Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto universe.
Characters: Hinata
Rating: K+
Summary: These are the five things Hinata never says.
Prompt: #002 "Five Things" for The Aviary
Word Count: 755
Things I'll Never Say
One.
Hinata never tells Hizashi that she hates him.
She wants to. Oh, does she want to. They meet on the battlefield and the words bubble up in her throat like bile. All she wants to do is unleash all that anger and hurt on him. To scream at him until he understands.
He left them behind. And he can rationalize however he wants—and she can even understand his reasoning if she tries. The sacrifice, all of it, was to protect them, to protect his family.
But, at the end of the day, Hizashi still left him. Everything was been smashed into bits in the wake of his sacrifice, and it was Hinata who had been left alone to pick up the pieces. She wants him to hear that his sacrifice meant nothing in the end.
Instead, she bites her tongue and keeps her silence. Just like she always did.
Two.
Hinata never tells her father she's sorry for what she did.
Part of her is sure that would be a futile effort, anyway. It's not like he doesn't know what she did. She was born too weak, and he'd lost so much because of it.
All the pain piles up in the silence between them, instead. They're still so close to each other, though, that she can feel the almost brush of his fingers on her shoulder. But he doesn't touch her.
The small part of her, the part Hinata still allows to be childish, thinks that if she could just tell him it would be all over. Hiashi might forgive, might let go of his anger. They could be okay again.
It isn't true. She knows it isn't. There's no way he could ever forgive her for being so weak.
So they never speak of it, or anything else.
Three.
Hinata never tells Neji she forgives him.
Honestly, she doesn't think there's anything to forgive him for. She's not angry at him, not really. It was just a mistake. Besides, she always understood why he did it, and it barely even hurts.
Still she means to say it, because she thinks maybe he needs to hear it. And he's there, in her hospital room, on his knees. His forehead's pressed against the cold tile.
Instead, she coughs. It sounds better than it did before, and there's only a small spattering of blood. The damage is already done, though.
Neji's back tenses painfully. His fingers curl into white-knuckled fists against the floor. Hinata presses her fingers against her lips to keep herself from coughing again.
Silence stretches uncomfortably between them.
After a while, she starts to think maybe it's better this way. She's not the one that needs to forgive him.
Four.
Hinata never tells her teammates she needs them.
And she doesn't want to. Some small part of her is afraid, she supposes. That they'll see the same thing in her that the clan sees. A weak kunoichi that shouldn't even be allowed to fight.
Besides, they're both so unbelievably strong, they barely even need a team. They wouldn't be able to understand her, even if she did tell them. Not really.
So she fights along with them instead, fills her time with training. She thinks eventually Kiba and Shino will be able to lean on her if they ever need. And Hinata will be strong finally.
They're always there, though. To bring her back when she gets lost, to catch her when she falls. Always reminded of her weakness.
But none of them say anything. Not about that. They sit there and the silence stretch, let it speak for itself.
Five.
Hinata never tells Naruto that she loves him.
Not in so many words, exactly.
It's not that she hasn't tried. She must have opened her mouth to tell him a hundred times before, a thousand. A million. But the words just never come out.
Instead, she tells him that she'll always be by his side. She tells him that she's willing to follow him anywhere. There's nothing that he can possibly do to scare her off. It's much the same, though, as what the others tell him.
On some level, though, Hinata thinks that might be more important. Naruto needs to know that he's never alone, at least. If she's going to die here, he needs to know that much. Even if he never knows she loves him so much her heart aches.
Then there's nothing but silence. Everything else fades away, and a deadly calm focus falls over her.