Tripping Over Ones Feet
Standing on the edge was agony. Balancing on the edge of the cliff five miles from Konoha, Hinata went through the motions of her attacks, while trying to stay balanced. Behind her two feet away way was a line drawn in the dirt. She had made up this method of training herself; go through the Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō without crossing the line. Without anywhere to aim her chakra, all she could do was go through the motions and not the actual technique itself. She was training alone today, again. Shino was on another mission and Kiba was assisting his sister Hana at home. She was calm and at peace concentrating on the movement. What would it be like she wondered to tumble off the cliff. Visions ran through her mind of her falling through the air. The image left to reveal shock etched into her teammates horrified faces, the hokages' serious work face, and lastly the scoff from her cousin Neji repeated in the hard lines of her father. Wincing slightly she tried to empty her mind of that image with little success. It seemed her dad would never love her. He was too absorbed in Neji and Hanabi to see her. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes blurring her vision
"Hinata…?"Caught off guard she slipped and fell. Quickly grabbing on to a rock she ignored the painful scrapes on her arm and clung to the cliff. A calloused and tanned hand reached out to her and she saw who it was.
"Naruto…"
"Hinata!" Her body seemed paralyzed as the shock of who was speaking to her sunk in. It was Naruto sure enough. The matt of blonde hair, his large blue eyes, and the almost whisker like scars on his cheeks confirmed it. She was taken aback at the concern on his face and guiltily liked it. Grabbing his hand for support she hoisted herself up and collapsed worn out from three full hours of training and thisencounter.
"Are you alright Hinata, did I cause you to fall, can you make it backhome…?" He frantically asked sitting down next to her digging through his backpack for extra bandages.
"I'm fine I just got startled. Thank you Naruto kun," she said blushing a rosy shade of red.
"I came here because Kurenai sensei was asking about you. I had to search everywhere, come on can you walk?" he sputtered wrapping bandages around her arm. Hinata stood up and took a step. A shooting pain ran up her leg causing her to gasp.
"Hinata!"cried Naruto in alarm
"It's nothing," she replied hastily. "I'm just out of breath that'sall." She said with a pained smile on her face. Walk it off she thought. She bit her lip to keep her focus away from the leg. It would just get in the way. It's probably just a sprain from when I tripped. Every step was difficult and she was having trouble keeping up the act.
"Hinata, is something wrong? You keep limping and you seem to be in pain."
"No, I'm fine." She said with a weak grin. He did not seem convinced but he shrugged it off. Half way down she tripped on a rock and hit the ground. She bit down so hard her lip started to bleed.
"Hinata!" he cried. This time she couldn't stand up on her own. It was getting dark and she was both scared and completely embarrassed. "We need to get back to Konoha as soon as possible." He picked her up and carried her on his back down the crevice. She felt like her head was about to explode. An hour later they entered the city gates and headed to the Hyuuga clan building. The doors and windows were lockedtight and no one responded to Narutos' furious pounding on the door.
"It'sno use," he said exhaustedly. 'Why didn't you tell me you were hurt," he asked. "If I had known I would have carried you back." Hinata hid her face in her hands.
"It's too late now," he said. "You can stay at my house until the morning. Then I'll get T'sunade to look after you." All Hinatacould do in reply was nod.