Disclaimer : I do NOT own Naruto.
Summary : A week since her mother died, Hinata had ran away from home, attempting to prove her worth, her ability to survive alone in the harsh world. Until she met him...
Everything suddenly went quiet. Her quick, ragged breaths seemed to resound in the cold, dark alley and her body ached from the cruel punches rained on her skeletal torso. Blood pounded in her ears, her pulse quickening, surveying the unconcious man lying in a pool of his own vomit.
She began to back away from the plump drunkard warily, leaning onto the side of the wall for support. She could feel the warm, sticky liquid ooze from various wounded parts of her body, and she tried as best she could to merge with the darkness of the shadows.
Hyuuga Hinata clutched her side, and her pale lavander eyes clouded briefly in pain. Hissing softly, she tasted the metallic taste of blood on her tongue as she doubled over, and sank onto her knees. Bruised all over and her stomach growling for food, she thought of giving up, to return home pleading for forgiveness, to try and become a person fit to be the heir of the Hyuuga clan.
All the delectable little dishes, the soft feather-bed with the satin sheets, the warmth of a large fire roaring in the fireplace as she snuggled in the large crouch... She wouldn't even mind the harsh words and disappointed glances her father shot her way now. She shook her head forcibly. What was she thinking, to return like a coward without even proving herself, that she can survive on her own after she barely escaped of there?
She got up to her feet, brushing the few strands of stray hair away from her face. What used to be silky, glossy locks was now limp and matted clumps of hair.
The man stirred, and Hinata backed away, quickly getting into a defensive stance. Her body protested every move she made, but she forced it on. She was, for the first time in her life, glad that her father demanded she learnt how to fight. She was not one of the branch Hyuuga members who never learnt to fight in their whole life, having to serve the main members. She was the heir, for all it meant, but the blood of the Hyuuga never did seem to run deep in her.
Hinata had looked forward to learning the arts, ever since she saw Neji, her cousin, fight so gracefully it seemed he was dancing. She knew she paled in comparison to Neji, and that she would never be good enough for her father. His attention became more concentrated to her younger sister once it became apparant that she did not have the talent.
Her mother had been the only one of her parents who openly showered her attention on her. She had used to tell her that her father loved her as well,and she forced herself to believe it. She loved her mother dearly, and her mother taught her all she knew on medical herbs, but she still craved for the love of her father.
Hinata used to sneak furtive glances at him during dinner, when the main and branch family ate together. The man ignored his daughter most of the time, keeping his eyes glued to the newspaper as he sipped a cup of coffee. Hinata had opened her eyes to reality once her mother died a few months ago.
Everybody was grieving, lost in their own thoughts, and she had seemed to just fade into the background. Her father was was weeping and her sister was nowhere to be seen. She knew that she would never hear her mother's sweet voice singing, calling out for her anymore. She'll be damned before she'll ever return, she told herself, once more hardening her resolve.
She was cut of from her thoughts rather abruptly when the large-sized male steadied himself, swaying on his feet. Spotting Hinata, he advanced on her with a horrible grin, showing all of his crooked teeth. The wind changed direction briefly, carrying the scent of his stale breath to her.
She retreated, her ears craning, her eyes darting, searching for any sudden movement he made. Her feet flitted easily over the cobblestones as she contemplated her options. The man was larger than her, stronger too, but her lithe frame and speed more than made up for it. The drunkard was sluggish, still shrugging from the effects of achohol; she hated fighting others, and she figured she had a good chance of escaping if she ran.
He came upon her suddenly, fat and lumbering, and Hinata side-tracked with ease, dodging under the fist that was swung at her. Without even a backwards glance, she took off for the main road. Wrong choice. Her stomach lurched suddenly, her eyes widening as she was lifted clean off the ground, and sent crashing into the wall.
A reddening bruise was quickly forming where the man had hit her, and she thought that a rib or two had broken. she attempted attacking, but it was no use. He, though drunk, was much stronger. She could feel the punches coming one after another. Months of starvation and beatings had taken its toil on her body. She had barely the energy to stand.
"So you think you Hyuugas are all that huh? I'll teach you, you stupid bitch!" The man obviously had a grudge against Hyuugas, his blows becoming harder and harder on her.
Hinata tuned off, trying to focus on something else; the beady eyes of a passing crow, or a the number of pebbles on the ground. It was her way of escaping from the pain. Her body racked with sobs, until it seemed she could cry no more, and fell silent. After a few minutes of what seemed like the stinging lash of a belt, the man finally gave up at getting a response from her and stalked off, grunting.
A slight drizzle started, and Hinata, lying motionless on the hard stone floor, was pelted in full. She couldn't feel some parts of her body after the harsh beating she had received. The rain trickled down into her eyes, and fell from the tip of her nose. The water could be telling her to let go of her troubles, and simply fade away, or perhaps it was mocking her, laughing at her failure to fend off a drunken man. No wonder people had always said that she was pathatic, useless, not deserving of the title. But wasn't this what she had always wanted? To be independant? To be free from her father and the oppressive mood of the mansion?
She had thought that it was her main objective in life. Until she met him.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Hi! This is Ishimaru Miwa. So... how do you think of the story so far? I don't mind criticism, as long as it is constructive. Anyway, I hope you liked the starting. (grins)