Chapter 2

Naruto woke up with a yawn, he had had the strangest dream last night. He was in a hall with a giant red fox, that talked! Even at six he knew that was crazy, animals didn't talk, no matter what that weird boy at the park sometimes said. But that had been by far the most vivid dream the boy had ever had.

The fox had said that she was the kyuubi, she was sealed inside of him and the dead forth hokage had asked her to train him. He knew it was not true but he could not help but wonder if maybe it was real. Thinking back to the dream he tried to remember what the fox had said to do when he wanted to talk to her again.

Ah! He closed his eyes and called out as loud as he could to the kyuubi in his head. Feeling ridiculous standing in the middle of his apartment with his eyes shut tight and small hands clenched into fists at his side he decided to try one more time and if it didn't work he would give up on having an awesome fox teacher.

'Hello kyuubi are you there?' he screamed in his head. After a few seconds he sighed and with a depressed air prepared to open his eyes and face another day of all the people hating him.

'I'm awake, I'm awake. What did you need this early?'

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin at the confirmation that he really had another voice in his head. 'Um, I wanted to see if you were real. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OHMYGOSH. You are real and you are going to teach me how to be an awesome ninja. And then everyone will know that I am not evil and I love my village just as much as they do and then they will let me play with everyone and they will give me all the free ramen I can eat and…'

'You woke me up for that? I will forgive you this one time, but only because you are six. But if you ever wake me up before ten, and the village isn't burning down around you I swear I will claw my way out of your mind and beat you.' Kyuubi said she needed her beauty sleep. 'If that is all I am going back to sleep don't wake me up again.'

With a huff Kyuubi curled up in a ball and went back to sleep, leaving Naruto with a resolution never to wake someone up unless the village was on fire.

After about five minutes off on some other planet a smile spread across Naruto's face, it was real, he had someone to teach him how to be a ninja and nothing was going to stop him. Except maybe a vixen who definitely did not like mornings.

0000

Hinata Hyuga was having a bad day. In fact this had to be the worst day of her life. It had started when her cute baby sister woke her up from a dream about her mother. She wasn't really sure how the six month old girl could make so much noise or why she got away with it. If she had been that noisy at any time, let alone five in the morning she would have been in big trouble.

Being unable to return to sleep she had gone to get some breakfast only to run into her cousin, Neji. The seven year old had sneered at her and told her she was a failure unsuited to being the clan heir.

After being forced to participate in a spar with Neji, which she lost badly, she had run to the one place she felt safe, her mother's garden. In the time since her mother's death it had grown wild, with no one tending it. But that was ok, the tall grass, weeds and flowers hid her as she lay by the pond for a short time escaping the looks she always got from her family.

But her peace was not meant to last. Three ten year old boys from the branch house walked by and spotted her. They laughed at her and called her weak. Then to Hinata's horror they began to destroy her mother's garden. They called her beautiful strong mother weak. They said she was not strong enough to survive having a baby and it was because she spent her time gardening instead of training.

For the first time in her life Hinata was angry. Angry enough to purposely harm another human. She saw red and with a wordless cry she attacked the boys who had dared attack her mother's garden and memory. Unfortunately she was a small six year old girl trying to fight three ten year old boys with more training than her.

She managed to get in a few good hits before they took her down and begin beating her with fists and feet. A few minutes later an adult noticed them and broke up the fight. The boys were sent to their parents and she was brought before her father.

So now here she stood bruised and broken, with streaks down her cheeks a testament to her tears. With her father looking down at her from behind his big desk, anger showing in his pupil-less eyes.

"Explain yourself." He said in a quiet voice daring her to contradict his ideas of what had happened.

Hinata took a deep breath and repeated in her head 'I must not cry' a few times before opening her mouth "I-I-I was j-just sitting in m-mother's g-g-garden w-when they a-attacked…"

"That's enough if you can not speak clearly do not speak at all." Hiashi said, his anger clearly rising. "The boys say you attacked them for no reason. And then you lost, you are the heir of the greatest clan in Konoha. You can not show weakness. Not only did you let yourself get beaten but you were playing around with flowers. You are going to be a ninja and ninja's do not play with flowers! You are starting the academy in three days there is no time for distractions. Tomorrow I am having that garden taken out. Since you seem to like the place so much I will have a training ground put there. You will train there every day is that understood."

"Y-Y-Yes." Hinata couldn't prevent the single tear that made it's way down her cheek as she bowed to her father and left the room.

Yes today was definitely the worst day of her life. As she walked down the hall the eyes of her family following her as they commented on her failings to each other. In that moment Hinata didn't care. All she could think about was the impending destruction of her mothers garden.

0000

Late that night Hinata was laying in bed unable to sleep due to the pain from her fights and the idea that her mother's garden would be gone in a few days. Giving it up as a lost cause she got up and as quietly as any six year old child of a ninja crept out into the night. She slowly climbed out her window and made her way to the shed where gardening equipment was kept, remembering something her mother had said to her before her death.

They were out in the garden and she was listening to her mother tell her about the different plants and flowers, listing off uses for them along with tips on how to care for them. She stopped before a peony and sniffed one of the blooms. Beckoning Hinata forward she showed her the bush and whispered "This is my favorite flower, it and the garden belonged to your grandmother and she gave it to me when I married your father. If anything ever happens to me I want you to have it. Never let it die and let it be a reminder of how much I love you."

With her mother's wish in her mind she gathered a cart, a pot, soil and the biggest shovel she could handle by herself before silently heading towards her mother's garden, a small bush with red flowers filling her head.

Two hours later she almost had the bush out when her shovel hit something hard, looking around to make sure no one heard her she started digging around the unknown object convinced it was a gift from her mother, who else would hide such a thing under this bush.

Finally extracting the box she found a medium sized rectangle box made of a dark wood, it was plain with no designs and no clear way to open it. Enchanted by the box Hinata sat there holding it up and examining it in the moonlight.

An owl hooted in a nearby tree startling her, she quickly put the box in the wagon and went back to her original task of rescuing the peony. She transplanted the flowering bush into the pot she had brought and with all her strength lifted it into the wagon before slowly making her way back the her room. Thanking her lucky stars that everything in the Hyuga district was on the first floor she lifted the bush into her window setting it on her dresser, where it was quickly joined by the strange box. Hinata made her way back to the gardening shed, put everything back where she found it.

Twenty minutes later Hinata crawled back into bed happy that she had been able to save the flower her mother loved so much and determined to find out what was in the unknown box. With those thoughts the tired six year fell asleep, holding one of the blossoms from her new potted plant.

0000

Naruto was sulking. Sulking as only a six year old can, with arms crossed eyebrows knitted and bottom lip out, ignoring the people who were filing into the classroom that were currently his sulking grounds. It had been a week since the Kyuubi had made her presence known and not his first day in the academy he knew no more than he had before. He had planed to come into class and show everyone how awesome he was but the Kyuubi had not taught him anything.

No the mangy fox had told him that before they could really start training he needed to have a basic understanding of things like chakra, along with the ability to keep his mouth shut and his abilities to himself. As if he couldn't keep a secret, what did the fox take him for a child?

And then she had said something about gathering information, knowing the situation, whatever that meant. And what could she possibly want to know that he couldn't tell her? No Kyuubi was just being mean.

Never one to dwell on anything for to long, Naruto sighed put his elbows on the desk in front of him, dropped his head onto his hands and started watching his new classmates walk in. There were some interesting looking people. One guy seemed to have a black pineapple growing out of the back of his head while his friend had swirly tattoos on his cheeks. Then there was the girl with bright pink hair held back with a red ribbon. He nearly laughed at the kid who's hair looked like a duck's butt but managed to hold it in.

'What were these kids parents thinking letting them go out in public looking like that? Oh look the pineapple head fell asleep I thought all six year olds had more energy than they knew what to do with. Human's are weird' Kyuubi sighed in his head. 'Now pay attention in class, once you learn the basics I can start teaching you the more interesting stuff.'

Naruto grumbled an affirmative as he returned to people watching. Then he spotted her. He did not know who she was but he could see it in her white eyes, she had given up. Stopped believing in human goodness. It was the same look he got every time someone told him to get lost for no reason or would not let him shop in their store. Why was this tiny girl with the strange colored eyes so sad? How could she have become so jaded? He decided that if it was the last thing he did he would find out, regardless of what people said about him he was going to be a good person, and it would start with restoring the girl's faith in humanity.

Kyuubi had told him to pay attention she just never said to what. So he paid attention to the girl. Through course introductions and a long winded explanations of what it meant to be a ninja. And when it was time for lunch and everyone else made their way outside to eat he followed her as she made her was to a secluded area under a tree.

Naruto straightened his shirt and tried to flatten his hair. Now that he was actually going to talk to her he was terribly nervous. What if she didn't like him? Or her parents told her not to talk to him, or worst he made her cry. Wiping his hands on his pants and taking a deep breath he boldly walked over to her.

"Hi, can I sit with you?" he asked shyly.

The girl looked up from her lunch, clearly startled that someone was talking to her. "S-S Sure." She replied giving him as much of a smile as she could manage before looking back down at her lunch.

Naruto gave her a big smile, and sat down next to her. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?"

"Hinata H-H-Hyuga."

"What's wrong with your eyes?" He asked trying to start a conversation.

Hinata head shot up in surprise at the question before her eyes narrowed in anger. "There is nothing wrong with my eyes, everyone in my family has them."

"Really? Can they do anything cool? Like see through walls?" Naruto asked excitedly, bouncing up and down next to her.

"U-U-Um sort of." Hinata said nervously looking back down at her lunch, missing Naruto's expression as his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Awesome," he whispered in awe "can I get eyes like that."

"Um no only m-members of the H-H-Hyuga clan have them."

Naruto frowned "That's stupid I want cool eyes to." At least he had gotten her talking, "Oh well I will just have to find some other way to be awesome, if I had eyes like that I would just be copying you. So what do you like to do?" She looked up surprised that someone was asking her about something other than ninja training. Oh ya, he was going to be her friend no matter what.

0000

Hinata followed the branch house member in charge of picking her and her cousin up from the academy as he hurried back to the house, her first day had been mind shattering. Not the classes or the teachers but the other students she had talked to. She even made a friend. And the thing she took away from the day was not everyone lived like the Hyuga's. There was so much out there beyond the walls of the clan compound and she was determined to experience it. One day she was going to be free of the looks her family gave her and the way they talked to her. She would not have to train with them every day, life could change for her, she could, no would be free.

The boy Naruto had in one day shown her more kindness than her whole clan, except her mother, had since she had been kidnapped when she was three. Why was her family so cold? Were most family's like hers or were they kind and willing to listen to others like Naruto? Well she decided she was going to be nice regardless of what her family was like.

With these thoughts and her head held high she walked through the gates and into the Hyuga compound. Her guide turned to her, "Lord Hiashi wishes to see you immediately." he said with a bow before he left. Hinata sighed and turned in the direction of her father's office as Neji huffed in her direction muttering something about fate and being weak before walking off.

As Hinata headed to meet with her father she noticed that she was not getting as many hateful looks as normal instead some were looking at her with smug satisfaction while others were looking on with pity. Her new found resolve faded as she wondered what could have happened in the past few hours to cause this change.

She stopped in front of her father's office and knocked lightly. After a moment and a firm reply from her father to enter she slowly slid the door open before bowing and entering the dark musty room. She approached his desk and stood at attention, hands clasped in front of her.

After what seemed like an eternity her father spoke "You are late, learn to be on time." he chided before looked up at her and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Remember this in the future unless you are in the practice court you will not appear before me unless you are formally attired. Do you understand?"

Knowing that a response was required she stuttered out an affirmative.

Hiashi's eyes narrowed "The Hyuga clan is the strongest clan in the hidden leaf village if you continue on your current path of weakness you will be an embarrassment to your family. As the heir you not only have to be stronger than any of the other children in the clan but also at the academy. Today your sister activated her byakugan for the first time. This is nearly unheard of for someone her age, you on the other hand did not activate your eyes until you were nearly four. If you are not up to the challenges that face the heir of the Hyuga clan I will put the caged bird seal on you and make Hanabi my heir. Do you understand me?" he asked as he leaned towards her the light from the afternoon sun streaming in behind causing his eyes to glow as the rest of his face was hidden in shadows.

Hinata shuttered, gulped, nodded and swallowed again before squeaking out a yes.

Hiashi sat back in his chair "Good, the workers have finished the construction on your new training field, go and practice until dinner. You are dismissed."

Hinata quickly bowed before leaving the stuffy room. She shut the door behind her before running to the training field, the place that had once been her haven, which would soon become her own personal hell.

0000

It had been three days since Naruto had started the academy and so far everything had been going well, he was making friends with some of the other students and learning about being a ninja. For the first time in quite a while he was content and dare he say happy. Sarutobi looked up from his crystal ball with a sinister grin and small chuckle, it was time for the next step in his plan for the boy.

0000

There's chapter two, by the way I always love reviews.

As I reread this chapter I realized that Hiashi was really an evil bastard. I know this chapter is rather dark and focuses a lot on Hinata but she is going to be a part of Naruto's team and thus will be one of the main characters so I needed to introduce her. Ten points to anyone who can guess who the third person will be.

I can't decide if I should redeem Neji or make him just like the rest of the clan, if I do change his fate driven attitude it won't be for a while, sorry no epic life altering Naruto/Neji battle during the Chunin exams. Input or ideas on where his character should go are always welcomed.

On a side note I got to read the manga Full Metal Alchemist this weekend, when not trying to get my 5 and 7 year old cousins to leave me alone, and it was freaking awesome. If you have not read it, or only watched the anime, I highly recommend it.

~Erkovas