"How could you lose to a branch family member?" Hiashi scolded. "not only did you lost but you were destroyed! you are an embarrassment to the clan. no daughter of mine could be as weak and useless as you."
Hinata's heart shattered as she listened to her father berate her regarding her defeat at Neji's hands during the Chunin Exam Prelims. She had been released from the hospital earlier that day and headed home when she was called into her father's study. Ever since her mother had died, her father never seemed to be pleased with anything she did.
Holding back tears, Hinata rushed to her room. As soon as the door closed behind her, she couldn't hold them back any longer and they burst forth. Burying her head into the pillow, she cried herself to sleep.
The next morning, Hinata got out of bed still depressed about what her father had said to her. As she left the compound, she let her legs take her where they willed while she tried to think of a way to impress her father. The sound of someone training snapped her out of her thoughts, and she decided to see who it was.
Peeking around the trees that surrounded the training ground, Hinata saw Naruto trying to improve his taijutsu. Seeing as it was a warm day in Konoha, he had taken off his shirt to stay cooler. As Hinata realized this her face turned bright red and she fainted.
Naruto, hearing the sound of someone falling, stated searching to discover who was watching him. Upon arriving at the spot where Hinata had fainted and noticing her, Naruto wondered what had happened to her. Leaning her against a tree, Naruto went back to training while he waited for her to awaken.
15 minutes later Hinata began to stir. Remembering what had caused her to fain, Hinata jolted awake looking around. Naruto, hearing that Hinata was awake, rushed over to her.
"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked, concerned.
Hinata started to blush when she noticed how close Naruto was and that he still hadn't put his shirt back on.
"I-I-I'm fine, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata managed to stutter.
"Oh, that's good to hear," Naruto said, relieved. "I was getting worried when you weren't waking up.
Hearing that Naruto was concerned about her, Hinata's blush deepened and she promptly fainted again. Sighing, Naruto made sure that she looked comfortable against the tree and went back to training.
Half an hour later, Hinata woke up again, getting Naruto's attention. Finishing the kata that he was practicing, Naruto went over to Hinata again.
"Are you sure that you're okay, Hinata?" Naruto asked. "You keep fainting, and your face is red. You sure you're not sick?"
"I-I'm sure N-Naruto-kun," Hinata replied.
"Okay Hinata, if you're sure," Naruto said.
"W-What a-are you w-working on, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"Oh!" Naruto replied. "I'm trying to improve my taijutsu for my fight against Neji, but I'm having trouble with this kata. You're good at taijutsu right? Maybe you can help me."
"I-I-I don't k-know N-Naruto-kun. I-I'm really n-not that g-good," Hinata said.
"Well, you're better then I am," Naruto said. "Just watch and see if you can find what I'm doing wrong. Please, Hinata?"
"O-Okay, N-Naruto-kun. I-I'll try," Hinata said.
"Great! Thanks a lot Hinata!" Naruto said, excited that he might finally be able to fix his taijutsu.
Naruto started going through the katas again while Hinata watched, blushing slightly, looking for what he was doing wrong. As Naruto got closer to the spot where he was stuck, Hinata noticed that he started overreaching his punches and his feet weren't positioned right.
"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata started, causing Naruto to stop where he was, "w-when y-you st-strike out th-there, y-you're overreaching and y-your f-feet a-are p-positioned w-wrong."
"Huh? Oh! Thanks Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed. "I've been having trouble there for so long but I had no idea what I was doing wrong! Do you mind coming back tomorrow to help me some more?"
Hearing Naruto ask her to come back to help him again the next day was to much for Hinata to take. She managed to nod slightly before her face turned so red it made tomatoes seem pale in comparison before passing out on the spot. Naruto, concerned about her since she had been fainting so much, picked her up and started heading towards Konoha Hospital.
As Naruto neared the village center, he almost ran head-long into Kurenai as she was looking for Hinata. Seeing the Hyūga heiress passed out in Naruto's arms, Kurenai stopped Naruto.
"Naruto, what happened to Hinata?" Kurenai asked, although she had an idea.
"I'm not sure Kurenai-sensei," Naruto replied. "I was training when I heard someone fall and found Hinata on the ground. When she woke up we started talking and she helped me with my training. I asked her if she would help me again tomorrow, and she fainted again after she managed to reply. I hope that she's okay."
"Don't worry, Naruto," Kurenai said, "I'm sure she's fine. Why don't you let me take her from here. I'll make sure she gets home."
"Arigatou, Kurenai-sensei."
Naruto handed Hinata over to Kurenai and returned to the training ground to practice some more, as Kurenai took Hinata back to the Hyūga compound.
Arriving at the compound, Kurenai wished the still unconscious Hinata luck before handing her to the compound guards. As the guards took Hinata to her room, they passed Hiashi training Hanabi, who didn't even seem to notice Hinata and kept training Hanabi.
The next morning as Hinata went for breakfast, a branch member told her that her father wanted to see her in his study. Hinata thanked the branch member and headed to meet her father.
Arriving at her father's study, Hinata knocked and was told to enter.
"Y-You w-wanted t-t-to s-see m-me f-father?" Hinata stuttered out.
"Why was I informed that you were carried in by the gate guards unconscious? You are the Hyūga heiress. You cannot be seen as weak. The Hyūga are the strongest clan in Konoha, yet you are seen being carried around the village unconscious. Hanabi would make a much better heiress then you."
As Hiashi continued to berate her, Hinata struggled to hold back her tears. Right before they were going to burst out, Hiashi and Hinata heard a commotion coming from the compound gates. Heading out to see what was going on they spotted Naruto in a heated argument with the gate guards.
"Hey Hinata!" Naruto called out to her as he spotted her arriving.
"G-Good m-morning, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata replied. "W-What a-are y-you d-d-doing h-here?"
"Did you forget that you were going to help me train today?" Naruto asked, hurt.
"Hinata? Help train you? Hinata wouldn't be any help to you," Hiashi said. "She's useless and a failure. I'm disappointed to call her my daughter."
As he was saying this, Hiashi and Hinata stepped outside the gate. Naruto, angered that Hiashi would say that about his own daughter, grabbed Hinata's hand saying, "Come on Hinata. You don't have to listen to this. I don't think you're weak or useless."
At that, Naruto started pulling a bright red Hinata away from the Hyūga compound towards the village.
A/N: Hey all this is my second fanfic, so go a little easy on me. I've been having some trouble writing this so I'm just going to post what I have so far and hope that the inspiration to write comes back to me. So please review and tell me what you think and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.