Pilot – Waking up in Tokyo


Hi everyone! I'm dipping my feet in this whole storytelling thing again with a short little chapter. Let me know what you guys think! I'm excited to be picking up 'The Substitute' again as well, so stay tuned!

In order to make sure that you guys don't go without updates for too long, I've actually written out ten chapters of this story before releasing the first chapter, so take that – procrastination! I know, I've really outdone myself, haven't I?

I wanna go ahead and warn ahead of time as this story will contain depictions of violence, SA, strong language and some other things that may be disturbing to some readers. If these things are too much for you, please abstain from reading this story.

Now, onto more fun things – namely the story! Once again, please let me know what you think!


"What are you doing standing around?! Retrieve her at once!" Hiashi's voice rang out like a siren into the air as rain poured down on the empty streets of Konoha, but Hinata did not stop running. She'd barged out in nothing but her kimono and was already soaked from head to toe, her feet splashing against the rapidly formed puddles in the uneven ground, causing their reflection to shatter as the water dispersed into new crevices.

This was the final straw. Not only was he making her retire from her duties as a ninja, but he was stripping her of her freedom by jailing her within the walls of the Hyuuga residence and forcing her to marry a man she'd never met, let alone could ever love.

Ever since she was young she had never felt loved. The look of disgust and contempt in her father's eyes as she struggled – and repeatedly failed – to live up to his expectations had followed her throughout her sixteen years of life. Her team was nice, but she always felt like she was an outcast because of her family name. Never had she dated, no one had ever shown any interest in her. How was she meant to marry at such a young age, anyway?! What was her father thinking, marrying off his sixteen year-old daughter to a twenty-something year-old man?! She felt betrayed. Betrayed by the elders for setting her up for an arranged marriage and putting the clan above morals and ethics. Betrayed by her sister for lying to her and leading her to the meeting under the guise that it was for a "ceremony for their mother". Betrayed by her father for… Everything. For lying, for looking down on her and seeing her as useless and good for nothing but marriage into power. For hating her for who she was.

"I'd rather die." She whispered to herself assertively. Never was she going to do what they told her to again.

She needed to get away, if only for a little while to calm down and organize her thoughts.

The rain continued to pour in the wind in a disordered chaos, mirroring her thoughts. Her clothes were disheveled, her white makeup and red lips now smudged all over her face and dress. Even her hair that one of the servants of the estate had helped her set into a neat up-do, was now falling apart, with strands sticking to her neck and face.

The voices of panicked Hyuuga members were becoming increasingly faint the further away she got. At the village gates, young shinobi were returning from their missions, excited to return to their family and friends. Never had Hinata felt so isolated from everyone else. What wouldn't she give to have a loving family waiting for her to return from her listen so that they could listen to her stories of the adventures she'd embarked on. Not once, not once did Hiashi ask her about her missions. Not once had he shown even a hint of interest in her life.

Trying to ignore the looks of bewilderment as she passed through the gate on her own, Hinata picked up her pace and dashed into the darkness.

She didn't really know where she was going, but she eventually felt that no one would catch up to her and could finally slow down into a walk. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she could hear it in her head together with the droplets of water landing on the leaves of the trees around her. She looked up, and a drop immediately landed on the bridge of her nose. She flinched, then wiped her face with her soaked sleeve. Tears had been streaming from her face without her even noticing it.

"Father, why would you do this to me..?" Her shoulders slumped and she lowered her gaze to her feet as she walked, eventually crashing to her knees in a defeated heap.

She knew that she couldn't stay out there forever and that she would eventually have to return. She had nowhere to go, no one who cared about her enough to let her live in hiding from her family. The Hokage would be contacted within hours of her disappearance and that would be it for her. She was the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, after all. Everyone would find out who she was and what she looked like, she'd be returned – forcibly even – if anyone found her. Even though she had fled the estate, she was already chained to it.

"Why am I even alive..?" She asked herself, the looming darkness in her mind growing with the realization of her new reality. "I have nothing… No one will ever love me…"

As if nature had adapted to her mind, Hinata looked up to see a cliff not far from her and, using the last bit of her energy, she pushed herself to her feet and shuffled over to its edge. She peered down, into the vast darkness with seemingly no bottom. The rain gathered at the tip of her nose and dripped down into the darkness. Suddenly, the idea of following those drops started to feel appealing and she slowly inched closer to the edge. Her toes sank into the muddy ground beneath her and she felt herself almost slipping closer and closer to the open air before her. Silence enveloped her and the sound of the rain seemed to disappear as she stared down into the inviting void below her.

But she stopped herself. Something told her that she didn't want to die. She had enough of a will to live to feel a certain fear when faced with death. Life must have something in store for her. Some kind of calm washed over her and she turned around, having made up her mind on returning, as she always did. No matter how many times she had ran away, she would always come back, and she would hate herself for it.

"There you are." The voice of her cousin Neji startled her and she jumped in her place. "Hinata, now you've really done it." Neji emerged from the forest in front of her, his face twisted in anger. "Come here, now."

Hinata winced at his words. Neji's tone always spewed venom when he spoke to her, but his body had always spoken otherwise. Hinata had been trying to deny it to herself, but she'd always had a feeling that Neji wanted something from her. He looked at her with hate, but there had always been something underlying. She couldn't quite figure out what it was, but whatever it was, it was about to make itself very clear at this moment as he approached her with predatory steps. She felt like a trapped animal and he was the lion. Hinata stepped back, but knew that there wasn't much distance left between her and that cliff.

"Trying to run away, are we?" Neji smirked and furrowed his brows. "Did you really think you could get away that easily?"

"N-Neji-niisan, please… I… I just ne-nee-needed t-to cl-clear my mi-mind…" She gulped, her expression showing nothing but fear for her cousin. "I-I was a-about to re… re-return…"

"Of course you were, you always do."

She flinched at his words. He was right, she always returned. No matter what happened, Hiashi and the elders knew that she would have to make her way back. Hinata felt tears brimming in her eyes again, panic overcoming her. Neji suddenly made his move and reached out, grabbing her arm hard before she could even think to react.

"Ah..!" She cried out in pain. "I-I'm sorry!" Neji lifted her arm above her head with one hand and held her face with the other, forcing her to look at him. Her cheeks squeezed together between his fingers and she tried to pull away, but to no avail.

"So you're to wed, huh? You think you can seduce any man with looks like yours?" Hinata shut her eyes tightly, too afraid to meet his condescending glare. "You think you can get away that easily? I've had to hold myself back, but now I see no need."

"H-help!" Hinata desperately called out, but Neji only let out a laugh. Seeing the panic and fear in her eyes only seemed to add fuel to his morbid excitement.

"There's no one out here, Hinata." He leaned in, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered only for her to hear. "We're all alone." Hinata shivered in response to his advances.

What is it that he wants to do..? Hinata trembled under his grip, but used her other hand to try to push him away, only for that hand to also be grabbed and pinned behind her back.

"Don't fight. I will hurt you." With his patience dwindling, Neji tightened his grip. "Be a good girl and do as I say."

"Ne-Neji-niisan, wh-wha-what ar-are you…" Her eyes widened in disbelief as she watched him loosen the obi belt around her waist. "W…Wha…"

What is he doing?! She tried to fight back, but all efforts were futile as he opened up her robe, revealing her thin silken dress beneath.

"P-ple-please s-s-st-stop!" Tears streamed down her cheeks. "W-why are y-yo-you do-doing this!?"

"Shut up." Was all he said, his tone threatening enough to suck all the hope out of her body. She stopped resisting and nearly went entirely limp, her legs just barely holding her up.

What has my life become… All I ever wanted was to be loved. I wanted to find someone who would like me for who I was, even though I'm a useless failure that will never live up to anyone's expectations. I'm not good for anything.

Her own words from before echoed in her mind. I'd rather die.

Suddenly, a fire ignited inside of her and she used Neji's loosening grip on her wrists as he was shifting focus to in one swift move, step forward and strike him.

"Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms!" Taken completely off-guard by her sudden actions, Neji took a hard blow from her, causing him to stumble backwards. Hinata on the other hand, went flying out over the edge of the cliff. He tried to reach out to grab her, but her thin silken dress slipped out of his hands. Their eyes met for a brief moment; both full of shock.

"Idiot!" He yelled, attempting to stand, but Hinata had managed to cut off the chakra in his legs. "Get back here!"

As she watched the fading view of Neji yelling words she couldn't quite make out at her, Hinata turned her head to see the darkness below quickly approaching. Was this how it was to end? Dying at sixteen, alone, not having achieved anything noteworthy and never knowing what it was like to be loved.

The tears stopped falling and she prepared for the impact. I wish I could have been born into a different life, surrounded by love and care.

"Goodbye." She whispered, shutting her eyes.

But she never felt the impact. Instead, darkness was replaced with light and she found herself lifting a hand to her face while trying to adapt to the brightness. Where is all this light coming from? Where am I? Did father find me? Did someone place me under a genjutsu?

"Did you fall asleep again, Hinata?" A voice, and an unfamiliar one at that.

"Typical Hinata, haha! You're so stupid, honestly." A girl's voice. "Sensei'll be here any minute, you know." Is she talking to me..?

Suddenly she was enveloped in warmth. As her eyes started to adjust, she realized she had been resting her head against something hard and the source of the brightness was a light in the ceiling. She blinked several times and raised her head from the hard surface.

Where's the rain? Why am I inside? Am I hallucinating? This must be a genjutsu.

"Sensei, Hinata was sleeping!"

"Again? I swear Hyuuga-san, if only you spent as much time studying as you did slacking off, you'd be accepted into Tokyo University next year."

Hinata sat up in her chair. Wait, there was a chair? Why was she sitting? She looked at what she'd been resting on. A desk.

"Hahaha oh my god, you look SO confused!" A light flashed in front of her and she flinched. More light? Seriously? "You're so crazy, I swear."

"Hyuuga!" Someone stood in front of her and she immediately looked up. Before her was a tall, slender lady with beautiful wavy hair and what looked to be a textbook in her hand. "How many times have I told you – rolling up your skirt and buttoning up your blouse can and will get you expelled sooner or later! Have you looked like this all day and gotten away with it?" The woman's tone was harsh, but there was a hint of affection behind it. "Tsk, the teachers need to speak up."

"U-um.." Hinata stuttered, then looked down at herself. This genjutsu… Whoever placed me under it knows what they're doing.

"Ah!" She cried out, immediately covering her legs when seeing how high up her skirt was. Then she noticed her blouse being unbuttoned dangerously much and quickly rushed to button it. "Ah! I-I'm s-so so-sorry!"

"Huh?" The voice that was behind the flashing light suddenly spoke up again. "What did you just say?"

Hinata looked up again, her head hanging low in embarrassment. Her eyes met with a pair of icy teal ones. The girl before her had her hair divided into four parts and she was, like Hinata, wearing her clothes in an unacceptable manner. What is going on!?

But behind the girl was something even more unbelievable. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and she stood to her feet and headed straight for the wall of windows behind the crazy hair girl.

"What are you doing now?" Laughter could be heard around her, but all she saw was what lay beyond the windows. Everything in the room faded out as she tried to come to terms with what she was seeing.

Wherever she was, it was not in a genjutsu.

The view stretched out before her was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Tall, sleek buildings with hundreds of windows, streets below with people of all sorts of appearances and strange clothing walking alongside moving things with people in them. Blinking lights and billboards, sounds, beeping, honking, sirens.

Where… Where am I!? She stared in awe and wonder at the world that lay before her. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. There was no genjutsu that could create this world, it was unfathomable. Was she dreaming? Was this what heaven looked like? A futuristic world with people dressed in weird clothes and moving boxes with wheels on them?

The panic on her face must have been palpable.

"Is this some kind of sketch or what?"

"Why is she acting so weird all of a sudden, did she hit her head?"

"She woke up a new person! Hahaha."

Hinata spun around and supported herself against the window sill, trying to take in where she was. She seemed to be wearing a plaid skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, white socks and some black leather shoes. It wasn't too weird, but she quickly unrolled the skirt so that it almost reached her knees and finished buttoning up her shirt. Just then, something vibrated in her pocket and she jumped in surprise. She quickly pulled it out and threw it across the floor. What was that?!

"Woah, what the heck are you doing?!" Some people were shocked, some just laughed at her outburst. Who are these people, and why are they dressed like me?! And what was that thing in my pocket?!

A guy with brown scruffy hair and pants instead of a skirt picked up the thing that had vibrated, checked the surface of it for whatever reason, and then handed it to her, an indifferent look on his face. His eyes were warm, and his body language was relaxed. He had one hand in his pocket, the other outreached in her direction.

"No scratches. Here you go." His voice was soft and warm, but above all – kind.

She looked down at the object in utter confusion. A white glass object? Why was she carrying that? Just then, it lit up and there was some text displaying "Snapchat from Temari" in Japanese. Snapchat? Temari?

"Are you gonna take it, or?" The guy started to look somewhat uneasy, so she carefully took the thing from his hands without asking any questions.

"Th-thank you…" She smiled a little, bowing her head slightly to him. He's kind of cute…

The guy cocked his eyebrow, clearly confused.

"What the hell?" He turned his head to hide his face, but his ears seemed to have a hint of redness to them.

"Huh..?" Did I say something wrong?

"Hinata, why aren't you telling him to piss off like you always do?"

"Temari's right, piss off Kiba. Hinata's outta your league and you know it, so fuck off." Another girl chimed in on behalf of the crazy haired girl. Kiba? Why are they swearing so much?

"Okay, settle down! Hinata, give me your phone." The lady from before stomped back over to her and held her hand out. "Now." Ph-phone?

Hinata looked from left to right and up to down, but became none the wiser. "Wh-what?"

"Stop playing stupid." The woman took the object straight from her hands and walked to the front of the room. Hinata suddenly put two and two together and realized that they were in a classroom. Am I in some kind of school? Am I wearing a uniform of sorts? Is that why we're all dressed the same? And what's a phone?

"Ha-ha." A new voice made itself heard as a new person entered the room. "Serves you right." The voice was almost alluring in its softness and tone. When she turned to look at its source, she locked eyes with what was probably the most attractive person she had ever laid eyes upon.

He was blonde, with bright blue eyes that matched the sky outside. His hair was a beautiful mess, and his clothes fit him like a model. His arms were toned, and by the looks of it, he was well-trained. Hinata felt heat rise to her cheeks as she continued to take in his beauty. Is this… Is this what attraction feels like?

"Great, now they're gonna fight again." The crazy haired girl who seemed to be named Temari rolled her eyes and popped a lollipop into her mouth, leaning back in her seat and turning her gaze to the window.

"Hinata's completely out of it, you should've seen! Check your snap, Naruto!" Someone from the back of the classroom called out and held his… phone… Up in the air. "You're gonna laugh your ass off!"

"Hm…" Feigning interest, the boy stopped in front of her and tilted his head to the side, a look of annoyance on his face. "You're in my way, move."

H…

Huh?


What do you think? Let me know! Next chapter up tomorrow!