Hinata woke up the next morning, the previous night's events coming back to her quickly. She sat up, looking down at her light purple blanket with sad eyes. She still didn't know if she could do it. Sighing, she got out of bed and took a quick shower, putting on her usual outfit before going down for breakfast. On her way down she ran into Neji. Neji and Hinata had gotten closer since the chunin exams so now Neji is nicer to her and they are like siblings. "Hinata-sama, I heard about what happened, I'm sorry." he said, giving her a look of sympathy. "I-It's alright N-Neji-nii-san." she said quietly, walking past him with her head down. She didn't like sympathy, it felt like people thought she couldn't handle the idea of not being heiress. She quickly shook her head, going into the kitchen and grabbing an apple. She then left for training with Kiba and Shino. Her whole walk through the compound, other Hyuuga members looked at her with that horrible look of pity. She couldn't stand it! She ran out the gates, happy to be away from those looks. She knew that most of them were happy that she wouldn't be the knew heiress. She would probably be the cause of the downfall of the Hyuuga clan if she was put into power. That thought depressed her a bit, but she tried not to show it as she made it to the training grounds.
"Hey Hinata-chan!" Kiba greeted, grinning. Hinata smiled. "G-Good morning K-Kiba-kun.." she said softly, and Kurenai smiled. "Alright, let's start our sparing." she announced. First up was Kiba and Shino. The fight lasted a few minutes, Shino coming out the winner.
So now it was Shino and Hinata's turn. She stood in the Hyuuga stance and after a second, lunged at him. She tried to hit his chakra points, but he kept dodging and sending waves of bugs at her, knocking her back. She didn't give up though, and kept going after him. A huge swarm of bugs hit her, sending her into a tree and to the ground. She coughed, holding her side as Kurenai called Shino the winner and ran up to her. "Hinata, are you alright?" she asked, helping her up. "Y-Yes.." she said, looking down. Even after four years, she still couldn't even beat her own teammate. She was still just as weak as she was in the academy. She kept her small smile on though and went on with training, feeling pathetic. After Kurenai said they could go home, Kiba ran off, yelling his goodbye. Shino slowly walked off silently, and Kurenai disappeared. Hinata on the other hand stayed behind, still training her taijutsu.
Today's training had just pushed the thought of accepting Itachi's offer further into her head. She wanted to be stronger so bad. To be able to hold her head up high and win in a fight against just about anyone. She wanted to prove to her father that he was wrong about her, and that she wasn't weak and that she was worth something. After a few more hours of training, she sat down against a tree and sighed, resting. What to choose? Strength or Konoha? She sighed once again, for what seemed like the 30th time, and closed her eyes. She had made up her mind.
Hinata walked through the forest later that same day, the sun going down in the distance. It would be dark in a few minutes. So she quickened her pace and soon made it to the training grounds just as the stars peeked out and started to shine. She stood then, watching them until she felt someone behind her. She jumped, blushing as she turned around and took a few steps back. "Have you made a decision?" Itachi asked, and Hinata nodded. "Y-Yes. I a-accept." she said, and he smirked. "Excellent."