Chapter 1: Drowning

This fic was inspired by the song 'Perfect' by Alanis Morissette, and my home life. There are kids who live like this, and it's abuse. If you or someone you know is being abused, call your local Child Abuse hotline.

EDIT: Ok, I've been getting reviews telling me to continue, so I'm going to write more on this. Yay!

This is an edited re-upload. I decided to change a few things.

This fic was inspired by the song 'Perfect' by Alanis Morissette. I do not own 'Perfect', or Naruto.

"Worthless little shit!" A coffee cup crashed to the tan-colored rug. "Why can't you do anything right?" A small, pale girl with her purple hair in a short bob, bent over and picked up the shards of the mug, staying silent. 'I don't know, mom. I'm sorry.'

Sometimes is never quite enough

If you're flawless, then you'll win my love

"Well, don't just stand there! If the trash is full, you take it out, and put a new bag in! God, why are you so stupid, Hinata?" Hinata ran the broken ceramic over to the trash, and ran through the door in the kitchen to put the full bag in the can in the dark, dank 'garage', coming back in just in time to see her mom in the goldenrod reclining rocking-chair with her honor roll certificate.

"Who is Neji, and why is he ranked number one? Why aren't you number one?" Hinata looked down at her feet, shuffling. "You know Neji, you met his dad at the last parent teacher conference. He teaches chemistry, remember?"

"Hmph. He must be rigging the GPA. Dirty cheat." He wasn't. Hinata knew he wasn't. But it made her mom feel better. Her mom had that look in her eyes. She knew that one. She didn't want to be here when she exploded.

"I want you to be the best! God knows you don't do anything around here, so your grades should be perfect. Get off your lazy ass and help out around here!" 'But I do everything around here!' She thought. 'The only thing she does is her job down at the gas station. I have school, and then I do all the housework!' This wasn't strictly true, but she felt better thinking it.

"I'll take out the trash, right now." She practically lunged for the door, about to exit into the cool night air. She knew her mom wouldn't remember that she'd taken it out two minutes previously.

"Wait. Come back." Hinata walked, slowly and nervously, to the recliner. Her mother eyed her speculatively. "You're gonna go see a boy, aren't you?" Hinata's eyes widened. She was in trouble.

"No, mother, I just wanted to clean up a bit and-" The smack resonated throughout the room. Hinata lost balance and was knocked to the ground. "Don't just stand there, whore. Go get me a beer."

Don't forget to win first place

Don't forget to keep that smile on your face

Be a good boy

Try a little harder

You've got to measure up

And make me prouder

How long before you screw it up

How many times do I have to tell you to hurry up?

Hinata pulled herself into a standing position, holding her cheek. She paced briskly to the kitchen, it being connected to the living room she had been in, out of fear. The white-tiled, pink-speckled walls were suffocating her. She grabbed a beer out of the cheap, garage-sale, 50's style refrigerator with shaking hands.

She walked back to find her mom on the phone, like she usually was. She grabbed the beer and covered the mouthpiece. "Get out of here, bitch. I'm on the phone. Beat it, Miss Number Two."

With everything I do for you

The least you can do is keep quiet

Hinata walked out of the trailer and onto the black street. When she walked on it at night, it looked like a huge, dark lake, and it made her feel like she was drowning. She got enough of that feeling at home.

She walked off of it and onto the grass of the 'park' right outside her home. It was really only a bench, grass, and some trees, but it was enough. All the way over she was thinking of mom.

'Why is she like that? Why can't I ever be good enough? I try, I try so hard! But I'm never good enough for her. I'm never the daughter she wants.' She was content to angst, knowing she was simply wallowing in self-pity. What the hell else could she do?

Be a good girl

You've gotta try a little harder

That simply wasn't good enough

To make us proud

Hinata found her favorite tree, and climbed up to a little seat in it she loved, looking up at the midnight sky. It was a starless evening, and it gave her that feeling like she was sinking again, so she concentrated on the full, bright, magnolia-colored moon instead.

'Why? Is she living vicariously through me, because she never made it? So she can brag to her friends about her perfect daughter, "so much better than yours"? So she can ride with me to the top and get all the glory? For "making me what I am"? She didn't do anything! I did everything she brags about!'

I'll make you what I never was

If you're the best, then maybe so am I

Compared to him compared to her

I'm doing this for your own damn good

You'll make up for what I blew

She began crying, crystal tears shining. 'Why? I want her to love me, I want mom to love me so much. Mom, please love me. I need you to love me.'

"Hey, why are you crying?" She looked down to see a kid around her age. He had messy gold hair, and sky-blue eyes. And most important, his smile shone, the kind that could make YOU smile just by looking at it, even though he had had his share of misery.

She recognized him. Naruto, from next door. His folks and her folks got along well enough. She suspected he got hit too, though he never said anything.

What's the problem? ... why are you crying?

Hinata, looked down, embarrassed. "It's n-nothing, j-just issues at home." Naruto climbed up and sat next to her, brushing her tears from her cheeks with his thumb. "But you can tell me, if you want to."

Hinata spent over an hour, sitting, just talking with Naruto, crying a bit. At the end, she was very tired, and it showed. She knew that, like herself, he was forbidden to go home tonight.

Be a good boy

Push a little farther now

That wasn't fast enough

To make us happy

So she leaned back against him, and snuggled into his chest, closing her eyes. He wrapped an arm around her, and leaned his head on her shoulder.

Before she drifted off to sleep, he asked her if she liked her name. She thought for a minute and said "Maybe someday." He just smiled, he understood. And she fell asleep, knowing that she didn't have to sink anymore, all she had to do was find him, and she'd be on top again.

We'll love you just the way you are if you're perfect.