"
"No!" I shouted once more before running out of the room.
I ran out of my house and headed straight to somewhere empty and quiet and there was only one location I could think of in that moment.
Three minutes later, I arrived at an abandoned empty park which was located far away from the centre of Konoha village. Villagers rarely came here because of the great distance and most parents forbade their children to go here.
After making sure that no one was here, I sat down under a tree and leaned my back against the bark of the tree. I hugged my knees closely to my chest and cried right there.
I did everything as they told me. I followed their orders. I obeyed them like a good dog I was so I could gain their affections. But they're still not satisfied with everything I did for them. And now, they signed an arranged marriage between me and a stranger?! Did they expect that I'll agree to this in an instant because of how obedient I was?!
Now that I think about it, I realized that my parents did not care about me. All they cared about was their status as nobles and their high reputation in Konoha. I clearly had a feeling that they put me in an arranged marriage with someone of high status. I had a feeling that the boy might be arrogant because of his status.
I felt like I've been used by my own parents. I felt betrayed.
"Ayuda?"
I turned my head to look at that person who called for me. It was my sensei, Shiori. She treated me and other teammates nicely and I looked up to her as my mother figure. She is an understanding lady and also kind of a tomboy, but that's what makes her attractive. I had been pondering about whether I should tell her about my strict-and-only-care-about-reputation parents or not.
Shiori stared at me with genuine sympathy and moved closer to me, "Ayuda, why are you crying?"
I couldn't hold it anymore.
I stood on my feet and ran straight to Shiori with tears running down my cheeks. She was taken aback by my sudden action but she quickly recovered and by the time I embraced her, she welcomed me with open arms.
I knew why she was surprised to see me running to her while crying like that. She mostly had seen me being stoic and silent. She had never seen me shed tears. And she probably didn't know that I looked at her as my mother figure. She didn't know that I was going to run to her like that as if I really need her in my life.
She hugged me back and I rested my chin on her shoulder and continued to cry right then and there. Despite not knowing what had happened, Shiori kept whispering relaxing and comforting words to me.
******
Sasuke's P.O.V
I had just finished completing a D-rank mission that was actually meant for Team 5. But since they completed a lot of missions these past few days, they were given a day off today and we had to take the mission then.
Hn. Ayuda and her teammates loved showing off their skills. I knew that they didn't mind about the Hokage throwing countless missions on them since they wanted to impress the Hokage and show off to everyone.
I bet they still hadn't take an A-rank mission yet. My team and I took a mission which was escorting a bridge builder to his village and while on our mission, we met Zabuza Momochi and Haku. Both were surprisingly strong and my life was nearly taken away at one moment. We thought it was a C-rank mission, but it turned out it's an A-rank.
I had a feeling that if Ayuda and her team take that mission, they will immediately cancel it once they find out it's an A-rank level. They looked like the type of people that only take easy missions. And even if they continue with the mission, at least one of them might not survive.
I was heading to my apartment when I walked past an abandoned park. I rarely went here but there was one moment when I was in second year in enrolling the Konoha Academy; I went to this park out of boredom and this was when I first talked with Ayuda.
Hn. Past is past. It was not really great recalling a memory of when I first talked with a girl that soon turned out to be my rival.
That was when I heard soft cries. I scanned around me and my eyes fell on the abandoned park.
I realized there were two figures standing with their arms around each other. They were girls and they were... Ayuda?
My eyebrows raised and my eyes widened slightly when I finally realized that she was the one crying. She hugged her sensei and was obviously unaware of my presence.
Why was she crying? I had never seen her like this before. She always had this bored and vacant look on her face. She was not the overdramatic type like Naruto and Sakura. She remained calm even in battle and in the moment of danger. So seeing her crying like this actually left me open-mouthed.
Whatever she was crying for, it must had a great effect on her. So why was she crying? Her puppy died? She lost her favourite item? Or was it because her team did not have any mission today?
As much as I wanted to go there and ask her because I was so curious on what made her cry, I decided to stay out of it. Her problem was none of my business and she can handle it on her own.
I walked away from the scene stealthily.
******
Ayuda's P.O.V
After a moment of begging with sensei, she finally acquiesced to my troublesome request; sleeping in her apartment for tonight. She protested twice but after I explained everything to her, she finally gave her approval.
I was content to know that Shiori lived alone in her apartment. If her family are there with her, it will be so awkward for me since I had never sleep in anyone's house besides mine before.
I knew that my family must be worrying about me because I did not return back to my house that day, especially Reina. But I knew that mother and father won't go out to look for me. I could predict that they will ask Reina to find me, just like how they told Reina to visit me in the hospital when Sasuke burned my arms, while they remained relaxing in the house.
There was one guest room in her apartment and Shiori prepared everything for me such as clean blanket, pillows, and clothes.
I was delighted that I did not have to be under the same roof with my parents who only cared about their status, but I also felt guilty because I can see that my presence in Shiori's apartment only increased the burden on her shoulder.
"Here," Shiori handed me a white towel and a new toothbrush which was still in its package, "you may take a shower while I cook something for us both."
I reluctantly nodded my head, "Un..."
She even gave me her new toothbrush. I knew that the moment I started using it, it would be forever my item. We all know that we can't share a single toothbrush with other people.
"Thank you, Shiori-sensei," I smiled to her.
She grinned, "You're welcome!"
Suddenly, we heard three loud knocks on the door, followed by a familiar voice, "Excuse me, Shiori-san, but have you seen my sister?!"
That must be undoubtedly Reina.
Before Shiori made a move, I headed towards the door and opened it. I looked up to see my big sister panting in exhaustion. Thin sweats were rolling down her forehead very slowly. She must had been running.
"Yuda-chan!" Reina instantly grabbed my shoulders and asked with slight anger in her voice, "Why the hell aren't you coming home?!"
I began to struggle under her grip, "I don't want to!"
Her grips on my shoulders only tightened as she demanded darkly, "Listen here, young lady! You will have to come with me! You have made me very worried! I thought you were kidnapped! You don't-"
"Enough!" I finally broke away from her grip and took a step backward away from her, "I don't want to be under the same roof with those two who don't care about anything but their reputation!"
"What are you talking about?! Right now, they are-"
"Don't you dare say that they are worrying about me, because I know they don't," I growled, scowling at Reina who had her eyes widened, "So I am not going to come home."
Reina sighed, "I know you despise the arranged marriage thing, but try to think positively, Ayuda. This is for your own good."
"My own good?! I don't see anything good about it! Imagine that my arranged marriage is a mistake. What if they pair me up with an abusive man? What if that man has ill intentions through this marriage?"
Reina remained silent. Of course, she had no answers to this. As far as I know, she had never been in an arranged marriage.
After a short silence, Reina sighed once again and spoke while rubbing her temples, "Father and mother are going to be mad about this."
"I know... but I don't want to go home..."
"But you are safe here. They may be mad, but they're not going to tire themselves by going out of their house and go here. I will try to convince them about letting you stay here for a few days."
I instantly looked at my sister's brown eyes with shock, "You're letting me stay here?!"
"I kind of agree to what you asked me, Ayuda. We are on the same boat. I also hate the arranged marriage thing and I know how you feel about this because I had experienced this too before," Reina said while smiling sadly to me.
Wait, what?
"You were put in an arranged marriage as well?!" I asked with wide eyes. I never knew...
Reina's smile dropped a bit, "I'll tell you one day, Yuda-chan, for I have to return home and tell father and mother about you. Wish me good luck in convincing them, okay?"
I nodded my head with a worried smile, "Alright. I'm sorry for troubling you, onee-san."
She turned around and was about to walk off when I called her, "Umm, onee-san!"
Reina turned her head to look at me. I couldn't hold this question in my head anymore. It had been bothering me ever since I heard about my arranged marriage. I was so curious to know.
"Do you know the boy who is pair up with me in this arranged marriage?"
Reina, to my surprise, answered without delay, "I was eavesdropping on their conversation. Apparently that boy is from the Hyuuga Clan and his name is Neji."
I didn't know who this Neji was but I was still shocked. They paired me up with a boy from the Hyuuga Clan? Hinata probably knows this boy, I thought.
Reina left afterwards. I took a shower and had dinner with Shiori. I went to my bed afterwards. I was worrying too much that I couldn't sleep.
What if father and mother do not listen to Reina and actually make their way to Shiori's apartment despite the troubles?
This question had been bothering me, but I was able to fall asleep around 2 a.m. in the morning nonetheless.