Hyuuga Hinata clutched at her side painfully as she coughed. Everything was sore. She had pushed herself too hard during training again. Eyes watering, Hinata reached past her futon and grabbed a warm cup of tea. She sipped slowly, listening to the sound of rain beating the rooftop above her. A sudden flash of lightning streaked through the inky sky and illuminated her room. Thunder followed, announcing its presence as a disturbance through tumbling currents. It shook the ground.
Hinata swallowed the fragrant tea and set it down gently next to her. She frowned and rubbed her arms. Goosebumps were raised along her cool skin, and her muscles were sore. Hinata winced as she stood up and made her way through the dark of her room. The air was still, the only sound was the rain pattering outside. Another flash of lightning lanced through the dark, cloudy sky. The thunder followed farther behind, receding through the thick air. Hinata stumbled, then steadied herself in the dark. She flipped on the light switch. It flickered, but managed to keep on.
Hinata opened her drawer slowly and reached inside. Her fingers closed around a cool square object. Hinata gently pulled it out of the drawer and closed the drawer. She walked silently to her bed and sat on it. The futon dipped down slightly in her weight. Hinata opened her fingers; clutched inside was a picture. A picture that was old, yet still clear. Hinata stroked it with the pads of her thumb lovingly. The picture was of her mother. She had the same colored hair, the same soft eyes. She was gazing shyly at the camera with a faint pink tinge on her cheeks. Her hands, clasped together, were settled on her stomach.
Hinata smiled. She was lonely. Hanabi was personally trained by her father…and everybody else thought that she was too weak to be noticed. Hinata stared hard at her mother's photo. "Kaa-chan…"
Hinata smiled through the tears forming in her eyes. "Maybe I should go and meet you," she whispered. "Should I, Kaa-chan? Would you want me? Am I too weak to make it there?" Hinata smiled bitterly. She and her mother suffered the same fate. The same destiny. The same life. "I really want to come to you," Hinata said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Would you let me?" Tears dropped out of Hinata's pale eyes and landed on the cool glass. "I…I don't b-belong here anyway…"
Hinata's kunai and shuriken holster was settled beside her wall; in case of emergency. Hinata gently placed the picture and its frame on the bed and took a kunai out. She held it loosely in her hand, then flipped it over and traced her skin with it. Her small wrist was so pale, she could see the bluish veins. Hinata pressed the blade harder on the thin part of her wrist. Stinging wetness shrouded her arm, and Hinata shook.
"Why don't you hurry?" a deep voice asked. Hinata whipped around.
"W-who's there!" she demanded her eyes wide and fearful. Her ears strained to catch any noise. Was it…was it her imagination? Hinata wouldn't be surprised if it were. But still, just to play it safe…
Hinata narrowed her eyes. "Byukagan!" Her eyes roamed the room, but it was too dim to see. The dank light flickered, then turned off. Darkness obscured Hinata's vision.
Inclement weather beat against the Hyuuga household relentlessly.
Hinata struggled to see through the chasm of darkness. "Who's there?" she whimpered.
Light footsteps pattered around Hinata and completely circled her. Her head flicked from side to side, trying to detect its source. "W-Who--"
Hinata's hands were held twisted behind her back. Hinata cried out in shock. "N-nani - help!" she pleaded to nobody.
Her heart was weak in her chest. "I…I…" Hinata's throat constricted.
Hinata's strangled cry rang out as a sharp pain lanced through her right thigh.
Hinata panted and wheezed, struggling to undo her frozen arms and groped through the dark. Hinata felt a wet, sticky liquid spreading on her leg. Her cold, shaking hands closed around a hard object embedded in her thigh, and she winced horribly as she yanked it out.
She held it up and looked at it. The kunai was drenched in her own crimson blood.
Small, strangled sobs escaped her throat.
A low growl emitted from a corner of her room. "Hinata…" It mocked quietly, "come play with me…"
Several kunai whisked through the heavy air and found their mark on Hinata's body. Each thudded against her body painfully. Hinata crouched near the wall of her room, clutching at the fabric of her clothing where the blood was slowly seeping.
"No, no!" Hinata attempted to scramble up and make a mad dash out of her room.
She felt a presence looming closer and closer -
"No!" Hinata searched frantically for a weapon. Her hands closed around a kunai in her chest and pulled it out.
She held it read, hands shaking in front of her.
"Oh? An amused voice began. "How are you going to attack me when you can't even…see in front of you?"
Two shuriken whipped through the dense air of Hinata's chambers towards Hinata's eyes, but Hinata blocked both of them with a swift movement of her own kunai. They fell to the ground with a dull, wooden clatter.
Raucous laughter filled the empty room. "Good, good…but can you dodge this?"
Dark, bandaged hands reached from behind Hinata and wrapped themselves around her slender neck.
"How easy it would be…to break this…" the voice muttered.
"No…don't…" Hinata struggled as the grip tightened slowly. She pried at the arms around her neck with no use. The kunai from her hands fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Does it matter who kills you? Weren't you just gonna kill yourself?" taunted the voice.
Hinata made the shake her head desperately.
The grip tightened again. A menacing chuckle fluttered by her ear.
"No…don't…please…"
"It really makes me sick…how you can do absolutely nothing to help yourself. Why don't you fight back?" hissed the voice.
Hinata struggled to intake a breath. "I…am!" she protested weakly.
"Iie…not you're not."
"Yes I am…"
A sigh drifted across the side of Hinata's face. "Your throat…skin…so pale and fragile. Wouldn't it be a shame to leave a…" a blade pressed against Hinata's neck. "…scar?"
A scream lodged in Hinata's throat.
"A - ahh…aa - AHHHHHHHHHH!" Hinata managed to scream. Dark liquid trailed down Hinata's neck and pooled on the material clothing her shoulder, staining it a dark red. Hinata screamed again, before feeling a rough hand clamp around her mouth.
"Hinata - HINATA!"
Hinata opened her eyes. Someone was slapping her face. Hinata blinked slowly. Pupil-less eyes stared right into her own.
Hinata let out a gasp as the hand removed itself slowly from her mouth.
"Neji-niisan!" Hinata trembled. Cold sweat had broken out all over her boy, drenching her night clothes. She attempted to sit up on a soft material, but a sharp pain lanced through her body. Hinata winced, and clutched her stomach.
"Hinata-sama," Neji supported Hinata's head in his hand. "It was just a nightmare…go back to sleep."
Hinata gave a sharp breath as she struggled to breathe. She pulled desperately at the thing still wrapped around her neck.
"Neji-niisan…" she choked.
Neji frowned, slightly impatient. "Hold still," he commanded. He pulled out a kunai and held it next to Hinata's neck.
Hinata stilled, though her limbs were still shaking slightly, and Neji cut the bed sheet tangled around her neck.
"A-arigato, Neji-niisan, I'm sorry for waking you…" Hinata mumbled, her eyes shirking Neji's.
Neji raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't sleeping. I was taking a walk when I heard you scream-" Neji started. His eyes fixed on Hinata's thigh. Blood stained through the blanket that was kicked around on the messy bed.
Neji frowned and gently pulled out the kunai embedded in Hinata's thigh.
He faced Hinata slowly. She shook in fear.
'He now thinks that I am an idiot…'
"What happened here?" Neji demanded somewhat calmly, though his grip on the kunai tightened.
Hinata looked away from Neji. "I…I… gomen, Neji-niisan, I didn't-" Hinata broke off, twisting her hands in discomfort. "I d-didn't see the - I d-don't know wh-what happened, I - I'm sorry-" Neji's eyes had been following Hinata's hands the whole time, and he held them still.
Outside, the hammering of the rain lessened. Hinata swallowed, then winced as her thigh throbbed.
Neji activated his Byukagan and observed the room. Everything was in place…except for the disheveled Hinata. Her hair and clothes were crumpled from her struggling, and there was that wound from the kunai. Blood seeped out slowly. From the texture of the blood, Neji could tell that it was freshly inflicted.
Who had done this? Was another group of ninja trying to learn the secrets of the Byukagan? Did they target Hinata because she was weak?
Neji's breath caught in the back of his throat. What if Hinata herself did it? Would she have? Hinata wasn't so stupid as to hurt herself…yet Neji wasn't quite sure. He stood up and walked a distance of the room, then stooped so that his back faced Hinata. A green lock of hair was hastily dropped on the floor…
Neji felt Hinata's eyes on him. He quickly grabbed the lock and stood up.
"Hin - Hinata-sama," Neji hesitated. He noticed that Hinata flinched as he spoke her name and frowned. "Were you hurt anywhere else?"
Hinata's eyebrow knitted together. She said nothing, though her hand drifted subconsciously to her neck, where Neji saw an angry red cut.
Neji held in a sigh and placed his hand behind Hinata's back. She flinched again, but Neji ignored it. He removed the tangled covers off Hinata and carried her onto the floor. He gently set her down and inspected her body, feeling her back and front, though avoiding certain areas. Hinata cringed under the hands and glare of the Byukagan user.
Neji frowned, and pressed two fingers on the pulse in Hinata's neck. Heart beat was normal, with the exception of it being faster that usual.
Suddenly, Hinata lurched to the side and coughed.
Neji's colorless eyes narrowed as he watched Hinata cough harshly.
Neji himself knew only too well who had inflicted those wounds.
Hinata's coughing grew louder and she crawled onto all fours. Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath. Neji gently placed a hand on Hinata's back, and supported her shoulder with the other. Neji's eyebrows furrowed. "Hinata-sa -"
Hinata clamped her tightly to her mouth, and Neji's eyes narrowed even further. Hinata's eyes watered and she felt hot, sticky blood on her hand.
Neji's deactivated eyes flashed and he suddenly leaned forward, grabbing Hinata's hand away from her mouth.
Hinata protested by clamping it tightly. Neji glared at the coughing girl. Who knew it would take that long for the wound to heal? Of course, Neji had struck her with the intent to kill, but…
Neji wrenched Hinata's hand away from her mouth, and the instant it left contact, Neji regretted it. Hinata's hand was sodden in blood. More blood flew out of her mouth and splattered to the ground. Neji's insides squirmed.
"You're going to the hospital," he said firmly. He tried to pick Hinata up, but she pushed him away. "Hinata-sama?"
Hinata shook her head, still couching. "I d-don't want to g-go back t-there," Hinata stammered. She fell into another paroxysm of raspy coughing.
"You have to go! Hinata-sama, you have internal bleeding, you must -"
"D-Daijoubu, Neji-niisan. I'm fine, really -"
"No you're not. Now, come -"
Hinata tried to push Neji away from her, coughing. Neji growled impatiently and scooped her up.
He carried Hinata, who was too occupied with her coughing convulsion to protest, and flew out of the room, holding Hinata tightly to him.