Welcome to my new story Changing Views.

Chapter 1

Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess That Hated Herself...

"Hey Hinata, about tomorrow…" Naruto gazed at Hinata with azure eyes that showed a depth of concern.

The girl blushed at the eye contact and lowered her head, "N-Naruto it was just a matter of time before my team got picked to join-"

Naruto grabbed her wrist and squeezed it softly.

"Please…please be safe, it's horrible out there…people will die right in front of you!"

The only thing Hinata could think of was one of the very first ninja lessons she had learned. Ninjas are killing tools. No matter how much they could deny it, it was true. The fourth ninja war had begun only a few months ago, yet it was easy to tell that at least a third of the village population was already gone. Konohagakure was in severe decline and everyone knew.

"I'll be safe, I promise."

For a moment she felt his lips press against hers and then pull away.

--

The night before she was to be deployed to a warring zone Hinata sat on her bed a plain white ceiling above her and a small lamp turned on in the corner, she could still feel the way her hand trembled with uncertainty the second Naruto's hand left hers. Perhaps she wasn't as ready for war as she had told herself she was.

"What if I'm not strong enough?"

Hinata wanted to be stronger, if she desired anything it was that. Yet no matter how strong she grew on the outside, on the inside she always felt like that feeble little girl she was growing up. Always relying on other people to help, always taking the easiest road possible and every day for the past year Hinata wondered if she had reached her limitation when it came to strengthening her mental strength.

A quick bang on her door sent Hinata on alert and within a second her younger sister Hanabi had entered the room with sweat beading down her face.

Hanabi's voice was shaken and Hinata couldn't help but wonder what had done this to her sister.

"Two members of Akatsuki were spotted outside the main gate only a little ways into the forest, their motives are unknown but Hokage-sama has ordered everyone's presence at the main gates. You have two minutes."

Before Hinata could even question, Hanabi was already at the next door repeating the same message. Confused and tired Hinata pushed herself up off the bed and pulled on her ninja attire.

--

The first thing Hinata noticed while traveling through the forest was her fear just because she was alone. Each step was becoming heavier and each noise was scarier than the last. A scream swept through the forest and quietly died off as though the noise hadn't even occurred. Gathering chakra Hinata made a few quick hand seals and activated her Byakugan using it to scan the areas of the forest that were either too dark or too far away to see. Nothing, though the screams that seemed to fill the air with blood continued in the night.

Tsunade had ordered everyone to scatter in the forest to look for the two Akatsuki, but the only thing Hinata could remember was that she had mentioned about them looking for something.

Something important.

Everyone could sense at that moment the urgency in their Hokage's voice, whatever they were looking for was clearly going to be a deciding factor in the war.

Hinata unsure of what exactly to do stopped running and allowed her body to lower to the ground where she decided to rest for a few minutes.

Even though it had been hours since her mission to gather intelligence on a smaller enemy group, Hinata could still feel that her chakra level was fairly low. She shifted unpleasantly on the ground feeling something hard and cool underneath her. Scooting to the side, Hinata brushed away the brown crinkled leaves that she had been sitting on and staring back at her was a silver face.

In shock she scrambled to move back away from the object, breathing deeply Hinata froze waiting to see if something was going to happen. Minutes passed and nothing occurred, so slowly she leaned in towards it, only to see that it wasn't exactly a face but a mask. A sliver mask that wore a thin smile, a smile that seemed to be so sinister it sent a shiver racking through her body coursing all the way to her fingertips.

"Wha-what is this?"

"Hidan did you hear that?"

Hinata's heartbeat grew so loud she could hear its unbearable thumping in her ears; quickly she looked over her shoulder and to her left and right, yet saw only the black forest surrounding her.

"Shut the fuck up Kakuzu, I'm trying to listen."

"Watch your mouth brat."

Akatsuki .

Knowing that it wasn't an option to stay there Hinata jumped to her feet and began taking off straight into the forest. She only made it a few feet before her body stopped practically on its own and turned around, her eyes glued on the mask. On instinct she ran back grabbed the mask and started running 

further into the forest again. The voices grew louder and her footsteps grew more unbalanced as the weight of her own body and fear seemed to weigh down on her.

Her thoughts became mixed and blended together all focused on the same thing.

Death.

She didn't want to die, she wasn't ready to die, but here she was being chased by people she already had enough common knowledge to know that she couldn't defeat. That she could never defeat, that Naruto might not even be able to defeat.

Naruto.

Naruto I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to keep my promise…

Her foot tripped over a tree root protruding from the ground causing Hinata to fall hard onto the dirt and rocks below her. She tried to use her one arm that wasn't holding the mask in one last attempt to push her body up to run, though on the inside she had already been defeated. Her own thoughts about death and weakness had defeated her and with that she let her head fall back to the ground, arm now relaxed.

She could feel a sting on her lower arm where a sharp rock had cut her. She could feel the blood begin to run down her arm, she watched as slowly the crimson droplets traveled all the way to the mask which was still tightly grasped in her hand.

Tiredly Hinata turned on her back and lifted up the arm which was bleeding and allowed her eyes to stare up into the mask's two thin slits. The mask was such glorious silver that it put the moonlight to shame and she allowed the masks beauty to entrance her in a small attempt to ignore the voices that were closing in. As if it were the last thing she would ever do Hinata carefully lowered the silver mask onto her face. The coolness of it was the first thing she noticed and she loved the way the porcelain softly laid upon her skin and felt as though it was caressing her cheek.

Hinata stared upwards toward the sky, wishing that she could see the stars that were blocked by the dense layering of leaves. Looking through the mask she felt as though she was no longer Hinata Hyuga, but a different person.

A different person was something that she had deep down always aspired to be, a different person who was more confident and stronger. That's when Hinata realized that in her final moments of life she was being granted the one thing she had always wanted.

So she cried, her tears began flowing out the sides of the mask and a sob that she had attempted to chock back broke through her lips followed by a weak whimper.

The voices were so close she could now hear every word they spoke more clearly than the last. Hinata's world grew hazy and still freely crying she lost consciousness awaiting death to grace her with its presence.

It didn't come.

--

"We're too late thanks to you brat and your annoying rituals."

"I told you to shut the fuck up Kakuzu; it's your fault for dragging your ass when I was done, it's highly important that I sacrifice to Jashin."

"Your ritual was not of more importance than this. "

"What the hell is more important that Jashin?!"

"The mask now on that girl is what!"

"It's a mask Kakuzu, even a bug would be of more importance than that piece of shit. I don't even know why the hell leader ordered us out here anyways…seriously just for some mask."

"That mask you ungrateful brat has the power to determine the fate of this war and now it's sealed onto that girls face."

"Take it off then."

"It's not that simple."

"Off course it's not that simple, so then what the fuck do we do to get it off?"

"Right now it's impossible to take off."

"So then we're screwed and its mission failed?"

"No, we're taking the girl."