Untold Story: Hinata

The boy failed to see the sadness in his grandfather's smile, too preoccupied with the prospect of getting to hear another story from his grandfather.

"Grandma Hinata? What was she like?" The boy asked, ears attentive. His grandfather gave him a small smile as he ruffled his hair.

"Well, she wasn't obnoxious like you, that's for sure!" He laughed as Akio tried to swat away his hands in vain. Though old, he still had his sharp wits and his ninja reflexes.

"Come on Granpa!" The boy yelled as he finally got his grandfather to stop. Then he pouted, "Please grandpa Naruto?"

With that look, Naruto couldn't help but comply with the boy's wishes. "All right, all right. But if you fall asleep, I'm leaving you here to cook in the sun!"

The boy let the remark slide as he positioned himself in a more comfortable position. He leaned his back against his grandfather's chest and waited for the story to begin.

"Okay, where shall I begin?" Naruto pondered. Then, inspiration struck as he said, "I know! I'll start from the beginning—tebayo!"

"Grandpa, what did mom tell you about saying that?" Akio scolded.

"Do you want to hear the story or not Akio-kun?" At the tone of his voice, Akio immediately settled and shut his mouth.

"That's better. Now then, let's begin."

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Naruto: Speech

Akio: Speech

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Let's see, I met your grandmother when we were 12, but I didn't really talk to her. She wa—

How come you didn't talk to her?

I was just getting to that Akio-kun, please be patient.

Now then, the reason I didn't talk to her was because she was a very she and quiet girl.

Why was she so shy grandpa?

This is going to take a long time if you don't be quiet Akio-chan.

Don't call me that!

Then quit interrupting me.

Fine.

There, that's better. Okay, let's start over. I didn't talk to her because she was so shy and quiet and well, I wasn't. I was actually very noisy back then. I always wanted to get the attention of people, even if it was negative. So, I pulled a bunch of pranks on people and used anything and everything in my arsenal. I would scheme for days on how to pull off the perfect prank. I remember my greatest prank: I painted the Hokage mountain!

What? Really!

Yea, really. Then a bunch of Anbu had to chase me. And guess what? They couldn't catch me! ANBU, of all people, couldn't catch me! But then my teacher, who was only a chuunin, caught me when I stopped to conceal myself. To this day, I still can't figure out how he knew I had stopped to conceal myself…

Anyways, back to Hinata. Back then, I thought of her as a weird girl since she didn't talk much and always wore a baggy jacket and pants. I did think she was a little cute though. But I had been in love with Sakura-chan back then to even notice Hinata as more than cute.

Wait, Old Auntie Sakura? The one who has pink-haired boys?

The very one and the same Akio-kun.

Ewwww….

I know, right? But don't tell auntie Sakura-chan we said this. This will be our little secret.

Ok!

Now then, back on topic. So there really isn't much to say about her at the moment. We chatted maybe once or twice before and during the Chuunin exams. I think it was during the preliminaries. I don't remember too well, but I think she gave me some sort of cream after I fought someone. Dang, I forgot who I fought…

Anyways, she gave me this cream that she had personally made. At first I was a bit suspicious since people used to hate me back then an—

Was it because of Fuzzy?

Ha, yea, that's right Akio-kun. People didn't like fuzzy back then. 'Course, back then Fuzzy was pretty ferocious and a very angry fox. She's still actually pretty hot-tempered, but at least I know she won't burn down the entire village.

Oh…

Yea. But enough of Fuzzy and back to the REAL story!

……….

You were at the part where grandma Hinata gave you the cream.

Oh right! If course, I didn't forget! I was just… figuring out how to tell you is all.

Okay grandpa…

No seriously, I was!

Grandpa, the story?

Fine, fine. Don't get hasty. So I took the cream and rubbed it on my wounds. It was some pretty amazing stuff. It healed my wounds almost instantly and it was pretty nice smelling. I remember she was blushing when she handed it to me. I had always wondered why she blushed when I was around… then I figured out later it was because she loved me. I almost figured it out too late. Thankfully, I didn't and I was able to be with her… even though it was only for a short period of time. Damn it, why was I such an idiot back then? I could've spent more time with her! I could've married her! I could've… I could've…

Grandpa, are you ok? You're crying…

I-I am? I guess I am. Sorry about that Akio-kun, I'll wipe these tears away immediately.

It's ok grandpa. I understand.

Heh, I don't think you do, but I appreciate the sentiment. I just hope you won't be as dense as I was.

Don't worry grandpa, I'm smarter than you!

That's… good… I guess.

Yup!

……

More Story grandpa!

So oblivious to everything. I wish I was young again. But, you're right. The story must go on so that grandma Hinata's memory will stay fresh in our minds. So… after the preliminaries were over, we got to take a short break to go and train. But you don't want to hear my training do you? You just want to learn about grandma Hinata right?

Yup!

That's good, because I don't think I remember everything that happened in between, heh…

So I was about to fight Neji, you know Neji right?

He's the leader of the Hyuuga clan right?

Yup, that one. Back then, he wasn't nice to everyone. In fact, he was a pain in the ass. He was cold-hearted, mean, and spiteful. He hated everyone because he had the caged bird seal on his forehead and always rambled about how everything was predestined and all.

What's that?

The caged-bird seal? It was a seal that basically destroyed the person's brain if they didn't listen to the person in command. I guess you're too young to know, but back then, the Hyuuga clan was separated into two branches. Neji wasn't a part of the main branch. He was from the other branch, those not deemed worthy and got the caged-bird seal placed on their foreheads.

That's cruel… they don't still have that, do they grandpa?

No, of course not! Neji abolished the seal a couple of years before you were born. But yea, since he was from the branch family, he resented the main branch because he mistakingly thought that they sacrificed his father, when it was really his father who chose to give up his life for Hinata.

Why did his father give up his life?

That's a story for another time Akio-kun. All you need to know is that Neji hated Hinata and when they fought against each other in the preliminaries, he tried his best to kill her. I remember it clearly. I saw him playing with her mind in the beginning of the match, using her insecurities against her. It made my blood boil. Being the loudmouth I gave him a piece of my mind and encouraged Hinata to kick his ass!

I guess she gained some confidence because I saw her fight with all her strength. It was amazing. The blows they were exchanging were fast and even though they didn't look it, they were very powerful. Do you know the gentle fist technique Akio-kun?

Yup.

Oh good, that saves me the trouble of explaining it then!

So Hinata was fighting so fiercely, I thought she might actually win. They went at each other, with their fists aiming for each other's hearts. They run into each other and collide. For a moment, everyone was silent. I think everyone was wondering what happened, I know I was. Then, we all saw Hinata cough up blood and Neji's hand on her chest and his other hand blocking Hinata's attack.

But even though she had just gotten hit in the heart, she moved Neji's hand out of the way and continued to attack! But… that attack was blocked too, by Neji. He disabled her arm or something with just one stab of his finger. I didn't get it at the time so my sensei explained it to me. But then, then next thing I saw was Hinata getting knocked to the ground and Neji gloating about his superiority or something.

But he had underestimated Hinata's strength because to everyone's surprise Akio-kun, she stood up.

Wow… even after getting hit in the heart?

Yup, even after getting hit in the heart. I think… that… she was stronger than me back then. I honestly think so, to be able to put up with that. I don't think I could've. Then she surprised me. When she got up, she told Neji that she wouldn't give up because that was her nindo.

Wait… isn't that our family nindo?

Yup. It surprised me when she took my nindo as hers, but it made me a little happy. Oh man, I just want to slap myself!

How come?

Because back then, I remember saying, "Man, I didn't know Hinata was so tough." And Rock Lee, who had been standing next to me, said, "She's very similar to you."

Then Sakura-chan spoke up, saying, "She's always been watching you. Come to think of it, she's always been watching you."

And me, being the dense idiot that I was, merely said, "What?" But then ignored it and continued to watch the fight.

I saw her activate her Byakuugan again and prepare herself for battle. But…

But what grandpa?

But then she clutched her chest and started coughing up blood. Everyone got worried right then. I bet we were all wondering if she was okay. For a moment, I felt sick, like I had eaten bad ramen and expired milk. Then I saw Neji, who was preparing to attack Hinata, even though he knew she was weak and couldn't fight anymore.

I was upset, but most of all, I was angry. I couldn't handle it and yelled, "Hinata! Do your best!"

I remember she looked at me for a bit, then it seemed like she had gotten a little bit of her strength back. Or maybe a lot of strength since she dashed at Neji at top speed with her hand sticking out. She looked really focused as I saw her fight with Neji toe-to-toe. She was actually doing really good and for a moment, it seemed like she had the upper hand. But then Neji side-stepped and gave her and uppercut. She took a couple of step backwards and stopped.

At that moment, I seriously thought she couldn't fight anymore. But then she surprised me again when she attacked Neji once more. She looked very determined then too. She ran, but then, everything looked like it was moving in slow motion. I saw as Neji moved his hand backwards and step to the side a bit. Then he moved forward quickly and hit Hinata in the heart again. It felt like a year of time had passed by before Hinata coughed blood and fell to the floor.

Are you crying Akio-kun?

W-What? I-I'm not! I was just yawning!

It's okay Akio-kun, I won't tell anyone. Actually, if I wasn't so angry back then, I probably would've started crying also. To me, it looked like her soul had left her body when she fell. She fell… hard. Then what pissed me off even more was that after she fell, Neji began gloating,

Then Neji's sensei said, "That was Neji's finishing move, I don't think she can stand up anymore."

I have no idea why, but when he said that, it made me even angrier. The little cup Hinata had given me the cream in started breaking when I started crushing it. The proctor came up and just before he was about to end the match, I yelled at him to not stop the match.

Everyone around me looked at me like I was crazy. They believed that Hinata was finished for and that she couldn't fight anymore. They all thought she had fainted. But I knew that a person with my nindo would never fall easily. And I was right.

The next thing that happened surprised everyone, even Neji. But not me! I knew she still had strength left. The next thing that happened was Hinata tried to get up again. She tried so hard too. She had blood on her mouth, her legs were wobbly, and her entire body was shaking. But even then, she somehow found strength to get back up again.

She looked at me for a moment and even though I didn't know what she was thinking, I nodded. Then, with her hand grabbing her side, she took a couple of step forwards and said out loud that she could still fight. Neji was angry that she stood up and started ranting about this destiny crap and how she was destined to lose.

Either way, it pissed him off that she was still standing. He was still saying his nonsense stuff when Hinata shook her head and told him he was wrong. I wanted to high-five her then and there because the look on Neji's face was priceless! But… this really must've pissed him off because he ran towards Hinata and tried to attack her.

Did he get her? Was she okay? What happened?

Calm down Akio-kun and just listen. No, Neji's attack never landed because my sensei, his sensei, Hinata's sensei, and the proctor all stopped him. It had been pretty close, his attack was stopped just couple of feet away from Hinata. But…

But what grandpa? But what!

But… then she had this shocked look on her face and collapsed. Luckily, her sensei was able to lay her down gently before she hit the floor. Me and my team jumped down from the stands and ran to her. We were all worried.

I remember going up to her and asking her if she was okay. She said my name before she passed out. I think she was trying to tell me something, but she had been too weak to say it. Then, Neji began gloating again, saying that people cannot change and that I shouldn't cheer for strangers. He said I was a dropout and that was all I could ever become.

Then he smirked and that set me off. I ran towards him to try and hit me, but I was stopped by Rock Lee. He told me that I should wait until I was in a proper match with Neji. He also told me that a dropout who works hard will beat a genius.

But then, Hinata started coughing up blood. The next thing I knew, they were carrying her out in a stretcher.

Did she die?

No of course not! How do you think I had your mom?

'Had my mom'?

Oh… you're too young to know about that…

Too young to know about what?

Nothing… nothing…

But answering your question, no, she didn't die thankfully. But I did something crazy after she was pulled away.

What did you do?

She had coughed up blood earlier, as I told you. So I went up to the blood that was on the floor and dipped my fingers in it. Before you say anything, let me tell you why I did it. I did it to promise Neji that if we ever fought, I would beat him.

That… is so cool grandpa!

Yea I know, right? Afterwards I—

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"Akio-kun! Otou-sama! It's time for lunch!" Said a woman from inside the house.

"I guess it's time to eat now, eh Akio-kun?" The boy merely nodded as he jumped from his grandfather's lap, landing swiftly on the ground.

"Hmm… you're reflexes are improving Akio-kun. Let's have a race. First one inside the house wins an extra bowl of ramen, deal?"

"Deal!" Said the excited boy.

"Okay then. Get ready… get set… and… GO!"