It was a fine day in Konoha when Hisashi Hyuuga decided to take his daughter with him into his meditation garden. He had little doubt that although Hinata would be quiet, she wasn't going to have the mindset required to use the space for the purpose it was given. This outing was more Hisashi getting the five year old used to the idea of sitting quietly in a place where loud movements weren't appreciated.

The place was a traditional miniature garden, full of cultivated bushes, rock formations and a large pond full of koi fish in the middle. On some grass in front of the pond was a wooden platform with two thin cushions on top. Hisashi carefully guided Hinata through the winding path that led up to the platform and then set her down on the cushion.

"This is to be training for meditation. Stay still and take in the nature around you," Hisashi instructed. He then settled himself down and closed his eyes.

It only took five minutes for Hinata to speak up.

"Father, why do we keep fish in there?" She asked whilst gesturing towards the pond in front of her, full of orange koi fish swimming around. A question like this was quite typical of a child.

"Well, we enjoy looking at them." Hisashi hoped that would be enough to appease her curiousity.

"How about the fish? Do they enjoy swimming there?"

"They must do. We make sure to take care of their home, and they make us feel better by their calming appearance." Hinata slowly nodded at hearing this. Meditation continued for a couple more minutes in tranquillity before another question was asked.

"What if we didn't clean this pond? How would they feel then?"

"They wouldn't feel much; they would be dead. Some may find some appeal in dead fish, but the Hyuuga do not. Now, no more questions." Hisashi thought that whilst this talk would disappear from Hinata's brain quickly, he would make sure this pond was cleaned more frequently.

This would stay at the back of young Hinata's brain until the day after she met that boy. She had slept the night holding the smuggled red scarf that he had given her.

Later that day, her wish to see him was granted. The last place she had expected to see her saviour was down the backalley of a building, rustling through the abandoned items there. Once her escort had glimpsed him in her line of sight, Hinata was pushed by his hand, forcing her to walk away from the boy. The escorting branch member had then turned to speak with her.

"Do not look at that boy again. He is not worthy of even receiving a glance of the future head of the Hyuuga clan." Hinata listened to this, only just keeping herself from calling him or even turning towards him again. After a second, she nodded at the branch member and they kept walking.

Throughout her trips around Konoha on that summer were full of glimpses of him. She learnt his name – Naruto- from a shop keeper yelling it in his face after he had tried to enter the store. Hinata came to cherish these run-ins with Naruto, even if Naruto never noticed her. The days where she saw him shunned, glared at, spat towards, pelted with rocks and shouted at were her favourites. Hinata even kept a tally of what plight Naruto had experienced that day (shunning was in the lead, second to being forced out a shop).

Soon enough, she had unlocked her Byakugan. This had given her a whole new way to watch Naruto. Whenever she couldn't sleep, the sight of Naruto sleeping in his ramshackle apartment brought a sleepy smile to her face. The moments she saw him outside soon reduced, Naruto had entered the Academy early. Yet, in the springtime her sister was born, he spent the day of the Genin graduation unhappy. His attempt to graduate early had only netted him a seat on the swing outside, alone again. That memory had become one of Hinata's favourites to look back upon.

Soon, it was Hinata's turn to join the academy. Her training at home had become more brutal with the birth of her sister so she was grateful for some reprieve from her father's harsh teachings. Looking at Naruto introduce himself to the class, she felt like she could still find some enjoyment in her life.

A/N: This fic was inspired by me trying to rationalise why Hinata would be fine to just watch Naruto go through all the struggles he did in his childhood. Making her enjoy Naruto's suffering was the somewhat weird conclusion I came to. I suppose you could see this as a oneshot, but I will probably continue this (although you shouldn't expect a update until July with my update schedule…)

Thanks for reading this!