Warning: Contains Spoilers

This story is set during the time Sasuke is hunting for Itachi and the Konoha ninja are chasing after Sasuke. It assumes that both Naruto and Sasuke fail to find Itachi and that the Konoha ninja have returned home. This almost certainly won't happen as I don't own, write or direct Naruto; this fanfic is 100 percent unofficial.

I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

No-one Notices the Weak

Naruto and Sakura strolled out of the ramen stall and down the chilly high street to the tune of a gentle whistling wind. Inside Naruto's heart waves of elation repeatedly rolled; I actually went on a date with Sakura-chan, even if it was just for one fairly informal meal. The wide smile on his face radiated his youthful joy. He glanced coyly to his right at the beautiful being walking beside him; her pink hair glowing in the moonlight, her face sharp, beautiful and, best of all, looking more content than Naruto could remember since the time Sasuke had left them…so many years ago.

Eventually they stopped beneath an burning lamp that cast a friendly orange glow upon the crossroad where they were to part. Sakura turned to Naruto, smiling pleasantly and assuming an act of dominance as she said coolly,

"Thanks Naruto, I really enjoyed this evening." Naruto scratched the back of his head to try and ward off his nerves.

"Ehh...well I really enjoyed it too Sakura-chan. We should go out more often." In the past this suggestion had usually been met with a flying fist and he winced in case it was coming again, but this time there was no sudden implosive pain; Sakura just paused for a split second as though the choice was a close one.

"Ok, you're on."

"What really!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah really," Sakura said, "but on one condition Naruto. I need to know, do you have any feelings for Hinata? Because I think she fancies you."

Huh, Hinata fancies me? Oh! That would explain her blushing and fainting I suppose. Well I like her but I don't fancy her. Anyway I can't let Sakura-chan see that I even remotely like her.

"Hinata huh," he replied with exaggerated aloofness, "well I haven't got a crush on her, she's too timid and weak. I like you much better Sakura-chan. You're much more womanly and fun to be with." He felt a little guilty as he called Hinata weak and unwomanly, after all he was one of a few who had seen Hinata's power when they went hunting for that blasted tracking bug, but it seemed to please Sakura chan who nodded; her pink hair rippling in the breeze.

"Good, then the cinema on Wednesday?"

"Yeah!" he said a touch too enthusiastically; beyond elated at how the evening was going.

"Then it's a date," Sakura said with a half smile and strode off with Naruto's admiring glance following her down the dimly lit street. When she was out of sight he left for his house, boisterous and happy, to dream dreams that involved whisking Sakura from the clutches of the Akatsuki; clutching her body to his own as he swung from Itachi's grasp and laid him low with a powerful kick.

"I call it Footjitsu," he mumbled happily before rolling over and starting on a new dream along similar lines. Dreams that seemed far more grounded in reality now than he had dared to hope for since he had first met her when the only one she had had eyes for was Sasuke.

Sakura also spent the night contentedly thinking about Naruto and their future life together. It had taken her some time to cure her crush on the power hungry Uchiha. As that crush had faded so she had begun to lean upon Naruto's support and admiration, enjoying his company now that he had matured from the hyperactive prankster of almost four years ago. Tonight had ended the last doubt in her mind; Naruto certainly had no feelings for Hinata. She had been concerned he may have been affected by her overwhelming devotion for him and she did have a good figure, although it was Hinata's own fault it went largely unnoticed. Anyway, Naruto was hers and the way he was progressing and with the belief he had she could see herself becoming the wife of the future Hokage. Smiling joyfully she slipped beneath her cotton blanket, no longer caring if Sasuke returned, almost hoping he would not.

Unbeknownst to both Sakura or Naruto however, someone had been watching from the shadows as they talked and parted, as she often did; tears now staining her pale face.

"Naruto-kun," she whispered weakly in shock. He called me weak and unwomanly. All I've ever done is show him devotion and this is how he repays me. At least he could have stood up for me a bit. Her heart tore little by little as she balanced jealous love alongside bitter hatred and as the two cracked and split her heart they stirred a longing to be something more, someone more. I've been wasting my time and talents too often; daydreaming about the future, about him… from now on no-one will stand in my way again. No-one will let me down again. I won't worship another for in the end it ultimately fails. I'll trust in myself and work for myself, but for that I need to acquire power. How am I going to do that?

She slipped homewards; dark troublesome thoughts stirring in her mind.

He didn't really mean it, but then he loves Sakura more than me because she's stronger and more womanly! Wasn't it him who was drooling over my form when he saw me in the moonlight! I should have told him but I was too embarrassed. Well I have to come out of my shell, but with a father who inhibits my growth and Neji who looks down on me how can I do that? Of course I have my team but they can't take my progress much further, they don't know much about powerful jitsu outside their own. Besides, they're always taking a little bit easier on me, even when they insist they're not…I know. It's the same with everyone: they don't care about me, they don't notice me - so why should I bother about them. I bet if I disappeared then no-one would notice. Perhaps it's better if I disappear. Start afresh somewhere else and make a name for myself. That would show Naruto…Naruto…The thought of him cut her deeper each time and led to a spiral of black hands rising from within the depths of her heart to throttle his and Sakura's bodies; laying side by side in her mind.

No! She desperately cried out inside. I can't do this. It's not what Naruto would…wait! Why should I listen to him any more? All his lectures on how important 'friends' are, yet he doesn't follow them. It's all rubbish! There are clearly only two types of people, those who chase after power and those who are too afraid or lazy to grasp it. Neiji had a better idea of the truth. I'll leave…tonight, no tomorrow night, as I'll need time to arrange it all…and I won't come back until I'm strong enough to defeat you Naruto. I'll show you my true power and then you'll be forced to recognise me; appreciate who I am once and for all. I needn't say goodbye to anyone, they probably won't even notice that I've gone.

She carefully planned her route of escape the next day, working out where the best place to leave the village was and packing her belongings; unnoticed by all, her mind noted smugly as if it was declaring something revolutionary rather than something that she had felt and known for years. That evening she sedated her father and Neiji's meals so that both would sleep soundly through the night. Once they had both safely drifted into a deep sleep she returned to her room. The sky outside was overcast and dark, but no rain fell, as though it were being held back by the tension in her heart.

She took past pictures she had drawn of Naruto and set light to them, tossing them into the light metal waste basket ablaze. Finally she cracked the glass frame of a photo of Naruto in his 'cool' position and ripped out the photo. Taking a kunai she released some of her anger towards him by cutting a large cross upon his heart before feeling ashamed of herself for being so petty and tossing it into the glowing basket where it crumpled and shrivelled to a twisted yellow-black mess. Slipping from the window of her room into the night sky Hinata quickly headed towards the edge of Konoha, dressed in black robes with a small black shoulder bag holding her supplies. In her deserted room the wind stirred and blew through the open window, fanning the flames and blowing over the bin. From it crept the flames, hungrily exploring the wooden floor and walls, licking its lips at such a pleasurable treat.

By the time Hinata reached the outskirts the flames had devoured her home; flinging the ashes heavenwards as though presenting an offering to the gods for the wholesome meal provided.

Coming upon a blind spot in the wall Hinata scaled it via a old wrinkled tree, whose ragged bark spoke of slow dying; the branches dry and brittle with several giving way under her ascent. Looking back Hinata was shocked at the site of flames on the skyline, but did not realise the awful truth immediately and when she did, she did not comprehend how bad the consequences of it were.

Oops, not good, she thought sadly. Oh well…I suppose it's a break with the past completely. I should have put out that fire in the bin…At least it's insured so that...

No! Fear gripped her heart as she remembered something else she had done earlier. I sedated father and Neiji! They're still in there! What should I do? Her heart had only ever been truly stirred against Naruto. She hated the way Neiji treated her as someone inferior, but lately he had not been that bad…and her father, though never that close to her, was still her father. Dashing back towards the remnants of her house, she hid herself nearby in a narrow alleyway where she could here the crowds voices. Her heart was racing and a deep, dark, cold terror gripped her slender frame. What had been a rebellious escape, a flight of fantasy, had somehow gone horrifyingly wrong.

"What happened?" Called out a loud male voice from the edge of the onlookers.

"A fire started and wiped out the last of the Hyuga clan," answered a fairly high pitched obnoxious bystander, whose frame was silhouetted by the dying flames ahead of her.

"All of them?"

"Think so, they have the boy and father's bodies, killed in their sleep. It seems the girl's body has been completely vaporised in the flames though."

"Well she never amounted to much in life so its kind of fitting," said a women with a particularly nasty nature, but it drew the odd laugh from some of her drunken friends nearby. Hinata's hands clenched as her heart sank to a new, stronger level of despair.

I've killed them. I'm so sorry. It wasn't meant to be this way...They'll find out soon that they were doped and then hunt the killer… hunt me, but they think I'm dead. Best let it stay that way for now. There can be no going back if I'm to become powerful, I guess I need to learn how to kill. Only the weak would cry.

Hinata's heart sunk to a dull unhappiness for she realised that she had lost the comfortable life that she'd been content to have for so long with no chance of a return. But with that dulling came a renewal of hate, one she embraced to escape her own guilt. They all hate me! They always have done! Naruto, Sakura, my 'friends', Tsunade, father, Neiji, the people, making me out to be the village weakling…it serves them right if they all burn. I can't afford to be…so weak. A tear of shame and grief trickled down her face nonetheless but dried quickly in the humid air as she grimaced, angry at her show of emotion. Tsunade seemed to be in charge of the cleanup operation, dressed in a black robe and looking grim and upset. Her unforgiving face gave Hinata the strength to turn and flee. She slipped unnoticed from the scene and out of the city via the same area of the wall as before. By the time the sun rose upon the blackened ashes of her family home Hinata was long gone from Konoha; her life wrecked by a foolish, impetuous act; a new life opening before her.