Chapter 1: The Meeting

Why can't I be strong, like Neji, Hanabi, or my teammates? No matter how much I train, no matter how much I strive for success, I will always be nothing but a failure in the eyes of Otousan. Even now, as I float on this beautiful lake on the outskirts of Konoha, I can't help but think of all of the troubles I must face in my days. "A father who can't stand to look at you and a sister who thinks she's better than you—how pathetic can I be?" I think to my self.

"You know what Hinata, if you always bring yourself down, you'll never get up. Just like Naruto-kun always says, you are only a loser when you believe it," I tell myself. I get back into my gentle fist stance, go through the appropriate hand signs, and scream "PROTECTION OF EIGHT TRIGRAMS: SIXTY-FOUR PALMS!". Suddenly, all of the trees around me are removed at the root, the lake is overflowed, and I am surrounded by a cage of chakra. Following the jutsu, I stare around me in great pride at the destruction, when I hear a sound, causing me to take out a kunai:

"Whose there! Show yourself," I scream to the rustle of bushes.

"Ha, like you could even touch me with that kunai. But I must admit, you are not as helpless as I first thought," says the mysterious yet stern female voice.

Before I know it, I feel a cold metal knife against my neck and my arms are pulled behind me. I try to pull away, but the grip that the unknown enemy has on me is rock solid. I then try to scream, however, her hand clamps over my mouth.

"Damn it princess, I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to see if you could stop me from getting a hold of you—and my intuition was right, you didn't stand a chance." The haughty statement was then followed by a laugh.

The enemy then let go of my throat, which led me to jump away from her and activate my Bakugan. I then stared at her and realized two things: she looked both beautiful and powerful. Her skin tone was a darker shade of brown, which most likely indicated that she came from Kumogakure. However, not only was her hair ebony, but also she wore no headband on her person to indicate what village she resided in. She was clad in a red top that end above her bellybutton and black shorts, along with knee-high sandals. On her back, there held an incredibly large shuriken crisscrossed with summoning scrolls. Finally, a long sword hilt hanged from her hip, with a beautiful golden hilt that matched the colors of her alluring eyes. When I realized that I had been staring too long, I decided to end the silence:

"Who are you and what are you doing following me?" I yell at the stranger.

"Whoa, whoa no need to get all angry. If you must know, I go by Tsuyoi Bara. I had no intention of following you, but considering you just destroyed a relatively large amount of this forest, I had no choice but to notice," she answered.

I then blush, as I realized that this was a perfectly reasonable explanation. I was about to open my mouth to apologize when she interrupts:

"Don't apologize—it makes you seem weak. For your information, no I do not come from Kumogakure, and yes I am a ninja. I like to think of myself as a nomad; every single village is corrupt in its own special way, and I find it unnecessary to align myself with any of them," she states as if this is a normal story.

Her statement dumbfounds me. How did she know what I was going to ask? I wonder. I then ask her what has truly been on my mind.

"What did you mean when you said 'I'm not as helpless as you first thought'?" I ask.

"Oh, that. I heard all of your whining about how your daddy thinks you're a failure and how your younger sister beats you in every scrimmage. While this would normally symbolize weakness, your jutsu seemed to disprove that fact. While you definitely have much work to do, you have some potential." Bara says this last statement with a smirk.

"What is with that smirk?" I ask the beautiful albeit irritating ninja.

"Wow, I was able to get you out of your shell with just a few insults! Well, I was just thinking that while I hate the idea of staying a village any longer then I have to, I might just stay for a bit to train your weak ass into something somewhat useful," she says in one of the most condescending matters that I have ever heard.

"You know what—I am tired of being called weak! I may be a little shy at times, but I will become a kuionichi. And truthfully, I have been trained by some of the strongest Hyuuga elders and an incredible Jonin kuionichi. What makes you think that you're so special? If anything, your just a common ninja" I reply.

Suddenly I feel a great amount of pain on my head. I start screaming, and I can feel the veins bulging from my head begin to throb, and my eyesight begin to fade. During this entire ordeal, I here Bara speak:

"Now, I do not appreciate being called "common". I have fought many of your kind, the Hyuugas. While you have an impressive Kekki-Genkai, a simple jutsu of manipulating the water in your blood, particularly near your eyes, makes your power absolutely useless. Now, I can teach you how to be strong, but you will have to listen to everything I say. Got it?" She asks as I am continually put through this pain.

I immediately nod, and I am released from the agony. I couldn't believe it, she hadn't even made a single hand sign and she was able to reduce me to a useless mess. While I should be scared or angry, I was grateful and impressed. This woman, ninja, goddess enigma was going to become my sensei. And I couldn't wait to be taught.

"When can I start, Bara-sensei," I reply.

"Bara-sensei, huh. I like the sound of that; by the way, you start in one hour. Go to sleep and eat a large breakfast, cause when I start training you, you won't have those luxuries for a while," with this, a puff of smoke appeared and Bara-sensei was gone.

What the heck did I just get myself into?