Hinata was walking by a stream. It was misty and she could feel wet dew forming on her skin. A breeze rushed by and she shivered.

Rustle. Rustle.

Hinata quickly hid behind a tree and peeked out. Her head turned towards the moving grass. Out popped the head of a white rabbit. It was small and soft-looking. And most curiously, its eyes were white instead of red.

She admired the bunny from a distance. It was so cute. The bunny hopped out and sniffed the air. Its head turned sharply towards her.

"I CAN SEE YOU, CHILD." a woman's voice rang out.

Hinata woke up in a cold sweat. Her heart thundered against her chest as shallow breaths filled the air. She looked around in the darkness of her room. No one was there.

"M-mommy?" she stuttered. Hinata took a deep breath and found the courage to get out of her covers. Her tiny feet lightly pitter-pattered across the tatami floor as she reached the sliding door. Hinata pulled with two hands as the wooden door slid open. She looked down the hallway. Morning light filtered in, giving the hall a blue hue. It was cold as she stepped onto the hardwood floor. She went to her parent's room. Hinata was getting too old to hide under her parent's covers but this was an emergency. She slid the door open a crack. Hinata could hear her father lightly breathing but the space next to him was empty. She closed the door. Father was okay but she preferred her mother.

Hinata continued walking quietly down the hall so as to not alert the branch family members. She saw that the light was on in the kitchen and curiously padded over. Hinata peered in. Her mother was sitting at the table, sipping some tea. Hot steam wafted in the air from her cup. Hinata's mothers eyes had heavy black bags under them. Mommy had just given birth to Hanabi and had been very tired. Her father would always shoo her away from mother to let her rest but she had missed her.

"Mommy?"

Hinata's mother looked over and smiled.

"Hinata," she opened her arms, "come here darling."

Hinata excitedly ran over and hugged her mom. Her shoulders sagged as she relaxed into her mother.

"What's wrong dear?" her mother asked.

"I had a bad dream." Hinata mumbled into her mother's chest. Her mother gave her a squeeze.

"It's okay," her mother whispered, "it was only a dream."

Hinata sighed happily as she walked to school. Her stomach was full and the sun was shining. Mother had made her some breakfast since they were up so early. She had made rice with some lightly grilled salmon. Hinata loved her mother's cooking and had missed it these past few weeks. The chef's cooking was good of course but her mom's was her favorite. And father was terrible at it so Hinata was glad for a change of pace. Kids laughed and ran past her. They were all heading to the academy. Hinata's heart beat faster as she neared the school's gates. She opened her classroom door and kids were screaming and laughing as they chatted about their weekend. Hinata felt nervous being around so many people. She quickly walked to her seat in the back. At home, it was quiet and peaceful. She had liked school, really. It was just-

The classroom door crashed open as a blonde-headed boy screamed.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI IS IN THE HOUSE!"

Hinata grimaced. Students groaned as the class weirdo came in.

"Ugh, it's Naruto…" a student grumbled.

"Naruto, would you pipe it down?!" A girl with pink hair yelled.

"Hehe, sorry Sakura-Chan." Naruto laughed as he scratched his head. He took his seat, which was right in front of Hinata. He turned his head and looked at the boy sitting next to him.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto greeted. Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored him. A tick mark immediately formed on Naruto's head.

Naruto held up a fist. "Why you-"

"Alright everyone, settle down!" Iruka-sensei clapped his hands as he walked in.

"Hello Teacher!" her classmates chimed in. Iruka smiled.

"Today, we'll be working on our taijutsu. We'll be sparring in assigned pairings today."

The students let out a collective groan.

"Awww sensei, why can't we pick our partners?" a student complained.

"Yeah, what if I get paired up with Naruto?" Kiba groaned.

"Hey!" Naruto stood up in anger.

"Naruto, sit down!" Iruka said sternly.

"Iruka-sensei! Kiba's being an ass to me! It's not fair!"

"Naruto! Language!" Iruka-sensei said, astonished at the 7 year old's vocabulary. "We'll talk after class about this." Naruto grumbled and sat down with his arms crossed as their other classmates giggled.

Kiba was chortling but stiffened as Iruka-sensei turned to him.

"And Kiba, that is not how we talk about our classmates. Every student in this room is your future ally or teammate so I expect you to respect everyone as such."

Kiba scowled as he begrudgingly nodded his head.

"And the reason we're doing assigned pairings is because we're all at different taijutsu levels. So it's important to learn from each other and get better together!"

"Okay, sensei!" The class said together. The class lined up to go outside to the courtyard. Hinata had never thought about how some of her classmates didn't train at home. She remembered training everyday with her father after school for as long as she could remember. It was hard and grueling. She had thought everyone had done the same but now it made sense why some people's abilities were so different. She looked over at Kiba and Shino. Kiba hit hard but Shino wasn't any slouch either. Shino ducked under his punch and swept Kiba from under his feet. Kiba fell onto his butt as the others cheered and jeered.

"I'll get you for this Shino." Kiba growled.

"It was to be expected." Shino said, straight-faced. Kiba's face turned red with anger.

"Why, I oughta-"

Hinata turned away from the fight. She had known from past multi-clan meetings that Shino and Kiba were part of the bigger ninja families in Konoha. And that they must have trained everyday like her. But just because you were from a clan, didn't mean that you were instantly good either.

"What a drag, I quit." Shikamaru sighed as he walked out of the dirt ring.

"Shikamari! You can't do that! You have to at least try!" Iruka-sensei said, exasperated.

"What's the point, he's at least three times bigger than me," he said as he motioned towards Choji, "No offense, Choji."

"N-none taken." Choji said as he laughed lightly.

"I'll be squashed within seconds. It's basic physics." Shikamaru said as he rolled his eyes. Iruka put his head in his hand and sighed.

"Alright, alright, next up is Naruto and Sasuke!" Iruka announced.

Naruto came out into the ring, smirking. He smashed his fist into his hand.

"Ready to lose Sasuke?"

Ino, Sakura and the other girls in the class started to boo. Kiba watched, excited that someone other than him was going to get pummeled. Hinata gripped her hands tightly, worried.

Sasuke ignored him. And stanced up for the fight.

"You think you're better than me or somethin-" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke rushed in with a jab to the right. Naruto fell onto the ground.

"You-" Naruto's eyes widened as he rolled to the side, dodging a downward kick from Sasuke.

"Wow, Sasuke is not playing around today." Kiba whistled.

Naruto got up but was taken down as Sasuke charged his middle. They crashed to the ground. Sasuke scrambled on top of Naruto and took a left jab at his face. Naruto turned to the side as he protected his face.

"Give up" Hinata thought.

"Ow Sasuke-" Naruto yelled as he guarded against his punches. Sasuke took the opening and snaked his arm around Naruto's neck. Naruto tried to squeeze his neck shut but it was too late. Sasuke's choke was already sunk in. Sasuke pushed Naruto into the ground as the choke sunk deeper. Naruto struggled to breathe.

"Y-you bastard!" Naruto rasped out.

"Please, just give up."

Naruto fought on and tried to pry Sasuke's arm off him. But it was too late. Naruto's body slumped from the lack of oxygen.

Sasuke got off of him. He was breathing hard from the adrenaline. Naruto was collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as he wondered what the hell just happened to him.

"Good job Sasuke." Iruka-sensei said as the class cheered and hooted.

"And Naruto, good on the defense but make sure to not be as cocky next time." Iruka-sensei said as he helped Naruto up.

"O-okay Iruka-sensei." Naruto said weakly.

Hinata looked over at Sasuke as he walked out of the ring. Her heart hammered. She was amazed and destroyed. Despite all the training she gets from her family, some people like Sasuke will always shine more.

"Someone must be training him privately." Shino muttered to himself. Hinata glanced over at Shino.

"W-what?"

Shino turned to Hinata. "He couldn't have come up with those moves on his own." Hinata's eyes widened but then she frowned.

"Even so, Sasuke-kun doesn't have a family anymore." she thought sadly, "So who could be training him?"

Hinata looked over at Naruto. She felt sad and frustrated. What was the point in trying if you were always going to fail. She felt angry at him but mostly at herself.

"I don't understand you." she thought.

"Okay, the next match is Sakura and Hinata." Iruka-sensei announced.

"Yeah Sakura! You go girl!" Ino cheered. Sakura smiled as she ran into the ring. Hinata's hands trembled. She didn't want to fight. She looked around at all her classmates. It felt oppressive. She didn't want to fight and lose in front of so many people.

"Again." Her father's voice rang in her ear. She swallowed.

"Hinata!"

She looked over. Iruka-sensei was motioning her into the ring.

"Just try your best." he smiled.

Hinata hesitantly smiled back as she stepped into the ring,