Absolution

She never intended to give birth to a bastard child, but she did. At least now she wouldn't be alone. Hinata-centric.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 1: To Save a Life

She travelled in a pattern for the next few days: wake up, walk or run, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Each day took her further and further away from Konoha. She wasn't sure if that made her happy or sad.

She'd left the lush forests behind. The trees in this area were thinner and sparser, with limbs that reached for the sky, but the leafy canopy still provided enough shade for her to travel out of the glare of the sun. The smell of the air was different here, too: it was hotter, and a little salty.

She looked around. Even with her Byakugan, she saw nothing but a thinning forest that was beginning to flourish after a cold spell. She deactivated her bloodline limit and jumped to the ground. It was noon, and she was hungry.

She ate the last of Hanabi's onigiri quietly, thinking of home. Her team should know by now. Kiba would probably snarl and attack in denial. Kurenai would be guilty for not protecting her enough. Shino would be stoic, as always. She would have been surprised if they reacted otherwise.

Her father…no, Hyuuga-sama. Hanabi. How were they faring? Did they manage to run damage control in time to save the Hyuuga name? It was possible that Hanabi's instatement as heir would hide the disappearance of her sister, at least enough for the news of her disgrace to die within the clan compound. She would be forgotten soon enough.

She huffed as she started to walk along the path, keeping to the edges to stay in the short shadows of the trees. Two days had passed since she last slept in a bed, and she intended to reach a village by nightfall to get a good, long rest. Her body was protesting her prolonged travel quite painfully.

"Hinata-sama."

She tripped. Her heart stopped. "N-Neji, kun," she choked out. "W-W-What are you d-doing here?"

Neji frowned and crossed his arms. He looks just like father, she thought detachedly. Lead lumped in her chest. At sixteen, Neji was tall and lithe, fast growing into the most promising jounin of their generation. There were even talks of inviting him into ANBU once he gained enough field experience. He was the pride of the Hyuuga, a symbol of hope for the Branch clan members. She was proud of her cousin. Really.

But I don't want to see him! She clasped her fingers and trembled under Neji's stare. His teammates she sensed in the periphery, hidden in the trees while Neji faced her.

"I should be asking you that," Neji said. Hinata bowed her head lower. He doesn't know. She recalled him leaving the compound a week before her disownment to go on a mission with his two teammates. It seemed that no one had bothered to contact him about the news. She couldn't tell him.

"M-my t-teammates are," she licked her lips, testing out the white lie, "my teammates are h-here. For a mission. I'm s-scouting." The lie was weak and sour on her tongue.

Hyuuga were good at detecting lies. It was in their nature to notice and analyse minute details, for the Hyuuga were visual fighters, used to their sight-enhancing Byakugan. Neji was better than most ninja his age, one of the best Byakugan users at home. But Neji's Byakugan was not activated, and Hinata was always acting nervous, so she slipped under his radar.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Neji uncrossed his arms. "You should be more careful, Hinata-sama," he said. "They still want us, and you're too far from Konoha to get help if they come for you." They, she knew, were Kumo-nin, who prized their bloodline limit and tried to kidnap her for it. They were foiled by her father, that first time. There would be no protection for her now.

"Yes, Neji-kun," she murmured. "I-I'll be careful."

"Hn." He signaled to his teammates and turned to leave. Lee dropped from a nearby tree.

"YOSH! I will escort Neji's cousin to her teammates safely, or else I will do a hundred laps around Konoha, ON MY HANDS!"

Lee posed, thumbs up, against the biggest, brightest sunset she had ever seen. Were his teeth sparkling? Poor Hinata almost fainted.

Neji smacked Lee's head. The image burst as Lee cried out and glared at his jounin captain. "That is MOST unyouthful of you, Neji-kun! How could you ruin the Springtime of Youth…!"

Neji heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"Lee," Neji ground out, "that was the signal for 'Leave'." He demonstrated the signal for Lee to see. "It means we leave right now, without interruption, and without you breaking our formation. Is that understood?"

"YES! And if I don't, I will do three hundred crunches and five hundred push-ups on…!"

Hinata watched, fascinated, as her cousin hooked his arm around Lee's throat and proceeded to drag him backwards to Konoha. Tenten grinned and waved as she followed them.

"Don't worry, they're always like this," she told Hinata. "Good luck on your mission!"

"Miss-? Ah, o-kay," Hinata stammered. She watched as the trio took to the trees, with Neji leading, until she could no longer hear the soft rush of leaves that indicated they were there. She clenched her fists.

Neji would know about her by tomorrow, when he reached Konoha. Their relationship had improved over the years; it was possible that he might try to track her down, if only to demand answers.

She intended to be long gone by then.

With that in mind, she slipped into the forest to run, unseen, across the trees.


Hinata was sore and tired by the time she reached the village, just an hour short of sundown. It was a small farmer's village, with a few houses fronting swathes of cultivated land. The roads were already deserted as families prepared to settle down for the night. She thought of her family wistfully, then thrust it aside. It was pointless to dwell on the past.

The village was small enough that its shops didn't have signboards. Almost all of the shops, it seemed, had been passed down several generations, so everyone knew where which shop stood, even without the signboards. It was very confusing.

She knocked on a few wrong doors and backtracked from several dead-ends before she finally reached the only inn in the village. The innkeeper, an old man with a hunched back and huge glasses, peered at her from the counter.

"Can I help you, lassie?" he asked. He eyed the little girl at his door. She was quite a sight, with travel-worn clothes and ringed, blank eyes, and a backpack slung over her arm. Like a nervous mouse, he thought, and young, too. She tugged her jacket away from her front as he watched.

"I would like to stay for a night, please," she said, squirming. She dug around in her pockets and came up with several folded notes. "Just one room."

"I have one free." He peered at her face. "It's not often I see a young lass like you come here at the brink of night, I'll tell ya that. Where're you from?"

"I-I've been travelling," she replied. It was half-true. She just didn't know where to go. "I saw this village on the map, s-so I thought of staying here for a night. If that's o-okay with you, of course."

He waved her doubts away. "It's business, lass. If I have a room, I'll rent you it, and I have one. So come on in and have some dinner." He gave her another once over. "You look like you can do with a good meal," he grunted, limping into the kitchen.

"T-thanks."

Hinata blushed as she sat down at a table. Her back ached with relief as she sank into the cushioned back of her chair. She kneaded them to relieve some tension, wincing when she pressed on several tight knots. The softness of the chair was heaven to her overworked body. Overhead, the lamp swung with every puff of the wind, spilling yellow light as it went. There was another customer with her, a plump man in labourer's clothes chugging on a beer, but as he paid her no mind, she kept quiet.

Soon, sweet, hot smells entered the room, and her stomach grumbled impatiently. She pressed a hand to it, embarrassed. Her normal portions no longer seemed enough to sustain her between meals. While she understood now that it was because of the baby, it still worried her. She was a young, unmarried girl, with no family and few skills, and her finances were limited.

Her belly gurgled, then bulged when the baby kicked under her hand. She rubbed her stomach. Dinner's coming, she thought at it. Just a while longer, little one.

"I hope chicken stew and rice is okay with ya," the innkeeper said, balancing the food on a tray. Hinata stood to help him. He waved her off and started setting the table.

"Been doing this for years, lassie, now you sit down and eat!" His words were sharp but kind. "Hurry up, now."

"Thank you," she said. She looked at the meal before her: a bowl of stew with a few lumps of chicken and vegetables, and a bowl of rice. It was poor fare compared to the luxuries of the Hyuuga household…but no less delicious, she realised, as she sipped at the stew. She had to restrain herself from eating too fast. The innkeeper watched her eat with a grin.

"There's more where that came from. It's on the house," he offered. Hinata stuttered her thanks and offered her empty bowl to him, cheeks red. He came back with her second helping, which she ate at a more polite pace. She felt warm and bloated when she was done, and the innkeeper couldn't be happier.

"Thank you," she said again.

"Think nothing of it. Come, follow me upstairs and I'll show you your room. You must be tired."

She followed him up a flight of rickety stairs and down a corridor, where he pointed at a door at the far right. "I'll be right back, just getting some blankets for ya," he said as he disappeared behind a pair of flaps.

"A-ano," she tried, but he was gone. Sighing, she continued down the corridor, struggling to not drag her feet. A bed would be welcome tonight.

"Ah, no no, not that door!" the innkeeper called from behind her. Hinata started and released the door knob, apologising. The door creaked open a crack. She blinked at the smell inside.

"That's my missus in there," he said gruffly. "Been sick for a while. I'll see to her once you're settled in your room." He spoke loud enough for his wife to hear him. "Won't be long," he told them both.

"A-ano, if you don't mind, I t-think I can help her." Hinata's nose smarted from the smell of sickness in the room, but she ignored it. "I'm f-familiar with herbs."

"Are ya, now?" The innkeeper looked at her, clearly seeing a teenage girl who was too young to be wandering around on her own. His expression was tinged with doubt.

"Y-yes. My mother taught me." She nudged the door open wider and bowed at the bed-ridden woman sweating under her blanket. A pot of water stood by her bed, half empty, along with a cup and a vase of flowers. The innkeeper's wife smiled at her and tried to get up.

"Lie back down," the innkeeper urged her. Turning to Hinata, he said, "She has a fever. At first we thought it would break by itself, but it's been three days and nothing's improved." He cast a worried glance at his wife.

"I'll see what I can do," Hinata assured him. She approached the bed. The woman's hands were folded over her blanket. Hinata took her right hand, returned her smile, and felt for her heartbeat. Her short year as a medic-nin in training came back to her, calming her, coaching her. The woman's heartbeat was off, that was for sure. She glanced at her face.

Feverish eyes, sunk into their sockets with sickness and age, held her gaze. Hinata frowned. The look was familiar. She'd treated this before. Confidence bubbled beneath her fingers.

"Um," she cleared her throat to catch the woman's attention, "Um, d-did you injure yourself recently? Enough to d-draw b-blood?" The woman contemplated her question, then nodded.

"I think so," she said, voice raspy from disuse. "Scraped my shoulder a week ago when collecting firewood."

"Please show it to me," Hinata said. If it was what she suspected it to be, she could heal it right away without herbs. Medical ninjutsu would be more effective. The woman unbuttoned the first two buttons of her blouse and offered her left shoulder to Hinata.

Hinata analysed the wound for a few seconds, then nodded. "I-I know what this is. Your w-wound's infected. I can h-help." She looked at the woman, hesitating. "Are you okay with iryou-ninjutsu, oba-san?"

"You're a ninja!" the innkeeper exclaimed beside her. "But you're so young!"

"A-aah, no, not r-really," Hinata replied. "I-I've learned to h-heal from the h-hospital, that's all." Turning to his wife, she repeated her question. "I'll only do this if you want me to. There are h-herbs that will work as well," she said.

The woman took the surprise better than her husband, or so it seemed to Hinata. She smiled and leaned back against her pillow. "Just do it, child. Thanks."

"O-okay." Concentrating, Hinata palmed the injury. Her hand glowed green. She huffed and frowned. The wound cleansed itself then began to close under her hand, until it was nothing more than a raw pink line.

Hinata released her Shousen technique and sucked in a greedy gulp of air. It was done. She wiped the sweat off her brow as the innkeeper and his wife marveled over her work.

"I didn't know you ninja could do tha'," the innkeeper said, whistling under his breath. "It's amazing."

Hinata shook her head. "I-It's nothing much, really," she said, shaking away her fatigue. The Shousen drained her pitiful chakra reserves; she didn't have Haruno Sakura's precise control to conserve her chakra as well as she did. Her days of running across the trees with chakra didn't help either.

"Rest well tonight, and you should be feeling better tomorrow," she said to the woman. The woman nodded gratefully.

"How should we pay you?" she asked.

"A-no, it isn't n-necessary. I'm glad I could help."

"You're a kind one," the innkeeper said, smiling. "Come now, I'll show you to your room. You look tired." He carried her backpack for her, for which Hinata was thankful.

"You must stay until I cook you a meal," his wife said. She stayed in bed, but already she looked much healthier. "Consider it my thanks."

"I will," Hinata replied. "Goodnight, oba-san."

That night, she fell asleep with a contented heart and a smile on her face.


It was raining when she awoke. Yawning, Hinata completed her daily ablutions then left her room to visit the innkeeper's wife.

The door was ajar when she reached. She knocked on the door. The woman was already awake and was making her bed. She smiled when she saw Hinata.

"You're an early riser," she remarked. She tossed her fluffed pillow to the head of the bed. "Come, I make you breakfast."

"Y-You don't really have t-to, oba-san," Hinata protested. The woman clicked her tongue and pulled her to the dining table.

"Breakfast, and you sit here till I'm done, you hear me, lassie?" She winked at Hinata then disappeared behind the kitchen flap. Hinata sighed and smiled.

It felt nice to be doted on, after so long. She rested her head on her arms. Sunlight, warm and bright, shone into the room, bathing her in drowsiness.

The innkeeper's wife came out in no time at all. She laid breakfast on the table and shook Hinata awake. "Breakfast's ready," she told her with a grin that belied her tomboy days. She passed a plate to Hinata then sat down opposite her.

"Itadakimasu," Hinata said, and dug into a breakfast of salad with quail eggs. The innkeeper's wife watched her taste the food, her own plate still empty.

"How is it?" she asked.

Hinata hurried to swallow her food before she answered, "It's delicious, thank you."

The woman grinned again, and Hinata couldn't help but smile back. They polished off the breakfast in silence, although Hinata was mortified to note that she'd eaten more than half her share. She'd been so hungry.

"I'm glad you enjoyed breakfast," the innkeeper's wife said around a mouthful of greens. Hinata fingered her morning cup of tea and nodded her thanks. "Enough for your baby? How far along are you?"

Hinata choked. Her cup crashed to the floor.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to shock you," the woman exclaimed in distress. She shooed Hinata's half-hearted attempts at picking up the cup. It was unbroken. The innkeeper's wife set it down on the table then walked round to rub Hinata's shoulders. Hinata, still reeling from shock, did not stop her.

"How…how did you know?" she whispered. She gripped the edges of her chair tight, feeling faint. The innkeeper's wife squeezed her shoulders to comfort her.

"I've had four children, myself. Of course I'd know. Congratulations." She peered at Hinata's pale face in concern. "Or maybe not?"

Of course not!

Hinata couldn't breathe. Her secret was out. Just like that. How did the baby ever hide from all those Byakugan eyes, if one civilian could find out so fast? How?

Her vision scrambled as she lost her purchase on her seat.

"Oi, breathe!" someone snapped at her. She obeyed and took a deep breath. And another. And another, until she was heaving with sobs when she didn't even know she'd started crying. Someone rubbed circles in her back soothingly.

"You never dealt with this properly, did you?" the innkeeper's wife murmured. "There, there, calm down. This ain't good for the babe."

Hinata hiccupped, nodded, and tried to swallow her tears. It was hard. The dam had just broken, her self-control in pieces, but she managed to stop crying after a bit. She panted with unspent tears and leaned back in her seat, drained.

"Good girl," the innkeeper's wife praised, though Hinata could see her questioning eyes. "Come now, I'll help you clean up. There's a dear."

"F-five months," Hinata muttered under her breath. The woman squeezed her shoulders again. "Maybe a-almost s-s-six. I d-don't know."

So young, she could see those eyes say. She looked away, ashamed.

"I won't tell anyone," the woman assured her. Hinata's head shot up in surprise. "What? I won't tell. I hate gossip, eh?"

Her eyes travelled down to Hinata's stomach. "You're a bit small, and you're probably carrying further back, too," she speculated. "Has it started kicking?"

Hinata nodded, too tired to speak.

"It should be fine, then," the woman said, satisfied. She gave Hinata's head a smart pat. "Run along now, clean up. My husband should be here soon."

Nodding, Hinata scurried away from the dining table, her thoughts whirling. She took off for her room as fast as her legs would take her. Once inside, she hugged the pillow, buried her head in it, and cried herself to sleep.


Hinata had many bad memories. They tended to relive themselves in her dreams, something which distressed her when she was younger, although she had learned to shelve the nightmares in the mind when she awoke. Her mother's death and her family's rejection, for example, had been dealt with for years and hardly hurt her.

This memory, however, still stung whenever it came back. Hinata brushed away her sweat and tears shakily. Her muscles were cramping from constant tension and phantom pains throughout her dream. Wincing, she made her way out of bed to make herself presentable.

The rush of clear water from the bathroom tap calmed her nerves. She washed her face, then looked up at the mirror. Her large, pupil-less eyes were good for hiding tears, as long as her eyelids weren't puffy – and they weren't, she noted with relief. She ran a wet hand through her hair to tame it.

The inn was noisier than it had been last night. There were villagers in the dining area – regulars, if their casualness with the innkeeper was any indication – and most of them were eating. Lunchtime, then. The innkeeper was busy limping in and out of the kitchen. A constant sizzling sound in the kitchen told her where his wife was.

The innkeeper grinned when he saw her. "Lunchtime's always busy!" he yelled at her over the din. "Want some?"

"M-Maybe later!" She glanced at the dining tables and blushed, remembering her breakdown in the morning. "I-I'll be going o-out for a while!"

"Careful! Bye!"

She nodded at the innkeeper then left the establishment. A quick scan with her Byakugan revealed a river not far to her left. She headed for that, threading her way upriver. The river seemed to be the main source of water for the village, used for everything from irrigation to drinking. It wound through several fields before entering a grove of trees.

The land here was the highest point for miles around. The river ended in the middle of the grove, where it spouted off from a small pond. A deep pond, she realised, when she peered over the edge and noticed the darkness of the water. She dipped her hand into the water and began to play with it, first with her fingers, then with simple Suiton jutsu.

Tendrils of water danced and twirled at her command. More and more elaborate they became as she grew engrossed, sitting on a rock, frowning in concentration. The water was so disturbed that she never noticed a growing number of bubbles breaking the surface.

She was, therefore, caught by surprise when one large eye zoomed in front of her, just under the water.

She shrieked – and was promptly dragged underwater.

The coldness of the water numbed her skin. She gasped, swallowed a mouthful of water, then swirled round to face her captor. The world above her grew darker as she sank deeper into the pool.

Byakugan! Veins bulged around her eyes. Her watery surroundings sharpened.

There was nothing. No monster, no hunter-nin, no…then she saw it. The floating corpse of a boy, several feet below her. He wasn't moving.

She stared at him for a moment, then swam towards him and proceeded to pull him to the surface with her. Dead or not, he did not deserve to be abandoned in a watery grave. A mouthful of bubbles escaped her mouth as she struggled to swim.

Somehow, she broke out of the water, gasping and spluttering, still pulling the deadweight with her. She deposited the body on the rock next to her as she crouched, shivering, to recover from her shock.

When she had calmed down, she crawled over to the body to examine it. The boy had not been dead long, she noted, judging by the freshly bleeding wounds on the boy's chest and arms. His leg had been broken in several places. A concussion, too, if the large head wound was anything to go by.

She wrung as much water out of her clothes as she could, still watching it. A Suiton jutsu evaporated whatever moisture she couldn't wring. She wondered what to do with the corpse. Whose son was he? Would they be searching for him? Probably, she conceded, analysing the body. Blood trickled off him onto the rock below.

Then, under her surprised stare, the body shuddered, convulsed, and expelled a mouthful of water. The boy's chest heaved. He was alive!

Hinata scrambled to straddle him between her knees to perform CPR. The boy coughed up several more mouthfuls of water before the blue tinge left his lips. Finally, after a small eternity, he opened his eyes.

He groaned. "Who…are you…?" he rasped, wincing when his breathing jolted his injuries. Hinata got off his body carefully, apologetic.

"D-do you know where you are?" she asked him.

He opened his eyes, squinted. "No. Wait…yes. Near Mizu?" He groaned again when rays of sunlight cut into his eyes. "Shit," he cursed. He tried to get up, but his body only gave a great shudder and budged not an inch.

"Shit," he said. He looked at Hinata tiredly. "Any chance…you could…help me up?" He gestured with his less injured hand. "As you can see, I can't…really move."

Hinata regarded him with her Byakugan. He was in bad shape. More than half his ribs were cracked, and his stomach was bleeding internally. His chakra coils were huge, but damaged. Several major tenketsu had been closed – sealed – so he could not access his chakra. Tension seeped away from her body.

"I-I'm going to dry you," she told him, forming the seals for her evaporating Suiton jutsu. He nodded, and sighed when his waterlogged clothes dried in a gush of steam.

"Nin…ja?" he said. "Help?"

She shook her head, then stopped herself. Could she really abandon the boy here? Her hand twitched towards her stomach.

"O-okay," she said. "There's a v-village half an hour's w-walk from here. C-can you make it?"

His brief, barking laughter caught her off guard.

"I can't…even…stand. Leg…broken," he said. He was grinning despite the pain that shone in his eyes. "Shunshin?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I c-can do that," she said. She came closer and held his shoulders. "T-The landing m-might hurt."

"I…kn-nngh!" His words were snatched away from him as he landed, painfully, on his back beside her. Hinata looked around in relief; they had made it to the inn. "Warning…would be…nice," he panted at her.

"I-I'm sorry!" she cried. She hooked her arms below him. "I-I will put you in m-my bed. This will hurt," she warned. She waited for his resigned nod before she lifted him onto her bed. He didn't make a sound, but the sudden whiteness of his face spoke volumes. She eyed his ribs worriedly.

"Y-you need a d-doctor."

He grinned at her, eyes closed. "Iryou-nin. Hard…to find…doesn't matter…."

Oh, that was it. Her resolve strengthened. Whatever doubts she had about the stranger vanished when he relaxed on the bed and prepared to die. Her hand glowed green with Shousen.

His eyes snapped open and he hissed when she touched his ribcage. A spark of recognition lit in his eyes at the sight of the green glow.

"Heh…lucky…" he paled when the first rib cracked into place "…thanks…in advance."

"Sleep," she whispered. "I-I'll try my best."

With a final sigh, he did just that.

She worked on his ribs first, then started on his lungs. They were punctured in several places, one close to the heart. She hesitated. Healing internal organs was not an easy task. One mistake, and he could die. She scanned his lungs with her Byakugan. Blood pooled within them. They were beginning to swell with inflammation; she had to fix them, and fast.

With a scared breath, Hinata pressed her hand onto his ribs and began fixing his lungs. The holes closed, the swelling ceased. Sweat dotted her brow as she pushed her chakra limits as much as she dared.

When it was over, she crumpled onto the floor, shaking. She'd done it. She'd done it, the danger was gone, and somehow she didn't screw up. She watched her patient nervously. His breaths still rattled…ah. She rummaged in her bag for her bottle of smelling salts and waved it under his nose.

His nose twitched. He frowned, then awoke with a string of curses.

"Wha…you…" He got no further. A pained expression crossed his face as he leaned over the side of the bed and started to cough.

Mouthfuls of blood rained down on Hinata's conveniently placed towel. She placed a glowing hand on his back, guiding blood up his throat for him to vomit. After five minutes, his coughing stopped and he fell back, exhausted, on the bed.

"I feel like shit," he groaned, panting from the effort. He winced when his heavy breathing reopened a wound on his stomach, but otherwise stayed still.

"I-I'm sorry!" Hinata whispered. "I h-haven't l-learned how to s-siphon blood o-out of the b-body yet." She wrung her hands in her lap.

"Maa, don't worry about it. We all gotta start somewhere." He closed his eyes. Hinata noted with relief that his voice and breaths were stable.

"T-this is all I c-can do, for now," she informed him apologetically. "I'm out of c-chakra."

"It's enough for now," he said. "I'm Rei."

"H-Hinata."

"Well, H-Hinata," he teased, "get some rest. I promise I won't die on you."

Hinata eep-ed and started to protest, but the boy had fallen unconscious. Sighing, she threw away her bloody towel then fell onto a chair, her vision swimming.

Just five minutes, she thought to herself, as she curled up against the back of her chair.

Soon, she was fast asleep.

- Chapter 1: End.

Special thanks to mac2 and The Lost Canuck for reviewing the prologue!

Reviews and constructive criticism will be much appreciated.