Ironically, Hyuuga Hinata loved flowers.

Now, at first glance, one might not understand the peculiarity of this. After all, Hinata was a kind, gentle girl--soft spoken and seemingly as delicate as the blooms she tended to in her own private corner of the family garden.

But this was exactly why it was so odd that Hinata liked flowers.

Because, you see, Hinata didn't like herself.

Flowers represented everything that a Hyuuga shouldn't be--docile, fragile, colorful, lively, soft. Trod-upon.

Weak.

It was only because the Hyuuga were considered something of nobility that her time spent gardening and preserving the flowers was deemed an acceptable hobby, as decorum dictated that a future Lady of the house should be able to decorate tastefully.

Hanabi, her sister, the heir, would not need such skills.

Which was why at the moment, while her father cultivated and honed her sisters' skills, Hinata was out in the early morning light kneeling in what used to be her mothers' garden.

Hinata secretly felt just a little proud that she had managed to save almost all of the flowers planted here when she was just nine years old, after her mother was no longer around to do it herself. She had taken care of them for years, occasionally even planting some new ones, such as the red Gladiolus cuttings Kurenai-sensei had given her from her own plant. After a year of tending the new addition, it had grown explosively and was now one of her very favorites.

Her actual favorite, were anyone to ask, seemed rather obvious, given her name.

Were one to think a little deeper, they might remember that Sunflowers were also her mothers' favorite, and was probably the reason for her name in the first place.

And Hinata did love the line of tall, awkward beauties planted by her mother. (Had they been planted by anyone else, they would have been uprooted by now, rising above the compound wall like they did.)

But love might not have been the right term for what she felt for Sunflowers. She couldn't really describe what she felt about them, only point out little facts about the flowers that she admired, or drew her to them.

Sunflowers were strong. Even under harsh conditions they seemed to thrive, their almost-too-thick stems raising them up to stand tall. Though their heads were heavy and drooping with the burden of their own weight, weight they had to carry if the next season of Sunflowers were ever to be, Hinata saw how they tried so hard to lift themselves up and face the sky--face the sun--that would give them light.

Also, yellow was her second favorite color.

(Blue was her first.)

So no, Hinata didn't love Sunflowers. They just gave her a little bit of hope--that despite already having failed to live up to one of her names, she still had a chance of honoring the second.

When she arrived at Naruto's apartment later that day,

--two years ago, unable to look further up than the chin of that boy with the face the color of the sky, she stood before him:

"Ne, Hinata, could you do me a favor while I'm gone?"--

she grabbed a glass from his sink and filled it with water, and walked over to the windowsill where his outrageously bright pot of orange Zinniassat soaking up the light. Tenderly, she poured the water on the soil around the roots and looked out at the impressive view his balcony offered.

She smiled.

Soon, very soon, she would be able to face the sun.

~o0o~

A/N - Just in case you were wondering, "Hinata" means "Sunflower", or "Sunny place". Either one works for this story, but the first one works better. Also, flower meanings:

Sunflower - Devotion

Gladiolus - Strength of character

Zinnia - Thoughts of an absent friend