Author's Note: I do not own Naruto.
Three years, two weeks, and one day ago Hinata Huyga's light and inspiration left her alone. She couldn't believe it had been that long. What she really couldn't believe was that she was still here at Konoha's Ninja Academy at all. Ever since that fateful day when he had the last straw and left the academy Hinata's confidence had quickly shriveled into nothing. She thought that before any of the events from years ago had occurred that she was unconfident and self-conscious. However, after her light walked away, she truly felt what hopelessness was all about.
The Young Heiress had never, to the great disappointment of her father and clan, been very high in the class standings. She had always been average in all of her studies. However, after Naruto Uzumaki dropped out of the academy everything had gotten significantly worse. She went from being mediocre to the dead last in just a matter of a few weeks. No matter how hard she tried she just could not bring herself to improve her grades. She sat at the bottom of the class for the next three years. On top of her grades plummeting, she also found that her stuttering had increased, her self-loathing had reached an all time high, and her shyness was to the point where some wondered if she could even talk at all.
She had spent the large majority of her life second guessing herself and being verbally, mentally, and physically abused by her own family. Throughout it all only one person ever brought a smile to her face and warmth to her heart. That was Naruto Uzumaki. She had never gathered the courage to talk to the boy, however, she knew without a doubt that she loved and admired him more than anything in the world. She had hoped that since they were in the same class at the Academy that at some point, she would gather the courage to talk to the blonde boy of her dreams and maybe be his friend.
Unfortunately, that was never the case. They were just shy of a year into the academy when an event occurred that caused the boy to drop from the academy.
-Flashback-
It was just another day of school. Shikamaru was sleeping, Choji was eating, Sasuke was brooding, most of the girls were fangirling, Hinata was trying to get enough courage to talk to her secret crush during lunch, and Naruto was interrupting the class by letting everyone know that he would be the greatest Hokage ever.
Yup, it was a very typical day at the Ninja Academy.
Very quickly the last few minutes before lunch had passed. Hinata sat at her desk taking a few deep breaths as she tried to talk herself into finding Naruto and offering to share her lunch with him. She had noticed that most days the boy didn't bring lunch for himself, so for the past month she had been making extra in hopes of sharing with him. She had yet to do it, but she was hoping that today would be the day.
After a few minutes of silently boosting her confidence, she got up from her desk and followed the class outside. Once she was there, she began her search for Naruto hoping that he once again didn't have a lunch.
It only took her a few moments to locate the boy. She found him lying on the ground with the whole class surrounding him and Sasuke Uchiha. She decided to watch what was going on for a few moments, then when the crowd dissipated, she would make her move.
"Give it up loser. You will never be able to defeat someone from the elite Uchiha clan, and you will never be Hokage." Sasuke sneered at Naruto as he laid on his back looking up at the top of the class ninja.
"Whatever Sasuke-Teme!" Naruto snapped back. "Who cares what you think! There are other people who believe in me!"
"Oh really? Who might these other people be?" Sasuke spat in a mocking tone. "I don't see anyone here that believes in you! Am I wrong? If you believe that this idiot is going to become the Hokage then please step forward and let us all know. I for one would love to find anyone that believes in him."
The crowd said nothing, and nobody moved. From where Hinata was standing she could see the look of pain and loneliness in those soft ocean blue eyes. He desperately wanted anyone of his peers to speak up and defend him. This was her chance. All she had to do was say two little words—I do. If she did that then she would surely have the opportunity to befriend the boy. No matter how hard she tried to speak up nothing seemed to be coming from her mouth. She was silent through the whole event.
Sasuke smirked and turned to Naruto. "It looks like no one believes in your dream here! So, why don't you do us all a favor and just quit now."
Naruto's gaze hardened as he looked at the people he wanted to befriend and realized that Sasuke spoke the truth. Nobody here believed in him. That was fine with him. He would make them believe. He stood up, dusted the dirt off of his bright orange jumpsuit, looked everyone in the eye one by one, and stated in a confident voice, "I know where I'm not wanted. I quit! You won't find me in your classes anymore. Each of you have made it quite clear that you don't respect or want me. But mark my words, I WILL BE HOKAGE ONE DAY!"
With that he pushed through the crowd leaving the school grounds. That was the last that any of the young ninja hopefuls saw of their loud-mouthed comrade.
-End of Flashback-
Hinata had felt terrible the rest of that week. However, she had decided that when the boy finally returned to the academy, she would be bold and become the boy's friend. The following week she had learned from Iruka-Sensei that Naruto had left the village for special training. After that she had wallowed in self-hatred, always blaming herself for Naruto leaving. If only she had spoken up, then maybe he would have stayed. Then maybe they would have been friends.
She spent the rest of her time at the academy barely scraping by and maintaining high enough standards to continue her education, and finally today would be the last time she would have to face this academy that only added to her misery. For today was the graduation exam. As long as she passed, she could start her career as a Leaf Ninja with a sensei that would hopefully bring her confidence and self-esteem back up.
Hinata had arrived early to the academy on account of her clan's standards. She sat quietly in her usual seat as she waited for her teachers and fellow students to arrive in order to take the exam with her. To be perfectly honest she was more nervous now than she had ever been in her entire life. She was really starting to doubt if her abilities were good enough to pass or not.
'Oh, how I wish Naruto was here to boost my confidence.' She thought to herself.
Right at that exact moment she heard the door at the front of the classroom open and was quite shocked when in walked none other than her light, her confidence, her Naruto Uzumaki.
