6: Hinata Begins to Starve

During the next two weeks the weather took a turn for the worst. The slight chill in the air around Konoha escaladed, becoming snow. It began suddenly one morning as Hinata was getting dressed for the day. Standing by the window, she saw huge flakes drifting slowly down out of an icy sky that was the colour of steel.

By evening, it lay four feet deep across the entire village, and poor Hinata had to dig a path around the entrance to her building.

After the snow came a freezing gale that blew for days and days without stopping. And oh, how bitter cold it was! Everything that Hinata touched seemed to be made of ice, and each time she stepped outside the door, the wind was like a kunai on her cheek.

Inside her apartment, little jets of cold air came rushing through the sides of the window and through the tiny cracks of her roof (she lived in the topmost apartment), and there seemed like no way to escape from them. Hinata struggled to keep warm on her mattress at night. The excitement of the golden tickets had long since been forgotten. Hinata didn't give a thought to anything but the two vital problems of trying to keep warm and trying to get enough to eat.

There's something about very cold weather that gives one an enormous appetite. Many of the villagers found themselves craving rich, steamy bowls of rice and barbequed beef in stews and soups, and all kinds of delicious, warming dishes. Because all of the villagers are a great deal luckier than they realized, they usually got what they wanted, or near enough. But Hinata Hyuuga never got what she wanted because she was just too poor. Even when things seemed desperate and she went to see her father for help, he turned her down. He said that surviving the cold and hunger would build character and make her a stronger person. Hinata couldn't disagree more. She found herself becoming ravenously and desperately hungry. The piece of chocolate from before had been nibbled away ages ago, and all she got now were those thin, cabbagey meals three times a day.

Then all at once, the meals became even thinner.

The reason for this was because her three-man team stopped receiving missions from the Hokage due to the awful weather. Genins were no longer needed as people stopped requesting D, C, and even B rank missions. The only people who seemed to be working were Jounins, providing relief to other villages across the Fire country. In the end, the only way Hinata was able to earn any money was to shovel snow in the streets for the few ryou that she could get. But it wasn't nearly enough for her to buy enough food for herself. The situation became desperate. Breakfast was half a slice of bread (or nothing at all), and lunch was half of what it used to be.

Slowly but surely, Hinata began to starve.

And every night, Hinata would have to gaze out of her window and see the enormous chocolate factory that Wonka-san owned. Hinata would curl up into a ball and keep herself warm with the thoughts of being near such an amazing place; the tried to fill her stomach with the memory of that delicious, creamy taste and smell.

"That child," Kurenai said to Asuma one evening as they returned to Konoha after a rescue mission, "That child has got to have more food. I saw her this morning shoveling some one's walkway, and she looks like a skeleton!"

"Is her situation at home bad? I knew she'd been living on her own since Hiashi forbid her from returning" Asuma said as he lit a cigarette.

"She's not eating enough, that's for sure" Kurenai sighed, "I've tried to help her out a bit, but she refuses. She says that she'll be fine and that I should be worried about taking care of myself since we're doing more missions now!"

"She's a fine shinobi" Asuma said, "Knows nothing of greed, only thinks of others…"

The cruel weather went on and on.

And every day, Hinata grew thinner and thinner. Her face became frighteningly white and pinched, almost matching her eyes. One night after heading home from shoveling, she went to buy some food with her earnings. The snow drifted down, covering the top of her head. She shivered in the cold. Looking forward she saw that the streets were empty, everyone having gone home to escape from the bitter cold. Only one shadow of a person walked the streets in front of her. She couldn't make out who it was at such a distance. As the person's shape grew closer, Hinata couldn't even muster the blood to fill her cheeks. It was Uzumaki Naruto. His blonde, spiky head was covered in snow; he shivered in the cold as well.

"H-Hinata-chan, what're you doing out here?" he asked.

Hinata stumbled with her words, her teeth chattering. "N-N-N-Nar-r-r-r-uto-k-k-k-kun!" she said at last.

Naruto's eyes seemed to fill with concern. "Hinata, are you alright? You look very pale. Have you been getting enough to eat?" he asked.

Hinata couldn't bring herself to answer. She was far too tired and weak. Naruto seemed to notice this, as he stepped forward and braced her, thinking she might fall.

"H-Hinata-chan…c'mon, let's get you something hot to eat right away!" he said in a singsong voice.

"B-but, N-Naruto-kun…I don't want t-to be a bother"

"Don't be silly. C'mon, let's go eat together".

In no time at all, Hinata found herself sitting on a stool beside Naruto at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Behind the curtain signs, the stand felt pleasantly warm. Hinata felt warmth returning to her face and hands. The stand's owner turned to them, his cheeks rosy and his face friendly.

"Okay, what can I get for you two?" he asked.

Hinata tried to object, saying that he really didn't have to worry about her, but Naruto was too quick. "Two bowls of Tonkontsu ramen, with extra beef please!"

"Yosh! Right away!" he passed the order to his younger assistant, and then turned to face the two genins again. "Weather's crazy, eh? Haven't had snow like this many years. Keeping warm Naruto?" he asked his customer. Naruto smiled and nodded.

"And you," the man said, looking at Hinata, "Are you a friend of my best customer here? Don't think I've seen you around very often" Hinata managed a smile and introduced herself. The man smiled and looked at the two of them reflectively. "Ah…Hinata Hyuuga. Naruto's told me all about you of course, all good things!" he added quickly, seeing the look on Hinata's face. "Well, I'll get your ramen". He went to the back of the stand, leaving the two of them alone.

"Hinata, it's good to see you" Naruto said slowly, "I was kind of worried about you…Kakashi said something about hearing from Asuma that you weren't doing too well…" he trailed off. Hinata simply looked down at the counter, not wanting to meet Naruto's eyes. She didn't want to show any sort of "weakness" in front of the boy she admired so much. The man came back with two steaming bowls of ramen, which he placed in front of the two.

"Yosh! Thank you, old man! Itadakimasu!" Naruto said as the bowl hit the counter. He snapped a pair of chopsticks and began to dig in. Hinata merely stared at the bowl, its steam rising onto her face, condensing on her cheeks. She looked down at all of the delicious looking noodles and cuts of beef. Her mouth started watering, the ravenous hunger returning to her.

"You can go ahead and eat that, you know," Naruto said with a grin, "It'll do you a world of good". Hinata didn't need to be told twice. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating at an incredible pace. Oh, the joy to be able to eat hot, filling food! Her tongue was slightly burnt, but the wonderful flavor of the savoury soup coated her mouth and ran down her throat. It was so much more satisfying than the watery cabbage soup she'd been eating before. Finally, finishing her bowl in half the time it took Naruto, she laid it down on the counter and gave a tremendous sigh.

"T-That was good" she said, smiling.

"Told 'ya" said Naruto as he slurped up some noodles, "Say, have you been keeping up to date with the whole 'golden ticket' thing?" he asked Hinata. She turned and nodded her head. She told him how she'd found out about the four ticket winners and how awful they seemed.

"They're rotten children," Naruto said with a clenched fist, "none of them really deserve to go to Wonka-san's factory. I heard some guy in the Hidden Sand one the last ticket this morning…I heard some people talking about it. I guess it's really over now…"

Hinata wiped a bit of noodle off of her chin and sighed again, this one was sadder. "I guess that's it…it's too bad" she said.

"Yeah…" Naruto said quietly. "Kakashi-sensei…was telling us about Willy Wonka-san…why he made his factory so close to a hidden shinobi village. He told us that Wonka-san was the most generous and kind people in the world. He told us about a shinobi war in the south. Both sides hated each other, and people were suffering on both fronts…then, Wonka-san met with the leaders of both sides and treated them to some chocolate. The leaders ate his candy and smiled, saying it reminded them of simpler times…their childhood. Wonka-san said that they could live like that once again and bring peace to their villages, if only they would remember the joy that the candy brought them…later on, both sides stopped fighting. Wonka-san then made it his mission to care for the children of both sides, making sure they had enough to eat…what an awesome guy!" Naruto smiled, looking out into the distance. "When I become Hokage, I hope that I can do some of the amazing things that he can…like ending that war and bringing peace"

Hinata gazed at Naruto. She remembered that it was things like that story that made her admire both Naruto and Willy Wonka as her heroes.

"Gotseusama. Thanks for the ramen, old man! Have a good night!" he called into the stand, waving to the owner, "Hinata, I've got a bit of money left…would you like to get a candy bar with me? All this talk about Wonka-san kinda makes me in the mood for something sweet" he grinned.

Hinata perked up at the mention of buying some chocolate. It had been quite a while since she'd had some. "O-of course! Thank you for the gracious invitation" she said politely.

"No problem, let's head over before they close," Naruto cheered as they left the warmth of the ramen stand behind and trudged off into the snow.