A small fragile Hyuga had just run into the wrong group of people.
"Hey!" the tallest of the three said, pushing the girl back.
"She's a Hyuga isn't she..." one of them pointed out, assessing her as she hugged herself, scared. "Yeah, she's got those eyes."
The last of the bullies grunted, "She must be related to Neji then."
"And she's probably stuck up like him, too," one said, finding a reason to cause trouble.
Nodding, the fat bully reasoned, "Yeah, bet she thinks she's better than us, 'cause of her family and talent."
The three surrounded and intimidated the poor Hinata, who had been running away in shame after losing a fight with Hanabi. Looking down at the ground, she quietly squeaked, "No... I'm not like that at all, I swear..." She then tried to run off.
"Hey!" one of the bullies yelled as he grabbed her forcefully by the arm, "get back here!" The girl was pulled back squealing, denied her escape.
Huffing triumphantly, the fat bully taunted, "trying to run without telling us that you're sorry huh? That's not cool"
The poor girl was shaking and remained looking down at the ground as the other bully scoffed at her, boasting, "Yeah that's right!"
Then the third bully grabbed her by the head and forced her down. The blue-haired girl was defenseless and trembling in fear at this point, wishing it would all stop.
"Go on, apologize."
"Yeah, and be nice about it too!"
"Do it, now!"
Terrified, the young girl yelped out in a tiny voice, "I'm sorry..."
"Not good enough!" he said displeased. "Say it like you mean it!"
Grabbing her head again, the fat bully forced her down even more. "Apologize!" he demanded forcefully.
"I'm sorry..." Tears were falling down her eyes. "I'm sorry..." Desperation, sadness, fear... "I'm sorry..." She was so scared... She wanted to die. She just wanted this to be over.
"Knock it off!" a short kid with spiky blond hair yelled.
Looking behind them, the bully's saw a blond haired little boy with blue eyes. "And what the heck do you want?!" one of the bullies questioned, annoyed at the sudden appearance of this shorty.
"Hey wait," the fat bully said, "he's that kid, that kid that is always getting into trouble."
"That kid everyone hates." Naruto's face tightened at this comment.
The other two bullies faces lighted up in realization. "Oh 'that' kid."
"That kid huh?" They all erupted into laughter, seeing the village clown.
Rage surfaced on the young blond's face immediately, angry at them for referring to him as 'that kid'. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm going to be Hokage one day, believe it!"
The three were all confused. "Hokage?" they said aloud, questioningly, before returning to their uncontrollable laughter.
Hinata looked on in awe. She had seen him before, running away from people who were yelling at him for painting their shops as part of a prank.
One of them looked at Naruto with spite. "Some kid like you could never be Hokage!" he said, slamming his fist into the boy and knocking him into the dirt.
After taking a moment, he rose up from the ground, wiping his face off and grinning at the group. "Heh!"
Angry, one of the bullies demanded, "You wanna fight?!"
Naruto only smiled. "You better not, or you'll regret it!" he claimed as he put his hands up into a sign which worried the three bullies.
"Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed.
A fog of smoke exploded out of the area, and a clone appeared. It awkwardly fell to the ground after bobbing around for a moment.
"Hahahahaha!"
Naruto used this opportunity to strike. "Hah! I caught you off guard didn't I?" he shouted as he tackled one of the bullies to the ground, delivering fierce punches against him. "You just watch!" he yelled with determination. "I will become Hokage!" Smack! "I'll show all of you!" Punch! "I'll prove you all wrong!"
Finally, the other two bullies pulled Naruto off the third and they all started attacking him viciously. "Get him!" one of them said, launching his fist straight into Naruto's skull.
They proceeded to kick and slam him mercilessly in retaliation. After only a moment the blond was bruised and bleeding as Hinata watched solemnly. 'This is my fault...' she thought to herself, terribly saddened by the fact this boy who hardly knew her rushed to her defense and is now getting beat up! She sunk even deeper into herself, feeling useless and powerless to help him.
"Hah!" one of the bullies exclaimed with a kick to Naruto's ribs. "That'll teach you to mess with us!"
After perhaps twenty more seconds of sustained beatings and tauntings, one of the bullies delivered a sharp stomp, causing the blonde to cough up a bit of blood. "Heh, this guy's had it, let's get out of here." The other two huffed, before kicking the helpless kid one more time and stomping off with the last bully.
Hinata was so relieved to see them finally go. She looked over toward the beaten Naruto and her heart shattered. She shed a few tears for the boy who risked himself for her, this boy rushed in to defend her and now he was broken, bleeding on the ground...
'I need to help him...' she thought, slowly crawling over to his side. Looking over his body she teared up, realizing this was all her fault.
Groaning, which startled the Hyuga, he pushed himself up. Taking in his surroundings, he figured the bullies had left. Looking to his right he saw the blue haired girl almost kneeling over him, concern spread clearly across her features. After quickly wiping his face off he smiled, "Hah! I sure showed them didn't I?" he said exuberantly.
Smiling and blushing, she nodded to him, but remained concerned for his well being.
"Hey..." he said more quietly. "Are you okay?" he questioned, worried because she was so quiet.
Hinata looked toward Naruto and found herself staring in amazement. This boy was asking her if she was okay! "Y-you just got h-hurt!" she said, rather loudly for her usual meagerness. "Are you o-okay?" she finished stuttering.
Sporting a stupid grin, he immediately responded, "If I couldn't handle that, there's no way I could ever become Hokage!"
She was astounded at how he could claim something like that while he was covered in dirt and some blood was still running down his chin.
Thinking she was still worried about him, he announces yet again, "Hey I'm fine, believe it!" He notices she is still looking down at the ground and he twists his face in contemplation. Deciding that maybe since he helped her, he could ask something.
"Hey," he started slowly, "did you maybe... wanna be friends?" he asked unusually quietly, his voice tinged with hope.
Instantaneously, Hinata's head popped up in surprise. She brought her hands up and starting poking her index fingers together subconsciously and a blush spread across her face. She slowly began nodding her head, much to Naruto's glee.
Naruto then snatched the small girl in a crushing hug that she was not prepared for. "Yeah!" he exclaimed happily. "We'll be the best friends ever! Believe it!"
'Friends...' That thought made Hinata extraordinary happy. She had made a friend! Though, she was about to pass out from the closeness, she was still happy...
"Heiress!" a familiar voice ringed in the distance, worrying the Hyuga girl.
Naruto let go of her and looked behind himself to see another person with the same eyes as her new friend, though certainly not as pretty.
Hinata's heart sunk, seeing who it was. It was her caretaker, Ko, surely sent to retrieve her.
"Heiress!" he exclaimed, approaching her and grabbing her hand. "You mustn't associate with that child!" he said disapprovingly.
Worried about her new friend, she pleaded, "Wait!"
Pulling her along, Ko reaffirmed, "We must go!"
"But..." her face fell. "He helped me..."
All Naruto saw was his first and only friend being dragged away from him mere moments after becoming friends with her...
Kicking the dirt and walking away, he was saddened. He didn't even learn her name... "No one would want to be friends with me anyways..." he whispered to himself as he slowly strolled away.
~N x H~
Later That Day
~N x H~
Hinata laid down in her bed, contemplating the events of the day. Rubbing the soreness of her arm away, she thought back to the blond who had rescued her earlier. He was so brave, a trait she herself desperately wished she had. He had asked to be friends with her, and that thought made her blush. She frowned, recalling how she was dragged away by Ko. She was dragged away from her first friend and she felt resentment rise up within her. She honestly didn't have what she felt were true friends. Ever since her mother died, everything that had to do with her clan began to feel so cold and even hateful.
Rolling over in her bed, she decided that she would indeed be his friend. And that brought a smile to her face.
~N x H~
Next Day
~N x H~
To him, any attention was good attention. That's why he pulled so many pranks, because he wanted someone, anyone to notice him. To acknowledge his existence.
But, what if he actually made a real friend... Someone who he could actually... be himself with?
He thought about that as he was swinging on his lonely swing over by the academy. He always returned here when he was feeling alone or sad. He would look at the kids who had parents, the kids who would play with other kids. He wished so desperately that he could be like that... He wanted someone to play with, someone to tell him how great he was...
'No one would want to be friends with me anyways...' he remembered saying yesterday, after he had helped that girl and she was escorted away.
So there he was... alone... by his little swing, going back and forth...
A bit behind him, behind a different tree was Hinata, looking on, or rather, stalking the boy. She had felt so guilty leaving him yesterday... It absolutely tore her heart to pieces.
'Naruto...' she wondered to herself.
Suddenly, the creaking of the swing stopped, and Hinata refocused and looked at what happened. What she saw made her even more sad.
He had stopping swinging, but was still holding the ropes, looking straight down, obviously deep in thought.
Hinata with her keen vision saw it though. Tears. He was crying. She brought a hand up to her chest, squeezing at her heart in worry.
'It's not fair!' he thought, 'It's not fair...'
It truly wasn't in his mind. He had lost his one and only friend mere moments after meeting her. No one in this world would ever care for him... His parents even abandoned him.
Tears slipped out through his clenched eyes as he hunched over on the seat.
He wanted to be Hokage because he wanted people to acknowledge him, to care. If he had just one person to care about him he would... be... so much happier...
'I'd be the best friend ever...' he thought to himself, 'I would do anything for that person...'
He would truly do anything in the world for that one person who would be with him through this nightmare called life.
What else would a kid, an orphan with no friends or family to call his own even want?
He shook a little with his own emotions.
Shedding a few more tears, he began to break down. There was only so much he could handle. The pain of the world was real, and it was eating away at his lonely and cold heart. He was tired of being denied what the other kids got. Why did they get it and he did not? It wasn't fair! Shedding a few more tears, he let his cracked voice slip.
"I just want... someone to love me..."
He said it. Ever so quietly, but the heiress could still hear it. Her pale, lavender eyes widened when she heard him say that to himself. He had never known the love of any mother or father, no one had ever cared about him. He had been alone since he could remember and he was so tired...
'No!' Hinata willed, 'I have to do something...'
Slowly willing up courage, she began to step carefully over to Naruto while he was on the swing. He had been so far entrenched in his thoughts that he didn't notice the girl slowly stagger toward him.
Her face turned tomato red. She had successfully appeared behind him... what was she supposed to do now?
This would later turn into the beginning of various defining moments in both of their lives, the new path that they would take, together.
Mustering up the courage, she pulled out her hands and put them on Naruto's back, and then she pushed him!
Startled by the unexpected contact, he looked behind him as he was pushed on the swing and to his absolute amazement, he saw her. It was the girl from yesterday! His expression immediately turned to one of joy, which caused the girl to redden up even more.
He couldn't contain his smile and surprise. "Hey!" he greeted jubilantly.
Pushing him again, she quietly responded, "Hi..."
He eventually settled into it, and a stir of emotions were going through him, he was happy! His new friend was pushing him on the swing! This was a dream for him that was becoming reality...
They stayed like that for a couple minutes in the calm, serene wind. A moment of tranquility for the both of them.
Hinata couldn't believe that she was doing this... She was actually pushing Naruto on the swing! She had... mustered the courage to help him, like he helped her...
"Hey I..." he started quietly, snapping Hinata out of her thoughts. "You never told me your name..." he whispered as he was being gently pushed on the swing.
Naruto heard a small mumble that he couldn't make out. "Huh?"
"Hi-Hinata..." the girl behind him said meekly
Naruto's face lit up. "Hinata... that's a pretty name, believe it!" He then jumped off the swing, surprising the girl who instantly brought her hands up to her chest, startled.
Grinning with a new idea, he told her, "Why don't ya let me push you?" He was so… happy, she noticed, before her face went red.
Naruto noticed the odd coloration of her face but disregarded it. "Get on!" he exclaimed happily.
She didn't quite know how to deal with this situation, poking her index fingers subconsciously again. She then stepped over to the swing and sat on it.
After firmly grasping the ropes, she was actually really nervous.
Amazed at seeing the girl actually get on the swing, he was excited to actually push someone else on it. "I've always wanted to push someone on this swing!" he said that while slamming into the girl, quickly pushing her forward on the swing.
"We'll be the best friends ever! Believe it!" he exclaimed happily.
For Hinata, it was a crazy circumstance she was in. She was soaring up into the air! He pushed her really hard, and he kept going and going. She was holding on so tight she could swear her hands were biting into the rope.
"Hahahaha!" the blond laughed, looking at his friend's figure that was dangling far up before coming back down, just so he could push her up again! 'This is a lot of fun!' he realized. His heart was warming up from the cold isolation that it was in moments ago.
"Ahh!" Hinata squeaked after being sent really high up into the air.
Seeing this, Naruto smiled, and began to slow her down to a stop.
Her heart had finally calmed down from the event, but in an instant Naruto was in front of her, grasping her in a big hug.
"That was really fun wasn't it!" he asked in surreal happiness.
All she could do was nod her head at the boy who was holding her tight and causing her to get light headed from so much blood rushing up to her face.
Noticing the discoloration appear again on his friend's face, he decided to ask her what was going on. "Are you okay?" he asked with a questioning look on his face. "Your face is really red! Are you sick?!" he kept questioning in concern.
She shook her head no, but the redness in her cheeks stayed.
Looking away from her blood red face, he looked into her eyes. They were so... pure... He found himself drawn into them and both could not look away from the other. They were lavender opals... precious jewels...
Scratching his head in embarrassment, he told her, "Your eyes... they're really pretty..."
'What?!' she thought as her eyes widened. Her mind could hardly comprehend the thought going through her head and she fainted in his arms.
"Hinata!"
A/N
I decided to use the flashback with the bullies that appeared during the Pain fight, not the flashback that happened in The Last.
I have a lot of changes planned for Naruto and Hinata in the future. This story will definitely not just be about Naruto and Hinata meeting up earlier then they do in canon. Though, that is also what is happening. :P
Stay tuned.