Soft words

Just a pair of one shots that came to mind while I was reading the paper. I might continue them into a proper story, I might not, depends on my time constraints and what the reviewer response is.

please don't get your knickers in a twist over this, I had some freetime and these are oneshots, I've had them on my hard drive for a good week or so. They've been written for a long time.

Someone stops to give Hinata and Naruto some small words of encouragement. Amazing what a little bit of warmth can do.

Seven-year-old Academy student Hyuuga Hinata slowly picked her way back to her home, feet trailing reluctantly upon the street as she dawdled, not particularly wanting to go home and be subjected to the sharp side of her father's tongue for not applying herself to the position of Top Kunoichi that – according to him – was her birthright as a Hyuuga.

Hinata wasn't stupid, she knew that Sakura-chan would fight her tooth and nail for the position and Hinata felt that the pinkette deserved it more than her. She was smarter, prettier, more confident and Naruto-kun liked her so obviously she deserved it more than she did, she whom Naruto-kun would not even acknowledge.

The white-eyed child screwed her eyes shut and clenched her hands even more tightly upon her backpack, she was so pathetic, the young scolded herself fighting back the hot prickling of her eyes and the tight lump that rose in her throat. She was not going to cry. What would Naruto-kun think of her when he finally did look at her only to see a weak snivelling failure?

Oh who was she kidding? As if Naruto-kun would ever even gla-

Little Hinata yelped as she promptly bounced off something – someone – and landed in a heap on the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry little one. Are you alright?" Asked a warm feminine voice. White eyes flickered open meekly to stare at the woman in front of her, to Hinata – whose vague memories of a mother who was stolen from her much too early because of a premature birth of her younger sister in a battle zone – she found it difficult to force any words past her frozen throat.

The woman she'd bumped into looked like a Kunoichi personified in Hinata's eyes, war personified. She had to have been a little over twice Hinata's height with long fiery red hair that caught orange and gold flame in the sunlight, her skin was pale but not flawless – she had freckles splattered across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose – her eyes were long lashed and almond shaped pools of pitch black, the exact opposite to Hinata's pure white. She wore a high-necked sleeveless black Chinese style dress with long slits up her thighs, a dark red obi tied about her waist, a pair of standard brown-grey pants underneath and a set of black Shinobi sandals on her feet and even though they weren't in plain view, Hinata's eyes picked out the various glints of weaponry about her person – discounting the five-foot long six inch wide sword strapped across her back that looked as if it could be disconnected into several more swords(1).

She wore a Mist-hitai ate.

Black eyes blinked locking with fear-stricken white before a warm smile stretched over the woman's features, "Hey now, silly rabbit." She admonished gently scooping delicately shaped hands powerful enough to snap bones without much effort under the Heiress's armpits and pulling her up to her feet. "I'm not going to eat you for bumping into me, not my style. You're too cute to do something that heinous." She teased winking at the slowly relaxing Hyuuga as swift hands brushed her down, batting away the dust and dirt that her brief contact with the ground covered her in.

"I-I-I'm sorry. Gomen kudasai Kiri-Shinobi-sama." The seven-year-old spluttered bowing profusely to the older red haired woman who laughed again, gently pressing her hands against the child's shoulders,

"Enough of that, enough!" She exclaimed laughing, "My name is Sumi, Kusanagi Sumi. What's yours silly rabbit?" She asked once again smiling at the timid little girl, ignoring the exasperated expression on her companion's features.

"Hyuuga Hinata. Nice to meet you Kusanagi-sama." She bowed again prompting the red head to catch her chin before she could tuck it away and hide.

"Call me Sumi. And don't hide that pretty little face Hina-chan." She added with a light chuckle prompting the girl to flush dark red but smile hesitantly, Sumi practically squealed and hugged the chronically shy Heiress to her... ahem... ample assets. "Kawaiiii!! Momo-chan! Momo-chan! Can I keep her!? Puh-leeeeeease!?" The red head practically gushed turning to another Mist Shinobi one that made Hinata pale drastically and want to run home and hide under her father's Futon until he left.

The Mist Shinobi – also sporting a very large sword – growled at the red head, "What the hell have I told you about calling me that disgusting nickname Sumi?" He growled, the woman made a sound remarkably similar to that of an angry cat in the back of her throat.

"Oh get over it Zabuza. So not my fault that your name means peaches." She teased before gathering the clan heiress tightly into her arms and leaping away from her angry friend's sword-strike to land on the roof of a near-by Ramen-stand. "Temper temper!" The woman sing-songed, "Hina-chan here is a clan princess, wouldn't want to strain our already rocky relationship with Konoha now would we?" She asked, practically oozing smugness as the dark haired sword-wielder growled out several words that would have made a Nuke-nin blush. Instead she merely smirked and added another point to her ever growing mental tally of people she'd got one over.

"I'm going to the Hokage." The older man bit out storming off through the streets, practically terrifying Civilians and genins out of his way as the red head – still cradling Hinata – dropped back to street level and tutted disapprovingly.

"Such a temper." She muttered disapprovingly before setting the seven-year-old down and straightening the smaller girl's clothing, "But never mind Momo-chan, he's always been cranky, eeever since I joined the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist he's been like that." The woman puffed her cheeks out poutily, "Though why they still call it 'swordsMEN' is beyond me as two of us are now female. Sexist pigs." She grumbled before smiling at Hinata again, "Y'know what little Rabbit? Here, take this, I like you and it looks like myself and my fellow Kiri-shinobi won't be in Konoha long." She said stripping off a small bracelet, "It's not much but the engraving has a little motto that I like to live by." Sumi explained smiling brightly as she tied the black rubber around the girl's wrist, the engraved metal plate catching the light.

The girl read the engraving upon the bracelet and stared up at the black eyed Mist-nin in slight confusion as she smiled sadly.

"I used to be a shy little wall-flower as well, never thought I'd ever make something of myself, the women in my clan have always traditionally been house-wives, Geisha or forever doomed to the feminine arts. I was never any good at them and my parents despaired... until my brother accidentally left out his practice sword one night, I used to watch him swing it about all the time, hoping that if he trained enough he would eventually be accepted at a Kenjutsu wielder strong enough to become one of the Seven Swordsmen.

"I'd never touched a sword in my life or even a Kunai. But I remember holding that sword in my little hands, I remember swinging it until my palms and fingers were sore and red from the wrappings around the handles, until my arms and wrists ached from holding it up. I loved every minute of it. My brother caught me, but instead of reprimanding me like I thought he would, he took me under his wing and trained me, even if it was only as his sparring partner. Father strongly disapproved but my mother... my mother gave me one piece of advice, just the one before my father forbade her from associating with me. I think he was frightened that I would put ideas of rebellion in her head, funny really, she gave them to me. She told me:

"'Dance like nobody is watching. Love like it will never hurt. Sing as if no one listens. And live like there is a Heaven on Earth'." White eyes were practically the size of saucers as she listened to the Mist-Shinobi's words, Sumi glanced down at her and smiled secretively as she hunkered down to Hinata's level, "You know what?" She whispered as if letting the little white-eyed girl in on a secret, something that had never happened before and she couldn't help but lean forwards to better hear.

"I did."

Hinata stared up at the ceiling of her little room thoughtfully, not long after sharing her story with the seven-year-old Clan Princess her father spotted them and came storming through the streets to snatch at her arm, a little too tightly making her cry out.

Which made Sumi furious; an all out street-brawl between Konoha Jounin Hyuuga Hiashi and Kiri Seven Swords-woman Jounin Kusanagi Sumi almost broke out, Hinata couldn't help but stare at the Mist-nin as she slipped into an offensive stance, legs bent her weight balanced perfectly as she reached back and wrapped her deceptively dainty right hand around the hilt of her monster sword, muscles tensed to no doubt pull it should her father make a move against her, red hair burning in the slowly setting sun – they must have been chatting longer than usual, which explained why her father came looking for her – black eyes narrowing as all warmth slipped from her features. Once again reminding Hinata of her first observation of the woman, a true Kunoichi.

Her father was furious that someone was opposing him, even more so since Sumi was a foreign female shinobi, regardless of her position as a Mist Jounin and member of the Seven Swordsmen – which Hinata later learned from overhearing gossip mongering was in par with Konoha ANBU – and the fact that his Jyuuken was useless against the Kenjutsu Mistress. His grip tightened to bruising point on her upper arm prompting the narrowing of Sumi's eyes, as he too slipped into a Jyuuken stance, fully prepared to either yank his daughter around in the fight or use her as a shield. The Hyuuga Heiress knew it would have degenerated into bloodshed and an all out riot had Zabuza-san not returned from the Hokage's office with a pair of ANBU in tow at the precise moment that Hinata spotted Sumi's muscles tense to draw her sword.

For a moment, Hinata had been terrified for Sumi-san when she saw the animal masks but she was quick to realise that she had nothing to worry about where Sumi-san and herself were concerned, especially against her father. It seemed as if Sumi had been watched closely by those present who all came forward in her defence, not only for defending her against Sumi's own companion but getting defensive over her welfare when her own father grabbed her so harshly in public.

Hiashi had been furious and after being escorted to the Hyuuga Compound by the Cat-masked ANBU, Hinata had been sent to her room and ordered to stay there and not leave until summoned.

The white eyed girl twisted her new bracelet about her tiny wrist, in all honesty she could have worn it as a choker but she didn't want to call it to her father's attention. He would demand where she got it from and then promptly destroy it.

"'Live like there's a Heaven on Earth'... ... ... Sumi-san went against her clan by picking up a sword. She is now one of the most powerful in her Village. She... she became one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Bloody Mist." The meek girl pondered. Perhaps... ...

Perhaps she needed to go against her clan, to find her way. She looked down at her bracelet, the carved words catching the faint light of the moon through her windows.

'Love makes us human. Courage makes us extraordinary.'

White eyes looked up from the engraved words, narrowing in determination as they stared up at the moon.

'I will not let you down Sumi-san. I will become Extraordinary. I will LIVE as you did.' She thought as sleep finally claimed her.

Tomorrow morning, Hyuuga Hinata would tip the Ninja Academy on its ear.

(1) Sumi's sword: Yes, its based off of Cloud's sword from Advent Children, however, it only splits into three swords, two long katana and a long blade that was traditionally used from horseback to hew heads from shoulders and that kind of fun stuff – Sumi carries a number of knives with her as well, she fights dirty and won't hesitate to ram a dagger in your kneecap during a sword fight.

Part one of Soft Words. I hope you guys liked Hinata, up next its Naruto.

Kusanagi Sumi is a character of my own design, she is the youngest of the two female members in the Seven Swordsmen of the Bloody Mist. She joined two months after Zabuza and therefore became his 'Sword-Buddy' as she put it, or his 'pain in the ass rookie' to Zabuza. The other female member is one of the oldest members and retires before the Naruto-series actually starts, Sumi dies during the attempted assassination of the Mizukage while saving Zabuza's life. She's the one who cleaned up Haku when Momo-chan rescued him from the gutter in a small village on their way back from Konoha (Set a few days after these one shots) to Kiri.

No bloodline ability and a mouth like a bloody gutter.

Review pleasums.

Araceil