Well…….might as well continue, ne?
Again, I do not own Naruto.
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Hinata stared at his face, and tried to hide a frown; why did he seem so eager? Was he so eager to die? However, she hid her thoughts when she suddenly thought of her mother and her grandma. "We have to go back!" she exclaimed as she turned away, " I have to go warn Okaa-san!"
"Wait!" Ryo shouted as he pulled her wrist, "it'll be dangerous! You have to seek shelter immediately!" shaking her head, Hinata pulled away frantically. "Hinata!" Ignoring his voice, Hinata rushed alongside the river and into her home, where Hikari was still trying to rush her own mother out.
"Hinata," Hikari exclaimed, "we have to hide! Take your grandma and go hide first!" Nodding, Hinata rushed into her grandmother's room, where her grandmother was still packing things up. "Obaa-san, we have to hurry!" Hesitantly, and reluctantly, her obaa-san abandoned the things she was packing, only grabbing a photo that she quickly stashed in her kimono.
By now, half of the village was in flames, and people were screaming as the chaos grew. Hinata could distinctively see the enemies' planes in the distance, and bombs being scattered. Worried, she quickly tugged for her grandma to hurry as they came near the forest.
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The next day….
The villagers grumbled as they slowly walked back to their homes, while the less fortunate stood by the burning piles of rubbish where their homes had once been. Hinata bit her bottom lip and silently ushered her silent grandma inside when someone came rushing towards her. "Hinata-sama!" the man cried, "Neji-sama has been injured!" He paused to catch his breath before continuing, "He wants to see you, in case he doesn't make it."
Hinata made no reply as she rushed off to the richer side of town, where her Nii-san, Neji, and father lived, along with her little sister, Hanabi. You see….her parents weren't officially married per say…in fact, she was just an accident because of her parents, who use to be lovers. However, her father had to marry another since he was rich, and her mother was poor. Hikari never spoke much of her father, Hiashi, but her eyes would always glaze over whenever Hinata asked about him. In fact, Hinata often remembered her mother crying on her birthday, because it was also the day that Hiashi had married another. And a few years later, Hikari would cry again when she heard that Hiashi's new wife, whatever her name was, had a child, who they named Hanabi.
As for Neji, he was really her cousin, but they were very close ever since his parents died when he was still very young. He was still currently studying to become a doctor, but if his life ended now….his dreams would be shattered.
Shaking her head as she tried to clear her thoughts, Hinata soon found herself standing in front of her father's mansion. Rattling the iron gates, a guard soon came. "Ah….Hinata-sama," he bowed, "what is your business today?" "I-I have come to see Neji," she stuttered, nervously. Nodding, the guard let her in and was about to turn away when she suddenly stopped him. "A-anon…"she bit her bottom lip nervously; she was always nervous when she was here, maybe because she was nervous about meeting her father, "d-don't tell anyone I'm here…please.." the guard nodded and bowed as Hinata silently walked inside, and quickly walked into Neji's room.
"Neji-nii…" she whispered as she knocked on the door. When there came no answer, she hesitantly opened the door to find Neji asleep, her father by his side. He seemed confused at her sudden appearance, and she mentally screamed inside at her bad luck. "At least it wasn't Hanabi or Hanabí's mother…" she thought as she nervously stared back at her silent father. "Who am I kidding? This is worse!"
Finally, Hiashi cleared his throat, and beckoned for her to sit in the chair across from him. "So…I take it that you heard Neji's condition…"Nodding silently, Hinata made no reply as her father sighed. "…this was partly my fault…" he muttered, "I was not a good guardian, and caused Neji to suffer." He sighed, and became silent again as Hinata stared down at her lap, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "…I-is N-neji-nii going to be o-okay?" she stuttered slightly as she cursed her stuttering.
"…the doctors said he was going to be okay as long as the wound doesn't get affected or another attack occur." "o-oh…" Hinata stared silently at her lap again, not knowing what to say. But before she had a chance to act, her father mumbled, "How is your mother doing, Hinata?" Surprised, she turned to look at him, and was surprised to find him a little sad and depressed. "…Okaa-san is fine," she said this time without stuttering, "she is still working too hard though…"
"I-I see…" was all he said. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes , Hinata staring sadly and angry at neji's sleeping form before Hinata heard voices approaching. Immediately, she knew it was Hanabi and her step mother. Quickly, she bowed to her surprised father, and said a quick farewell as she ran to the door. Throwing open the door, she was faced to faced with her stepmother, who seemed surprised before giving a smirk. "Why…hello there Hinata-chan…" she glared at Hinata, her brown eyes piercing at Hinata's soul. "What are you doing here?" Gathering up the little amount of courage she had, Hinata mumbled, "I-I came to s-see N-neji-nii…" Upon seeing her stutter, her stepmother's smirk grew wider. "Still stuttering, Hinata-chan," she said venomously, "what's the matter? Cat still got your tongue?" Hinata felt her face flare in embarrassment and she could hear the cruel taunting laughter boom in her ears before she heard a weak voice mutter, "Don't…tease Hinata-sama.." Surprised, she looked up to see Neji weakly sitting up, his pale lavender eyes slightly filled with anger. Rolling her eyes, Hinata's stepmother gave her another glare, as though saying "I'm not finished with you brat" before she left with her nose in the air. As Hinata sighed with relief, Neji slightly smiled before he winced lightly in pain. "Hey Hinata," he said casually, now that Hinata was no longer in trouble, "I see you got my message." Hinata nodded and walked back to his side, whispering, "thanks…."
Neji was the only one who knew of Hinata's fear of her stepmother and ever since they were young, he took it upon himself to protect her. Once Hiashi left them alone to talk in peace, they finally relaxed and Hinata finally got the details of how he was injured. It seems that Hanabi was being bratty as usual and wouldn't leave her things so Neji had to go get them, while a bomb was dropped about a few feet away. Luckily, he wasn't hurt as badly as he thought he was, but he would still have to stay inside for quite a while. After conversing for a while, Hinata finally decided it was time to go and let Neji get some rest, so she left, with a promise to come back soon. As she left the mansion, she also caught a glimpse of her little sister. She looked terribly similar to Hiashi.
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"Hinata! You're alright!" Hikari embraced Hinata tightly as Hinata arrived home. "Where were you?!" she exclaimed, fearfully, "you weren't taken by the enemy were you? Did anything happen?" Shaking
her head, Hinata gave Hikari an assuring smile. "Okaa-san, I'm ok. I was just visiting Neji-nii," she explained calmly and reassuringly. Hikari gave a smile of relief before she realized what that meant. "…Did you also…?" she trailed off, her eyes growing distant. Hinata meekly nodded. "Hai. Father is well, as well as Ami-sama (that's the stepmother's name) and Hanabi-sama.." Hikari chuckled slightly, but her eyes were slightly sad. However, she quickly brightened up, as though she was never sad in the first place. "Ah! Ryo-chan came again! He was very scared and worried about you!" Hikari chuckled slyly, "AW! My little Hinata-chan is finally growing up!" Blushing, Hinata ignored her mother as she stomped off.
"You can't run from the truth, Hina-kun!" her mother's voice trailed jokingly after her.
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"Hinata!" Biting her lip, Hinata closed her eyes, wishing she could disappear as she heard Ryo call her name. "Hinata!" "Just imagine you're not here…" she thought as she tried again to ignore him. However her attempts failed when he grabbed her wrist and smiled down at her.
"Sheesh, didn't you hear me? I was practically screaming at the top of my lungs!" he grinned. Smiling Hinata shrugged and resumed buying the groceries. "Anyways…what's your reply?" he asked softly. Hinata paused, her hand in midair before she forced a fake smile that pained her inside. "….I..want to think about it first…" she lied, although she knew her answer was really no. "…I'm sorry." He looked disappointed, but quickly brightened up again. "Well…I'll wait for your answer okay? Don't forget about it though. And here!" He pulled out a small box which contained a diamond ring. "let it remind you that I'm still waiting for you answer, okay?" He smiled. "When I come back, then give me your reply." Staring at it, Hinata shook her head. "I..I can't, Ryo-kun." She whispered, " this is too valuable for someone like me to keep." He laughed. " It's okay, Hinata. Just think of it as something to remember me by during my time away. " Staring guiltily at the box, hinata had no choice but to accept it.
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Later that day, Hinata once again walked to the wide river, her eyes downcast and confused. It was nearly nighttime, but being confused at Ryo's persistence of marriage, she just couldn't stay at home and listen to her mother talk more of marriage.
With a sigh, she suddenly felt the urge to swim since the water looked so inviting against the setting sun. Noticing that no one was around, immediately plunged into the water, clothes still on. Of course, she took off her jacket and shoes since they started to become heavy and started to swim, just to distract her mind off of the many things happening….Ryo's proposal….her mom's relationship with her father…her fear of Ami…and Neji's injuries….
Unknowingly, she started to swim downstream, since she was very stressed out, and had no clue as to what she was doing. But before she knew it, she was by some kind of harbor. Surprised, she tried to remain hidden, especially when she realized just what kind of harbor this was. It was the enemies harbor, for it had their Konoha flag. Many soldiers were bustling about, not even noticing her, which she was mighty thankful for. She had heard that the Konoha soldiers were very mean and harsh and raped women before killing them. In fact, just a few days ago, one of her neighbor's daughter, was raped. Of course, she went hysterical and killed herself, but she never did tell just who raped her. But her parents were set that it was the evil Konoha soldiers.
Cautiously, Hinata stared in silence at the bustling harbor, hidden by one of the larger boats, as she tried to gather some information as to why the Konoha soldiers had tried to set up camp there. She could hear some bits of information but there was nothing important and curious, she secretly clunk closer to their camp when she heard something plop into the water. Immediately, she feared she was caught and ducked down into the water, but nothing happened. When she resurfaced for air later, she was glad to see no one had seen her.
But as she turned to go back, she was surprised when someone spoke out to her. "Konbanwa," a male voice called out to her, "o-namae wa dou kaki-masu-ka?" Startled, she looked up to find a young man with a sooty and grimed covered face smiling down at her. "Hajimemashite."
Startled, Hinata sank lower into the water as he just grinned at her, his dark hair swaying slightly in the wind. "o-namae wa dou kaki-masu-ka?" he asked again. Not knowing whether to answer or not, Hinata just stared at him, her lavender eyes filled with curiosity. Seeing her reaction, he laughed, his dark onyx eyes sparkling as he laughed. "Anata wa kawaii desu" he whispered with a soft smile. Immediately, Hinata's face flamed up in spite of herself, and the man laughed.
Embarrassed, Hinata splashed water angrily at his face, surprising him greatly. As he turned to wipe his face, Hinata suddenly remembered he was the enemy. He was the one who attacked Neji….and he was most likely a rapist…Quickly, she turned away, when she heard him exclaim, "Chotto matte kudasai!" She paused and turned back, stuck out her tongue at him and quickly swam off with a loud splash that soaked him again.
Surprised, he stared at her form and grinned. "Sasuke," He turned, finding a blonde with whisker-like marks staring at him. "Nani ga arimashita ka?" Sasuke just shook his head as he turned back to find her gone. "Nandemo Naiyo, Naruto."
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Well…what did you think? Did you like it? Give me your opinions and reviews okay? I won't update if I don't get at least another review.
