Title: Changing It To Fit

Chapter: 2

Rating: T

A/N: Hmmm. I know exactly what's going to happen this chapter. It will be long. Probably in the two thousands for a word count. I really want to finish this story quickly so I can get my muse for Once and Again back. He's gone and hidden under a rock in fear of my muse for this story apparently.

Thanks to all who reviewed, you keep me motivated and Kudos to the person who guessed what was going to happen.

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Hinata's progress in the Ninja Academy was phenomenal. She never performed very well in front of her father so he thought that she was just book-smart. That was true, but she was also developing into a strong kunoichi early on. Her mother had died a year ago today and Hinata was visiting the Hyuuga graveyard with a bouqet of sunflowers; her mother's favorite.

Hinata was 8 with the knowledge of her 12-year-old self. The speed of which the memories had been coming continued to fluctuate and the 'other' Hinata hadn't a clue why. It was supposed to be that they would come at a steady pace of two months to every night until she reached a certain stage at which it would slow to about 1 week per night. It had fluctuated so much that sometimes she would see one month and sometimes she would only see a few minutes.

Another thing was that Hinata had learned to partition the memories away from her mind, she could look at them now as if viewing someone else's life but still gain all the knowledge of techniques she had learned in the future.

One thing that both Hinata frowned at was the Uchiha Massacre. Hinata didn't believe that Sasuke deserved such a thing to happen to him, even if he did some stupid things later on in life. She didn't know yet if she wanted to do anything about it, but she would have to decide within the week. Sasuke as he was now was a rather sweet person in her opinion. She didn't want to see that sweet side of the boy be buried under his need for revenge on his brother.

Hinata had managed to form a shaky, but most importantly secret friendship with Uzumaki Naruto. If her father found out, Hinata was sure she would be forbidden from ever talking to Naruto-kun again. Naruto, at such a young age, was still as he had always been; cheerful, resilient, proud. Naruto was really rather smart at that age, Hinata discovered. He had to be, to evade angry mobs and to play some of his more impressive pranks. Many people thought the blond to be stupid, this was not the case. He simply acted stupid to fool those that had reacted negatively when he did something obviously intelligent. When he'd been found reading a moderately complicated scroll on chakra techniques one day it had taken all he had to escape the angry/scared mob that had chased him. Thinking that he would become a threat to the village at such a young age.

Hinata scoffed at these people to herself. If anything would turn him against the village, it would be the anger and the open hatred that was shown to him every day of his young life. It was a miracle that Naruto had remained so dedicated to the village in the future.

Hinata no longer stuttered, it was not because of the memories she was recieving, but because of the other Hinata in her head whom acted as an older sister. The older girl was very frank with Hinata, telling her over and over that she should not withdraw because of her mother's death. Then she started to give Hinata little bits of advice on her homework or how to act in a situation. Eventually Hinata had come to see the person in her head as a source of wisdom. It was with a heavy heart that the girl realised with every passing day the voice in her head got softer. They both knew it would not be long before the older Hinata disappeared.

(From here, I will refer to older Hinata as 'Hina'.)

Hina only hoped that she could at least give her knowledge to her younger self before that happened. It would be crucial to protecting the village later on, Hinata had already vowed to keep Hina's future from ever happening. She would do anything to protect her loved ones from the sad future that currently awaited them. Hina thought it was rather impressive conviction for the once timid child.

Presently Hinata was stuck. She knew that she liked the kind and determined Sasuke she knew now and didn't want to see him end up the soulless container of Orochimaru that Hina often told her about. Though all of the memories may not have been passed on, that did not stop Hina from speaking frequently of them.

Her dilemma was that she didn't know of anything that could prevent the massacre. It came down to whether she really wanted to save at least some of the Uchihas or not. No matter what, Hinata and Hina knew they would end up attempting it. It was against their nature to allow something like that to happen. So Hinata sat in her room that night with the intent to form a plan. It was not going very well, from what Hina knew, Itachi had killed his friend Shisui in order to move on to the highest known level of Sharingan; Mangekyou. He could only reach that level if he killed his best friend. Early plans included attempting to warn Shisui, but Hinata realised that she didn't know who he was, wouldn't be able to find out in time, and the likelyhood that he would heed the warning of an eight year old was very slim.

Hinata clenched her fists in frustration. She didn't know what she could do for Sasuke beyond be there for him in the aftermath! It was infuriating to know what was to happen and not be able to do anything about it. No one would believe her even if she were to tell them about Hina. There were, of course, ways to determine whether she was telling the truth but Hina doubted Hinata would be taken seriously enough to have anyone even think to use them.

The next day at the Academy, Hinata went out of her way to talk to Sasuke and make friends with him. He smiled at her, it was the only time she had ever seen such a pleasent expression on his face. The last time she, or Hina had seen him was in her last moments. Orochimaru had been the one to strike her down in that last fatal raid on the few Konoha-nin left. The evil snake had possessed Sasuke's body just as he said he would. Not to say that Hinata hadn't come into contact with the child Sasuke a few times in her time at the Academy. She'd just never gone out of her way to become friends with him before. It was surprising how friendly the Uchiha could be.

"Hinata-san, are you alright?" A voice said, drawing her from her thoughts.

"Hai, Iruka-sensei. I was just thinking." She replied, her pupiless eyes unblinking as she continued to stare at the wall.

"Please try to do so out of class Hinata-san." Iruka said ruthfully.

The class snickered, Hinata blushed.

"Hai, Sensei."

Iruka nodded and went back to explaining chakra.

Hinata noticed that Naruto was asleep next to her. She frowned and jabbed him in the side, they had agreed that he wouldn't sleep through class for a full week and she would buy him some ramen on Friday.

"Naruto-kun! Wake up!" She whispered loudly.

"Ne...Hinata-chan, five more minutes..." He grumbled softly.

She glared at him and nudged again, "Naruto-kun, don't forget our deal."

Naruto just grumbled. It was a blessing Iruka hadn't noticed them yet.

Hinata sighed and used a method guarenteed to wake Naruto up no matter what.

"Naruto-kun, ramen has been banned from Konoha forever, Ichiraku has gone out of business."

That got his attention.

"WHAT?!"

Iruka stopped talking immidiately and glared at Naruto, "Something you would like to share Naruto?"

"Eh...no?"

"He simply couldn't believe all that you can do with chakra Iruka-sensei, right Naruto-kun?" Hinata said innocently.

"Heheh, right Hinata-chan." Naruto said nervously.

Iruka glared at them suspiciously and asked, "If that's true, then you will know that I was just talking about how chakra can be used to call elements into Jutsu. Name three of the elements I listed."

"Fire, water, and air." Naruto replied instantly. He may not pay attention in class, but could often be found pouring over scrolls that Hinata had provided from her clan library.

Both Naruto and Hinata were very literate for their age, Hinata because her father demanded it and Naruto because Hinata demanded it.

"Very well...I expect you to keep quiet next time though Naruto." Iruka said sternly, giving them his glare of Doom.

"Hai Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka went back to listing different elements that jutsu could be used with. Naruto actually decided to pay attention after Hinata glared and silently reminded him of their deal, and Hinata went back to thinking.

Days later, Hinata could say she was proud of her progress with Sasuke. They were friends to the point where he had invited her to his house. Hinata accepted readily because she really did like her new friend and wanted to meet his parents. Being in the same house as Itachi would be scary, but she thought she could handle it.

Naruto had gotten jealous when she'd told him of her budding friendship, but he accepted it when she told him she would introduce them and Naruto could have another friend because of it.

"Ne, Hinata-chan I can't wait until you come over tomorrow!" Sasuke said exuberantly.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun. I'm excited as well." She said, smiling at him.

Over the last few days, Hina had focused on imparting knowledge more than memories on the young girl. She knew her time with Hinata was limited and had begun to prepare the girl for her leaving and for the difficult times to come. Hinata knew all of the techniques Hina had learned and come up with up to Shugohakke Rokujyuu Yonshou. She hoped to learn ever more that night, Hina was planning on giving her as much knowledge of techniques and battle as possible over the next week as that was how much time she estimated that she had left.

It was Friday, the day that Hinata had promised to buy Naruto ramen. She had had enough sense to put a limit of two bowls on the ramen nut and though he pouted, he accepted what she gave him.

"Hinata-chan, you are going to Sasuke's house tomorrow, right?" He asked in between mouthfuls.

"Hai, I am going to meet his family and play at his house." She replied, eating her single bowl of miso ramen slowly.

Naruto glared at the counter for a moment before, "Hinata-chan, you aren't going to replace me are you?"

Hinata gaped at the blond. She hadn't thought he would think something like that! She sighed, sometimes it was so easy to forget that this boy hadn't had any friends before he had met her and he still only had acquantences accept for her. She impulsively hugged him but pulled back quickly when she realised what she'd done. Despite being older mentally and more mature, Hinata was still a shy little girl at heart.

"Of course not Naruto-kun!" She said with a blush, "I would never dream of replacing you!"

Naruto smiled softly and reached over to hug her this time. Her blush intensified and she stuttered a little bit before he pulled back.

"I'm glad Hinata-chan."

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"Come on Hinata-chan! Kaa-san is waiting to meet you!" Sasuke shouted as he ran ahead of her and into his house.

"Hai Sasuke-kun, I'm coming."

Hinata removed her shoes and entered the home calmly. It was a nice house, she thought. Traditional, but it had a nice lived in look. Hinata knew that it was Sasuke's mother who had brought this about in the otherwise strict looking household.

"Kaa-san, this is Hyuuga Hinata-chan! Hinata-chan, this is Kaa-san!" Sasuke said excitedly.

"It's nice to meet you Uchiha-san." Hinata said.

"It's nice to meet you too Hinata-chan, I'm glad that my Sasuke-chan is making friends." The woman responded with a smile.

Hinata smiled back, Sasuke's mother was a very nice woman. Hinata looked around the room and realised there were more people than there should have been in the room. There was Sasuke's mother and father, his brother Itachi, and a baby in a high-chair.

"Hinata-chan, this is my aniki Itachi and my Tou-san. The baby is my new sister Hebi." Sasuke said as he pointed to each person in turn.

Inside Hinata's mind, Hina was sputtering in astonishment.

There's not supposed to be a daughter in this family! Hina exlaimed.

'Well, there's obviously one now.' Hinata thought softly as she smiled at the baby who had begun to coo as she saw Hinata.

Itachi was staring at her with an unreadable expression. She stared back calmly, though inside she was sweating. This was the boy who would soon kill his whole clan. Hinata looked away, her eyes were beginning to mist over again.

"It's nice to meet you all." She said softly, an odd note in her voice as she refused to look up.

The rest of the day was spent playing with Sasuke and his baby sister. Hebi was a very cute baby, or toddler as Hinata learned that she was already almost two. Hebi had the typical Uchiha look, black hair and black eyes. She was always smiling and she could say 'Kaa-san', 'Tou-san', 'Tachi', 'S'ske' and 'no'. The last was cause for much frustration sometimes, Hinata had learned, but over all Hebi was a sweet child.

When Hinata returned home, her own sister was in the presence of their father. He doted upon her as she showed much more promise than Hinata did, in front of him anyway.

"Tou-sama, I'm home." She called softly.

"Welcome Hinata. Hanabi was just asking after you, I believe she wants to have a tea party with you and Neji."

Hinata smiled lightly, Neji had opened up to her a little bit. He was still bitter and such, but he had developed a soft spot for Hinata and her sister. It was their father that he didn't like.

"Yes Tou-sama. Come on Hanabi, let's go find Neji-nii-san."

Hanabi bounced over to her and started to babble excitedly as they left the room.

Hiashi considered his eldest daughter carefully. She showed so much promise but refused to use it practically. The girl go good grades at the Academy but he had yet to see any truly impressive performance out of her. He could only hope that Hanabi grew up to be more like a real ninja.

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A week later, everything happened at once. Word reached the Hyuuga compound that somebody had massacred a majority of the Uchiha clan. No one knew yet who'd done it and how, but speculation was that the eldest child of the clan head had gone beserk.

That night was the night that Hina dissappeared.

Hinata wept that night. For Sasuke, and Hebi, and all of the Uchihas. She wept because she had lost her sister figure, and she wept for the future that she hoped never turned out the way it had.

In the days that followed, it was found that not only had Sasuke survived but his younger sister Hebi as well. Before Hina had gone, she had given Hinata the last of her jutsus. Hinata only had the memories up to the point where Naruto returned from his trip with Jiraiya but Hina had hoped that would be enough to help change everything to fit what they both thought the future should have been.

Sasuke didn't show up to the Academy for nearly a month afterwards. When he did, he was withdrawn and ignored everyone. Gone was the quiet, sweet little boy he had been. Replaced with a much more familiar withdrawn attitude. Hinata knew that he was starting down his self-appointed path of an Avenger once again.

"Ne, Naruto-kun." She said quietly, "I think that Sasuke-kun really needs friends right now."

"But he's ignored everyone that's even tried to look at him Hinata-chan, how are you going to talk to him?"

"We. We are going to talk to him. We're going to follow him around and talk to him until he cracks. I don't care if it takes all day, all week, all month, all year. Sasuke-kun needs friends and I want to be one of his friends. Promise you'll help Naruto-kun, I don't think I can help him alone." She whispered as she watched Sasuke sadly.

Naruto was silent, he was looking at Sasuke too. "Hai, Hinata-chan."

With that, the two walked over towards Sasuke with a purpose. They would not give up until Sasuke talked to them at least once.

"Konnichiwa, Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry for your clan." Hinata said.

"Yea, we're sorry. But you can't just sit here and mope about it!" Naruto said loudly.

Sasuke glared at them both, but his eyes softened when he looked at Hinata. He did not speak to them however.

"Sasuke-kun. You have to talk to us. We won't leave until you do." Hinata stated firmly.

He remained silent.

"How is Hebi-chan doing? Was she hurt?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke twitched.

"Oh. I hope she's okay then." Naruto said, able to tell from the look on Sasuke's face that Hebi had indeed been injured.

Hinata could see something brewing in Sasuke's eyes. She pressed on.

"Sasuke-kun, I know you are sad right now. But you can't let what he did effect you so much. I know your family is gone, but you've still got Hebi-chan. Your mother wouldn't want you to be sad like this. I don't know about your father, but I don't think he would either." Hinata said as she watched Sasuke's reaction.

That was apparently it, "How would you know?! Aniki...no, Itachi killed them and you didn't even know them very well! They probably hate me...I couldn't do anything to save Kaa-san! She told me to run when I got home, I saw him kill her and I couldn't save her before he did it! He was going to kill Hebi too, but Anbu-san saved her before he could do it! I watched the Anbu fight Itachi and get killed to save us, Itachi threw Hebi at me and I dropped her, she wasn't moving. He looked at me, I saw his eyes Hinata-chan. He told me to become strong and come and kill him for revenge. He said that I should hate him...but...Hinata-chan, I don't hate him. I don't! He's my Aniki...Hinata-chan, why would he do it?!" Sasuke whimpered. Hinata was glad that no one was in the training field by the Academy just then. She didn't think Sasuke would want anyone but her to hear this.

Naruto watched on in silence. He didn't want to interupt the Uchiha, he could see that this was helping him.

"Sasuke-kun. It's okay, Hebi-chan is still alive, ne? You still have a part of your family left. I don't know why Itachi would do this. Something is wrong with him Sasuke-kun. Something is wrong with his head, it's not your fault he killed them. You couldn't have done anything...shhhh, it's okay." Sasuke had latched onto her and was sobbing brokenly. She knew he needed this. She hoped that Hebi being alive would help him stay off the path that led to being a souless husk housing Orochimaru's mind.

Behind her, Naruto was silent. He watched his friend comfort Sasuke and was thankful that he had someone like her for a friend. His Hinata-chan was the most amazing person he knew. He resolved to help her help Sasuke and...Hebi?

As Hinata comforted Sasuke, stroking his hair and murmuring soft words, she looked up at the sky and saw sunlight was spilling past the clouds that had attempted to cage it. It was a breathtaking sight.

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TBC...

Leave a review? I know it's been a long time but bare with me. I'm trying to keep up with school right now. Among other things...I'll probably update twice more before school ends, then I'll have the whole summer to work on my writing. Updates should come faster then. Until then, leave a review? Contsructive criticism is much appreciated. If you didn't like my story then I don't know why you are reading to chapter 3, that said any flames at this point will be heartily laughed at and shared among my group of friends to be laughed at again.

Push that pretty lavender button please. It's really quite simple.

-Spoof