Title: Closed Doors

Fandom: Naruto

Author: Dark-Hooded Eriol the Magician a.k.a Aya-chan

Theme: # 73 Censorship

Pairing: Uzumaki Naruto / Hyuuga Hinata

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Summary: They were free from bonds, barriers and closed doors. It was the hardest choice she had to make but it was for her own future. This was their path now.

"Please, let me see her!" he pleaded.

"I'm sorry but you can't." Their eyes were cold and emotionless. Even though their eyes were the Byakuugan, they did not have any emotion.

"I just want to know if she's all right!" He strengthened his resolve. Without thinking he pushed against the slowly closing door. Apparently they had to close the door to prevent him from rushing in. It was too thick to be holed by Rasengan, too high to be jumped and too heavy to be kicked.

It seemed hopeless.

"We're sorry but we have to make you leave, Sir."

Panic flooded into his being. He thought he could her crying from the other side. Not seeing her forever, giving her up for her family... He dreaded the thought of her imprisonment. She was his!

And he would save her.

"Hinata! Hinata, are you there! Please! Hinata!" Desperately, he began to push harder against the whole army of Hyuugas.

oOoOoOo

Hyuuga Hinata tried to stop them from closing the heavy doors.

She could see and hear him. Her eyes burned with unshed tears as she clenched her fists. He was so near! If only she could reach out her hand, she could touch him...

They were cruel.

The family had decreed that her frequent association with the Kyuubi boy was going to taint their clan name's purity. They cared for nothing but their honor and wealth. They did not care for any of their children's happiness.

"Naruto-kun! No, wait! Naruto-kun!" Her shouts ended with sobs. It seemed as if he heard her and he persisted. Her four elder distant cousins grabbed her arms as she tried to reach for the huge gate barring him from her. Three others began performing the seals for strengthened locks.

She was far stronger than they. In terms of purity, kindness, and strength of soul she exceeded them. Her birthright placed her in a pedestal above them all.

But she was often ridiculed and degraded. So what if she couldn't fight as well as Neji or Hanabi. Her strength came from her heart and soul. That should've been enough.

Uzumaki Naruto had seen the radiance of her spirit. They were friends at first. Through their constant chatter and trainings, he came to see the beauty of her soul. It wasn't his fault too that she'd fallen in love with him for as long as she could remember.

Maybe it was only natural that he fell too.

But then the family received intelligence that their first daughter, their heiress was involved with him. So they decided to lock her away from his company. Think about the gossip, the secret assignations! Better to put her away than to have her embarrass the family in any way! They decided.

Though born with far more authority than the council of elders, she submitted herself.

Their scolding, beatings, and constant battering of her spirit had done their work. She couldn't stand up for herself anymore. Shame had set in. Nobody could undo the damage they had wrought in her spirit. She was weaker than ever. So weak she couldn't fight for the love that had illuminated and inspired her life.

I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun. She had wept for so many nights inside her Hyuuga home. Her family had locked her inside the house and she wasn't allowed to participate in missions. The family couldn't prevent the censorship of the reason from the Hokage. But somehow word got out and her situation became worse.

The whole town thought she'd gotten pregnant with Naruto's child.

It would've been my pride and joy to be his woman; she thought and disregarded the shame and guilt and destruction it would wreak on her reputation. Hinata couldn't do anything.

That was until Naruto came.

Censorship won't be enough to protect her. He spied, researched, and did his research. Somehow he understood that she was kept against her will. And like a knight in shining armor, he would save his princess.

But there were closed doors between them.

"Naruto!" She pushed away her captors and managed to break free. They tried to take her arms again to drag her away. Without thinking, she performed a Kaiten that promptly knocked them out. Rushing forward, she banged on the giant gate.

"I'm here!" Hinata yelled for the first time in her life.

"Hinata!" Relief colored his voice. He couldn't explain the wonderful feeling of relief that flooded his body.

"I'm here..."

She set her mind and decided to take down the gate. It was the guardian gate of the Hyuuga compound and she rarely saw it close because it was so heavy and thick. The family used this to protect the members if there was any danger.

It hurt to know they thought of Naruto as a dangerous person.

Hinata knew how to deactivate the sealed locks.

If she did this, she was going to break away from her family. She would throw away her heritage, birthright, and everything worldly.

She set her lips into a firm line. If only for him, she would. He was more than all of her family members combined. Because he accepted her. Because he was there for her. Because he loved her as deeply as she loved him.

Nobody can stop her now. The innate stubbornness and willfulness of her Hyuuga blood came alive.

"Hinata."

It was her father's voice.

She dared not turn around to look up into Hyuuga Hiashi's eyes. No, she did not need to know his Byakuugan was reading her emotions. Turbulence must be clouding his vision now.

"Do not do it. I forbid you. If you will, I will cut you off myself."

She wasn't scared. No, she would never be again.

"Listen to me."

Her ears had suddenly gone deaf to her father's command. And her hands began to move.

"You have hurt your family's reputation. Do not go forward and destroy it some more. Look at what you've done! We are your family!" His voice rang out. Hanabi stared in shock as Hinata continued with her task. "Remember your lineage. Do not be the first to defy it."

"I am not yours anymore."

Hiashi looked as if he was struck with lightning.

"Today..." she started to recite words she knew would change her life forever "I, Hyuuga Hinata, renounce my position as heiress..."

She had been waiting for that day.

It wasn't that she was heartless. She dearly loved every one of them in spite of the hell they put her through. She loved her dominating father and proud sister unconditionally. They would always be cherished despite the degradations and punishment they inflicted upon her.

Enough.

"What are you saying!" Hiashi's voice boomed. Hyuugas valued and kept their promises to their dying day. If she finished, she couldn't go back. It would be a terrible blow to the family--- the final loss.

"The Hyuuga family will not be responsible anymore for I, Hyuuga Hinata, am cutting off every tie. I am not of their blood, of their flesh. There will be no claim from my children for any wealth or position..."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed dangerously. Willful daughters are not much pride or value. Let her walk away but they would not take her back.

"Starting this moment, I am free."

The whole Hyuuga compound went quiet. Every pair of eyes stared at the heiress. She finally found her voice.

Suddenly she bloomed before their eyes. Her head lifted a little higher and her voice a little firmer. The chakra emanating from her being radiated her quiet strength. They realized that they had lost someone who would've been a great leader.

Hinata finished the last seal. She let out her breath.

"You will regret what you've done." Hiashi said warningly. "Without us, you are nothing."

"Censorship will not do anything, Hyuuga-sama." She dared not use the word Father. "I am going."

She approached the door and with strength inherited from her ancestors, she pushed it open. Her heart soared at the beauty of this new feeling. Free!

"Goodbye."

The heiress of the once greatest clan in Konoha, Hyuuga Hinata, walked away towards her newfound freedom.

Naruto stood still, gaping. Hinata headed towards him and smiled.

He smiled too.

They would face tomorrow together. The gossip and degradation were nothing. They've faced that before. Everything else would be easier to bear if they were with each other.

Naruto took her hand.

Hinata smiled at him, brighter than any she'd ever given him before.

They were free from bonds, barriers and closed doors. It was the hardest choice she had to make but it was for her own future. This was their path now.

And so Naruto and Hinata walked away towards their new life.

(033006)

A/N: I got inspired on the many closed doors around me. And I sort of based it on what I would do if my family tried to break me and my boyfriend apart.