Naruhina: Spirit Realm

Prologue

NaruHina Story

Prologue

Hinata hurried to her father's office, wondering what he wanted. She couldn't help but feel worried. Lately her father had become even crueler to her, often degrading her and telling her how worthless she was. Hiashi would also order her to use the cage seal on the branch members, and when she refused he would hit her until she was left bleeding. Hinata was almost positive that today would be the worst of his spiteful attitude, since it was the 27th.

She knew full well that her father had come to blame her for everything and thought that her birthday would bring bad luck. Sometimes even she believed it. Hizashi died a few days after her third birthday, and there was even a branch member who died on her birthday, by pure coincidence. Hinata knew her father believed she was responsible for it all, and every year around this time he would treat her viciously, getting worse with each year she aged.

That was why when Hinata reached the door to her father's office her knees were shaking and her heart was beating a thousand miles per hour. 'Breathe, just breathe.' she thought to her self. She took a long, deep breath before raising her hand and softly knocking on the door. "F-father? It is Hinata. Y-you wished to see me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Come in." She flinched at his voice; flat and expressionless. She opened the door quietly before hurrying to the chair in front of the desk. It was quiet for a long time before Hinata finally spoke up. "Y-yes, Father? D-did you need s-something?"

He sat there, staring at her for a long moment, his cold grey eyes were hard. He moved slightly, and Hinata looked up, only to meet his hand. Her head jerked sharply as Hiashi struck her left cheek. Her eyes widened in shock, tears forming at the corner of her eyes in pain." I want you out." His voice was cold, filled with disgust and hate. She blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears no longer from physical pain at bay. "Wha-"

"I said I want you out. You no longer belong to this clan. You're worthless, stupid, and have no skill. Get out of here immediately."

By now Hinata's whole form was shaking. 'N-no h-he can't be s-serious, r-right?' "F-father, please, I've-"

She was interrupted again, his voice holding more malice than she would have thought possible. "I told you to leave. "

Hinata wasn't even trying to hold back her tears anymore, and they came streaming down her bruised and bloodied cheeks. "P-please!" she cried in a broken voice. "Just l-listen to me! I've ch-changed! I'm a chuunin now and-"

"I don't care. You are nothing but a worthless little girl who has no use for me. Get your things and leave. You are no longer allowed on the Hyuga estate."

Her shoulders were shaking and her breath came in ragged intervals. "F-f-father-"

*Whack!

His open hand came across her cheek again, this time sending her sprawled across the floor. "I am Not your father!" He hissed at her, venom dripping from his voice. He glared furiously at her for a long time, watching in disgust at how her whole frame was rocking from her chocked sobs. "I told you to leave. Do so now before I dispose of you myself."

Hinata couldn't control her sobs no matter how hard she tried. "G-g-good-b-bye, t-then…" she said in a pityingly hopeful voice, hoping that somehow it was all just a cruel joke.

"Get out." Was his only reply. Hinata made her way to her room as tears streamed down her face and an unimaginable pain consumed her heart. She couldn't believe this day had finally come. She had been kicked out, and for what? Only her cruel, and hating father knew.

~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~

Naruto grinned happily as he walked down the almost deserted street. He was headed towards the training grounds that Hinata and he had chosen to meet at. This past year Naruto and the shy Hyuga heir had formed a close bond. Their friendship had really started after his training with the toad sage, when Pein attacked. Naruto had been fighting two of them when Hinata had showed up for back up. She had fought and eventually won against Konan, but that wasn't why Naruto had suddenly taken notice of her.

It had been what she'd said about him. Hinata had looked right at the Akatsuki member and told her how great he was and how important he was since he was going to be the hokage one day. She hadn't even stuttered. Naruto had felt so happy and warm that, had he not been in the middle of a battle he would have run up and hugged her. Of course this would have made the shy young woman faint, so thankfully he didn't. The only bad part was that she was badly injured during her fight with Konan.

All of her efforts were at a cost. She had stayed in the hospital for two whole months before she was allowed to leave, and an extra month and a half to completely recover. He had gotten to know her then, while visiting her in the hospital. Every time he visited, she had returned to being a little shy, gaining some courage to talk to him along the way. The first thing on his mind aside from her safety was to ask if she really meant all of her kind words. He remembered her looking him in the eyes and telling him she meant every word of it. She had become more comfortable around him, he had noticed, and from there, things had just kicked off. Now they trained together regularly and would often just hang out together.

As he was walking he saw a pink-haired girl a little ways off. "Hey Sakura-chan!" he said excitedly, forgetting his previous thoughts in favor of the pink-haired kunoichi. This year he had also gotten closer to Sakura. He was hoping that he might actually be able to get a date out of her now.

"Oh, hi Naruto. How've you been?" she asked nicely.

"Good, good. What about you?"

"Hmm? Me? I've been fine. I just got off my shift at the hospital. You should have seen some of those people! There was that old drunk who wouldn't stop asking for a date, and then there was this little twerp that thought it would be funny to knock over all of the supplies. Really, he was worse than you!" She giggled.

"Hey! Sakurraa-chaann! I'm not that bad!"

She just laughed affectionately. "Hey, Naruto," she said a little hesitantly. "Do…do you think you want to go get some dinner with me? We could go to Ichirakus' if you want…" Sakura couldn't look him in the eyes. She was feeling uneasy. She liked Naruto and all, just…

Naruto gaped at her in shock. Did-… did she just ask him out on a… date?! "Ne, S-sakura-chan, is,… is this a…date?" he asked in utter disbelief.

Sakura blushed at his tone. "Well, I was thinking… maybe… I mean…" she sighed in frustration. "Well, yeah…"

"ALRIGHT!! I got a DATE with Sakura-chan!" he yelled in excitement.

"Urghh, Naruto! Do you have to be so loud all the time! One of these days you'll burst my eardrums." She said, feeling annoyed, amused, and guilty.

"Thanks Sakura! Come on! Where do you want to go?" he asked excitedly, his eyes shining brightly as he grasped her hand.

She laughed happily at his eager expression. "Let's just go to Ichirakus' for today, alright Naruto?"

"Yeah! You're the best Sakura-chan." He said as he pulled her along to his favorite restaurant. She wasn't paying attention as he talked about whatever came to mind, and would only respond out of politeness to his questions. Sakura was too overwhelmed with guilt to pay close attention to her blond-haired friend. Yes she liked him, but not the way he did her. No, she was guilty for using him to forget about her problems and Sasuke. 'Well' she thought idly to herself, 'I'll just have to fall for Naruto while going out with him,' even though her heart was contradicting her words.

~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~

Hinata took a deep, shaky breath. She had been waiting for Naruto for three hours. When she had started walking out of the compound she had run into Neji and Hanabi. They had of course inquired as to why she had all of her things packed, and Hinata with tears still running down her face had told them what happened. Against Hinata's wishes, the two had gone to confront Hiashi, but had come back in pain. Hiashi had used the curse seal on Neji and Hanabi had to carry him out after a lecture and a slap to the face. It was the first time either had been hurt in such a way, and both were a bit speechless.

Neji had told Hinata that she should stay at Tentens' until they could sort this out. She had argued of course; telling him that she didn't want either of them to get hurt again. It ended with her saying goodbye to them and then they promised to visit her regularly. She had skipped over Tenten' s house so that she could talk to Naruto. He had always made her feel better. The whole way to the training grounds she had focused on Naruto to keep her mind off of her father, but the pain in her heart made that impossible. He was cruel, yes, but still he was her father.

'Father, what did I ever do to make you so cruel to me?' She thought; some tears had begun to form in her lavender orbs. A small tear escaped from her face and she tried to control her light sobs. 'Think of Naruto-kun…think of Naruto-kun' she wanted to be presentable for him and crying wouldn't help her situation. In only a few moments she had arrived at the training grounds and waited silently for Naruto to come.

But he wasn't there like he usually was. Normally when he was late he either had a mission or had just been assigned one. In either case though, he would make sure someone told Hinata he would be gone. The former heiress was really hoping Naruto would just show up late instead of not coming at all. She needed to see him, his reassuring smiles, and to hear his comforting voice. She really didn't need to wait at the training fields while the rain came lightly down atop her head.

She lifted her head to the dark sky, letting the rain wash away her hot tears. 'I'm not being fair. What if he was in trouble, and he had no way of contacting her?' She thought to herself, 'But, what if he just forgot?' Hinata sighed as she got up, wiping her tears away as she went to look for him.

Her trusting side came out and she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, but inside of her something was terribly shaken. It was that strange gut feeling that you get when you know something is wrong.

~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~

Naruto sighed as he pushed his wet hair out of his face again. His date with Sakura had gone well until it started raining. He'd had to take her home early, though both were still soaked by the time they reached her house. "Sorry about our date, Sakura-chan. I guess it didn't turn out too well."

She just looked at him with a small smile. "No, no it's alright. I thought it was very nice. You can't control the weather!"

He grinned at that. "Really?" he asked happily.

"Of course," she said smiling, even though she was cringing on the inside. She really would have enjoyed the date, had she not had a guilty conscious.

"Great! Hey, uh… does this mean we're boyfriend/girlfriend then?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that." 'Having a commitment to you for a long time should help me fall for you.' "Well, I'll see you later, okay?" she said sweetly. He nodded and smiled in return. She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek before waving and disappearing inside her house.

Naruto grinned as he put his hands behind his head and walked towards his house. Today had been great for him! He couldn't wait for their next date. Maybe then he would get a real kiss. 'I've gotta tell everyone! I'll start with Hinata though. She'd be proud of-'. His smile fell instantly and his blood ran cold. 'Hinata…' he thought in horror. He had ditched Hinata! ' Oh Shit!' he thought as he raced to the training grounds.

When he finally reached the field he found it empty. He felt horrible about ditching her, even though it was an accident. She was one of his most important people, and yet he had completely forgotten her. Her, the one person he could always lean on and confide to. And he had completely messed up with her. "Damn! I'm sorry Hinata," he whispered, his words drowned out by the steady beat of the rain.

~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~

Hinata was frozen as she watched Naruto and Sakura talk on a porch. She could see the blushes on both of their faces. She swallowed a lump in her throat as everything her father said came back full force, on top of this new stab to her heart. It was when Sakura kissed Naruto that she broke. A sob escaped her throat as she clenched her jacket just above her heart. She bolted away from the scene and ran to Tenten's house.

Hot tears began to fall from all around her. She could hardly tell what was rain, and what her experienced eyes produced. She began to shake as the cold grasped her body. The warmth of seeing Naruto was what had kept her warm during her three hours of waiting to see Naruto. Now that her heart had been broken… she could have been considered suicidal.

She was a mess by the time she reached the house. Her father had disowned her, her family was hurt trying to protect her, and she had lost her chance with Naruto; all on her birthday. Choked sobs escaped from the girl as she lay in a spare bedroom of Tentens. A bitter smile crossed her face as she stared at the ceiling. "Happy sweet sixteen Hinata," she said to herself.

End Prologue