Disclaimer:
Okay guys I don't own Naruto. (I am so sad I don't TT) This is a work of pure fandom please don't sue me.
Chapter 2 Their Nindo
Thanks to Shikamaru, Hinata finally had a place where she felt wanted. She became quick friends with Akimichi Chouji and Aburame Shino, who like Shikamaru were both quiet and reserved in their own ways. Chouji always thought Hinata was to skinny so he was constantly trying to get her to eat. He even would bring an extra lunch just for her. When Chouji wasn't hounding her with food Hinata was often with Shino. Unlike most girls Hinata found bugs fascinating and enjoyed helping Shino search for bugs. Shino eventually told Hinata about his clan's connection to bugs and was surprised when she showed no disgust.
She just smiled and said "That is really neat. I wish I had an ability like that."
Shino looked into Hinata's eyes and saw that she was being completely honest.
"But Hinata-sama you too possess a great ability. Your clan is known far and wide for its Byakugan. Many people would love to possess your ability."
Hinata frowned, looking down at her feet, then looked back up at Shino's face with a half-hearted smile.
"Yes, many people desire to possess the Byakugan. Including me."
Shino's brow creased with his confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Hinata began jamming her two fingers together a tell tale sign that she was troubled.
"I mean that I do not have the ability to use the Byakugan."
"But how can that be?" Shino asked completely shocked.
Hinata had ceased jamming her fingers together and instead was taking her nervousness out on the grass around her pulling it up by the handfuls finally she stopped to answer his question.
"No one really knows. No matter how hard I train and study it still eludes me. The clan suspected that when I was born I did not have strong enough chakra paths to support all aspects of the Hyuuga abilities."
Shino did not know what to say he felt extremely guilty.
Hinata could tell Shino felt bad so she tried to relieve some of his guilt.
"It is okay Shino-kun. There was no way you could have known."
"No Hinata-sama I must apologize. Had I known I would never have brought it up."
Hinata smiled at him.
"It is okay Shino-kun. I have grown accustomed to it over the years. Let's just pretend it never happened and go eat lunch with the others."
"If that is what you wish Hinata-sama, we can." Shino said while helping Hinata up off the ground.
"Yes let's go!" Hinata cried while clasping Shino's hand in hers.
Shino blushed underneath his glasses. Thankfully Hinata didn't notice.
Weeks turned into months and before the group of friends knew it one year had passed since they first met Hinata. Granted she had not attended school the whole time because her father made her stay home and train. The boys did not begin to worry until they saw the bruises and cuts. When they asked about the injuries she always blamed it on some sort of clumsiness. Finally the boys decided that one of Shino's bugs would trail her to find out the truth. What they discovered shocked them. They never would have imagined Hinata's home life to be as bad as what they heard. Her father forced her to train until she was exhausted. Her cousin Neji did everything he could do to get her in trouble so that she would be punished. The rest of her family seemed to generally avoid her like the plague.
If that wasn't bad enough the bug went on to tell them of the cruel words, looks, and actions that the villagers and even some of the other students directed towards her. After learning all of this the guys were outraged. They vowed then that together they would protect Hinata-sama and help her become stronger. It became their nindo. Thus it went, rarely was Hinata seen without one of the boys accompanying her. Even when no boy was in sight, Hinata was always protected. Unknown to her, if one looked closely they would notice a swarm of Shino's bugs following her. Shikamaru had also managed to attach his shadow to hers, so for short periods of time his shadow became hers and would alert him if she was in danger.
The only place they were unable to follow Hinata was into the Hyuuga compound. Shino's bug's presence had been noticed after the first time and the Hyuuga clan, which prided itself on its' privacy, quickly set in place needed security to protect their privacy.
As a result, the boys did not know what happened to Hinata on that cool spring night when she disappeared.
Author's notes:
Okay guys sorry this chapter is so short. Gomen x a billion. Anyway I would really appreciate any feedback you could give so please leave a review! In regards to pairings I am not saying anything yet. What would be the fun of that eh? Thank you again for reading Chapter 2 of "One choice changes everything" and please be patient for me to update I will try not to make you wait to long. Oh yeah and thanks Laura-chan for looking over this for me!
