Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story. If asked to remove it by someone who does, I will.
Hinata does not act. She lacks the confidence to act, or perhaps the courage to; she isn't quite sure. Or perhaps it is as simple as the fact that she is too weak to act, a fact that has been pointed out to her by her father, her cousin, even her younger sister for as long as she can remember.
She does not know. All she knows is that when she tries to act, she hesitates, or she stutters, or she is overcome by one of a hundred other reactions that make her blush, and wish she had not acted in the first place.
And so she settles on watching, because no one can fault her for doing that.
She watches her cousin, the prodigy Hyuuga Neji, she and sees how he struggles against himself, torn apart by the tragedy that claimed the life of his father. She watches as he tries to find a purpose in life, and is unable to, slowly coming to the conclusion that there is no purpose in life, that human thoughts and human actions are meaningless because fate is inextorable.
She watches the last Uchiha, Sasuke, and she sees the darkness growing inside of him, the rage and grief that are building up, just waiting for a target to lash out against. She watches as he isolates himself from others, unwilling, or perhaps unable, to accept the offers of friendship and compassion that are constantly being given to him, still stuck in that event that shattered his world so many years ago.
But mostly, she watches him, that boy who's loneliness so mirrors her own, Urumazi Naruto. She notices the anger and disdain that the adults give him, though she does not understand it, and she sees how much pain it gives him, even if he himself refuses to admit it, even to himself. She watches as he acts out, playing pranks and practical jokes in a desperate attempt to get attention, because, after all, any attention at all is better than the indifference that most people give him.
She sees it all, and she knows that she should do something, because the darkness within these boys is growing stronger every day, and there will come a time when it might consume them. The others do not see it, or, if they do, they refuse to acknowledge it, content to close their eyes and pretend that there is no problem rather than confront it and risk the peaceful existance that they have. She should do something... say something... but she does not.
After all, Hinata does not act.
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know, I'm being too mean to her. But last night I was thinking about Naruto, and the scene where Hinata is introduced and Naruto thinks of her as the creepy girl that is always watching him came to mind, and then it just wouldn't leave me alone. I don't really think this is true, but, like I said, it just wouldn't leave me alone and so I had to write it. I know this story sucks, but I wrote it at five in the morning after getting home from work.
Also, keep in mind that this is supposed to be from her point of view, so when I call her weak or lacking in confidence, that is her opinion of herself.
Mostly, this is just an effort to get back into the mood to write. I'm not sure if it worked, but I promise that if it didn't, I won't delete all of my unfinished stories like I did last time.
