Pain was supposed to be simple.
There was physical pain and emotional pain.
You could even feel the pain of others.
But it wasn't supposed to be like this. She didn't feel it. Any of it.
The vice-like grip on the wooden writing utensil caused it to snap, an amplified sound in the overall silence, an searing pain that she was supposed to feel that left skin feeling raw.
Heads turned silently towards her but the pencil was already tucked into a lavender jacket, split in two and falling down her shirt.
The man at the front of the room was oblivious and continued scratching at the blackboard, chalky white bleeding onto dark green and the lesson plan became clear.
The heads turned back to the front in slow, creepy unison, like the faux material of an old doll that creaked with every movement.
Sharp, young elbows sat on the wooden desk as small hands meticulously pulled out splinters, carefully and quickly, paying feverish attention to the lack of alarm from her nerves.
She couldn't feel anything.
Suddenly her world became darker than it was before, the bright colors of Konohagakure and the homey environment muted and silenced, chained and put to the side. Everything swirled into a monochrome filter.
Small, white, ghastly hands that billowed smoke and lost form with every push of the wind crept around her small form, picking up her spare pencil and writing down what she could hear, saying what she could see.
Leaning down and pushing against her neck, they picked up the paper and held it closer to her eyes.
'If you sleep, I'll kill you'
The paper crinkled and turned in on itself soundlessly, morphing into a crumpled ball before bursting into white, gas-like flames.
But she felt it.
The fire writhed and whipped before dead gray eyes, illuminating her face with milky nothingness. She felt the fire's heat against her skin and heard the way it sizzled nastily against her oak desk.
A long slender nose buried itself into a pale shoulder blade, breathing in Hinata's smell of hard, clean, sharp, scent less soap. She cringed without movement.
'Don't defy me; sleep'
Traditional Hyūga eyes scanned the lifeless classroom only to see that the spectacle fell onto blind eyes and deaf ears. They all smiled ahead at Instructor, a bit too wide and cheerful, faces morphing into porcelain masks of emotion. Their lips moved together and clearly, yelling soundless sweet nothings, grating against sensitive ears.
Glancing at the board, fingers began to move deftly into the motions of recording; Father would like to see some sort of progress made in class. Maybe she could ignore this..thing and move on.
Blue-black hair fell in front of the thing's face as it stood, revealing a short stature and a lanky form, draped in a floaty black cloth that seemed and moved almost like smoke that would reveal her (it's a girl!) at any moment.
The girl's most prominent feature were the golden handcuffs around red-rimmed wrists, with attached chains that wrapped around Hinata's own wrist, chafing with the feeling of dread from having her fate tied with another.
"Stop bothering me, please," she whispered so silently it was as if she didn't say it, when all at once the girl disappeared but the weight of the chain stayed and all the colors were vivid and blinding once more, slight chattering of the classroom as the children prepared to leave.
No one saw what she did, nor will they ever.
The Hyuuga's curse, their 'all-seeing' eyes.
(walkworlds)
The city bustle was suddenly a muffled background noise as her senses went haywire to specifically adjust for the haze pulling on her chain.
Hinata squeaked as her body jerked, and tentatively twisted her head to see a blank-faced figure she had come to recognize as the one who took her senses away.
The gold chain materialized on her right wrist, elongating and wrapping around it taut before shining brightly. No one saw this, all suddenly blank faces in a crowd she didn't have the heart to recognize.
Tears welling up in her eyes Hinata gave all her attention to her follower. "What do you want?" Her voice, already quiet, cracked and the rest of her words seemed nonexistent.
The ghost girl snarled before pulling once more on the chain, throwing her hands behind her head roughly and Hinata fell to the ground, dust puffing up around her. But as physics flowed the girl came down to the floor too, screaming about how she was bleeding.
Looking down, Hinata confirmed that is fact her skin had split and leaked red all over her knees and forearms, but it was just a distant pulsing.
She sat on the floor as gray blurs of human beings passed by, and the girl continued to cry.
(walkworlds)
The sniffles were quiet and not noticeable, not at all quite like the one sitting on the edge of the girl's bed, wailing at the top of her lungs. Hinata tried to quiet the girl (Y-you're being loud, please stop,) but it was to no avail because she'd just snarl accusingly and yank the chain again, before continuing.
So now the Hyuuga Princess sat at the head of her bed, laying boneless on her side and watching the rain pour outside, a bright white splattering against her window in all the greys and blacks, droning louder than that irritable girl ever could.
Suddenly, thunder clapped, illuminating the dark room in spooky shadows and accenting the shine of Hinata's angry Byakugan, deathly white contrasting against endless black.
It also signaled her patience snapping.
Jolting up onto her elbow Hinata slammed her right hand against the spruce headboard, and the ghost collaspsed onto the mattress, gasping for air.
Black shadows of two silhouettes illuminated in the lightning white.
Not stopping, Hinata grasped for her head and the girl's, surprised to feel hair drape in between her fingers but not hesitating for long. She gripped both locks, halting to scream in unneeded anguish as her scalp was destroyed. But she didn't feel it.
The girl screamed, screeched also, clawing at her head because of the doubled pain of Hinata's and her own exploding through her seemingly active nerves. Tears the color of ink leaked out from under her overgrown bangs and Hinata continued to grasp at her hair furiously.
'I'll-I'll kill you! Die die die die die'
"Shut up! Just shut up shut up shut up!"
It went like this for awhile, destroying one with their own physical pain and the other constantly pulling on the string connecting them, the other suddenly sprawling out on the ground.
They screamed as loud as they could, desperation and frustration leaking out of the wails but no one could hear them, see them, see her.
All they knew was that reliable Hinata, best friend Hinata, teammate Hinata, Hyuuga Heir Hinata had lost something crucial that day.
(walkworlds)
Hinata looked up, surprised to see that the sky was blue and the leaves were green, that the whistling wind was fully heard and the chit-chat of others around the area was audible.
So, she decided to savor the moment while it was still here, running quick, callused fingers through the ground and separating the dirt, pulling out weeds and patting off overalls bruised brown.
There was only so much time before she was due for afternoon training, and evening training, and midnight training, and-
Suddenly the sky burned black, and the grass dusted gray.
Hinata's pearlescent, even lavender eyes turned stark white when she blinked, and the crumbling dirt in her hands fell, and as she sifted through it it mixed monotone.
She was quiet, and expecting, with narrowed eyes resembling her father's and impatiently thinned lips.
But soon, they appeared in front of Hinata in a blur, sitting on pale, knocky knees and so close their noses could touch.
But they didn't.
Instead Hinata gasped and crawled back on all fours while the ghost laughed at her goodnaturedly.
(walkworlds)
She sat with her back to the dojo door, feeling the thin paper wall rumble and shake with the fast-paced movements of those inside.
Every now and then she'd shift and lean forward, staring down oak wood hallways and sliding doors for any sign of any adult who'd reprimand her and take her to her room (Lady Hinata, you should not sit on the dusty ground, it is unbecoming. Come, let's get you a change of clothes.) to stay there.
In the silence, with the only sound of the occasional crash and the disgusting clap of flesh against flesh, she spoke, activating her Byakugan. The only other way her eyesight would bleed it's color till it was in puddles on the floor.
"Do you hate me?"
The girl appeared.
'No. I just wish I were more proud of you, Hinata.'
Veiny eyes narrowed in thought. "I don't hate you. But you keep bothering me, I just wish you would stop. I want you to leave, I'm sorry."
There was a beat of silence before the ghastliness spoke. 'You will make me proud, Hinata. Mark my words.'
Hinata turned on her side, cheek pressed against the paper to get a better look at the girl.
Without a chakra system, she was an interesting sight with sleek, loose onyx hair traveling to her ankles and pale, paper white skin with a smoky gray-black dress that moved like gas and seemed like it would reveal her nakedness with the slightest wind.
The only prominent color decorating her skin would be the sleek, minimalistic yet ancient gold cuffs circling her bony wrists, and the chain dragging on the floor to curl up to Hinata.
It was a familiar sight.
"I want to make you proud. Tell me how."
Suddenly the overgrown bangs were no longer covering eyes, and ten year old Hinata's activated orbs widened with brittle shock.
Hyuuga eyes, as lavender and soft as Hinata's own regarded her with seriousness.
'You will train. I will make you strong.'
"...Yes, Mother."