I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, I'm just a fan I enjoyed the anime but I love the fanfics even more, they made me fall for the whole franchise.
(Flashback in the form of thought...Underlined sentences indicate remembering a past conversation in a flashback.)
Chapter 71
Chibi Hinata Hyūga walked alongside her friend Naruto Uzumaki as they made their way to the academy to see their results. Hinata was a bit nervous but it was her idea, so she did her best to see it to the end like Naruto would whenever he proposed something.
"I was stuck when they asked us how many tenkentsu there are in the body but then I remembered your advice, that I should think of the number of days in a year and the amount would come back to me, you know!" Hinata blushed a new shade of pink at the praise she was getting and began poking her fingers together. Naruto was always so happy with her when they did something she wanted to do.
'He was sad earlier.' Hinata thought back to the feeling she felt come from Naruto when he watched the mother and son at the park interact.
The spectacle-wearing Hyūga understood why her friend felt that way, she also misses her mother but she had moments like that with her. Naruto never met his mother and has been leaving alone since he was four, she wondered if anybody has ever praised him like that.
'I don't like him sad.' Hinata realized and began thinking of a way to make him happy again because even now she felt his sadness that was laced with jealousy. The blonde wanted that too.
The two academy first-year students paid none of the people around them any attention because one, Naruto Uzumaki did not acknowledge fools, and two, Hinata Hyūga in the presence of her blonde friend might as well be blind to the rest of the world.
"Look, there is your cousin." Naruto said pointing at Neji in the distance walking away from the academy. Hinata had to squint her eyes very hard to make out her cousin's form in the distance and Naruto's emotions registered worry for her.
Hinata smiled thinking she felt his emotions come around and hug her because that's how she felt.
"We have arrived, are you nervous Hime?" Hinata blushed at the word used to address her and wondered where it suddenly came from.
"H-hime?" Hinata stuttered out feeling like she was gonna faint.
"It is short for princess Hinata because you are nice like a princess." Naruto said grinning like there was nothing wrong with what he called her, and honestly, there wasn't. Hinata swayed on her feet though.
"Are you nervous?" Naruto asked her with a confident grin on his face.
Hinata tried to fake one as well but couldn't because honestly speaking she was very nervous.
"I -I am a li-little bit nervous Naruto-Kun." Hinata managed to say with minimum stuttering when she spoke truthfully. Adding his name had the bonus of making the blonde proud of her for keeping to their first-ever deal.
"Me too….." Naruto deflated comically when he admitted to being nervous and somehow that made Hinata a little less nervous.
"I-I am sure we did our best." Hinata spoke up just that much cleaner and clearer with barely a stutter. The blonde smiled when he heard her words and all his nerves became a thing of the past. They had that effect on each other.
Walking through a gate, the two chibis marched across a field before reaching the entrance of the academy building. They looked at each other when they saw six A4 papers filled with names plastered on the right side of the door. Naruto quickly rushed to the papers and began looking.
"Nope, Not it, fourth-year results, third-year results." Naruto went from one page to another in quick succession to find his class's results and he found it a second later, the furthest to the right.
Hinata slowly made her way to the blonde who stopped himself from looking at the score. When she reached him he took her hand in his own, Hinata liked it when she was held.
"Let's look at it together Hime." Naruto said excitedly and took a step forward with Hinata. The Hyūga found herself relax the closer she got to the piece of paper, remembering that they studied hard the whole year.
"You are first Hinata-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed happily and Hinata's eyes widened when she saw she was indeed first. She got higher than Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura in academics, She Aced it.
"I'm second!!!!!'" Naruto cried to the heavens in happiness before he smiled softly when he thought of something that made him sad. Hinata picked up on the emotion and remembered she was supposed to cheer up the blonde.
Naruto was jealous and Hinata could understand where it came from, any orphan would feel that way after seeing how a parent and child interacted. Hinata decided to be brave for her first friend, she knew what he wanted was to hear the words the mother told her son and so she spoke them.
"T-that's a-a g-good boy…mwah." Hinata stuttered out and quickly kissed Naruto on the cheek before she swayed on her feet and fainted. Naruto didn't manage to catch Hinata because he felt his heartbeat skip. The Uzumaki felt warm inside at the words that wouldn't stop repeating themselves in his head.
Naruto raised his left hand and touched where he just received his first-ever kiss. Why was his heart beating so hard in happiness? Did he make Hinata proud? Is that why she said those words? Naruto smiled softly feeling a tear build up in his eyes even though he was not sad.
"I passed hime…, hime?" Naruto turned around and found Hinata on the floor unconscious and looking as red as a tomato with her hand still held in his.
"Hinata-Chan!!!" Naruto cried out In horror to find his friend on the ground unresponsive. All the while Naruto's heart was thundering in his chest and his stomach got butterflies as he held her.
Hinata-Chan had a beautiful little smile plastered on her red face as she slumbered. Naruto was happy again. Hinata decided she will keep on doing things that made the sun-kissed blonde happy because that is what friends do and because that is what you do for someone you love.
When Hinata woke up, he assigned her the title Naruto Uzumaki's best friend and himself Hinata Hyūga's best friend. With her permission of course.
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"Naruto-Kun." Hinata thought with a smile when the memory stopped. It was the first time she ever kissed and praised Naruto. From there onward, Naruto always did his best to succeed in every subject and would have her come see the results with him.
'I hope this is not a bad idea.' Hinata thought, the Hyūga Heiress loves her blonde lover and he loves her back. Naruto might not know how much she loves him but she knows he loves her more than the world.
'His home' Hinata smiled when he told her those words before his departure and she smiled now remembering it.
The blind Hyūga got sad when her mind reminded her that their love caused another pain, worse is the fact that person is a friend, or at least she hopes they are still friends. Hinata was scared to talk to Ino for the last few weeks, they were busy of course with the Chunin exams but they got a month-long hiatus that was midway done and Hinata realized she was procrastinating.
It is her only flaw, by nature she is anxious, self-conscious, and polite. All these traits push her to postpone things, and she does it subconsciously but she could not postpone.
'Breathe Hime…' Hinata took a breath in and a breath out to relax her mind when she felt herself overwhelmed with thoughts on what she planned to do. She was located in the hot springs, the one she occasionally came to with Ino and Sakura, sometimes Amy came as well.
Her friendship with the cool girls of the academy started in part due to Ino being fond of Naruto and usually trying to steal him from her to go do other stuff but Naruto would look to her and ask if she wanted to come along or whether she was not up to it. She always accepted and here she was 6 years later.
The heiress sighed when she felt the person she was waiting for enter the establishment with Sakura Haruno. Hinata did not hate Sakura what she hated was the pink-haired girl's ability to be inconsiderate of other's emotions when she is in her moods, even to people who don't deserve it.
Hinata has heard some of the comments Sakura makes about others, she didn't know if Sakura has ever made comments about her but she did not care. Hinata can admit Sakura in her entirety is not a bad person but she does believe the girl needs a complete character reboot or become conscious of what she says and how it might make others feel.
"I told you Sakura, It's not important." Hinata felt her stomach twist and her heart rate increase in her chest at the sound of Ino's voice behind the door to the hot spring. She was starting to get anxious and nervous.
'Breath Hime…' Hinata took a breath in and let a breath out relaxing her mind with the exercise her best friend taught her. He said he use to be very energetic and sometimes all that energy wanted to explode, the breathing exercise helped him a lot.
"Then why are you not telling me about it?" Sakura asked loudly in clear annoyance at her friend as they opened the door and stepped into the steaming room.
Hinata repeated her exercise and looked straight at the two presences in the room. Sakura's emotions when she saw Hinata were negative, to say the least, there was jealousy there, anger, and want, like she wanted to be her. The problem is, to be Hinata Hyūga is to love Naruto Uzumaki.
Hinata refrained from finding comfort in that thought.
Ino stepped forward from behind Sakura. The platinum blonde's emotions were the ones that made Hinata feel ashamed of herself. Her emotions registered sadness, hurt, and conflicting feelings. The emotion Hinata looked for the most was nowhere to be found, and that was Betrayal.
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Ino froze up at the sight of Hinata and felt a torrent of emotions flood her core. Naturally, she was not happy with the Hyūga heiress. Ino thought she could trust Hinata with Naruto, She never saw her as a rival because Hinata never acted like a rival in her life.
Ino didn't believe Hinata could be capable of doing such a thing to a person, and she felt like a fool for thinking that. Naruto is an amazing person, Ino should have known that the person who would steal him from her would be the person who sees that amazingness in everything he is, every day.
'How can Hinata come between us.' Ino wondered with a bubbling fury in her chest. To come between her and Naruto the first chance she had him out of the village. The Yamanaka heiress frowned and walked inside the waters, dropping her towel to reveal her naked body as she did so.
Sakura in her state of mind and with a grudge against Hinata huffs and follows Ino, only removing her towel once she was fully dipped in the hot waters.
Ino sighed in relief when the warm waters hugged her body like a warm blanket giving her a tingle that slowly loosened the stress-induced muscle aches. She spied Sakura doing the same from the corner of her eyes before she looked at the Hyūga heiress who had not activated her dojutsu.
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Sakura was angry at Hinata, she heard the gossip that team 7 had dinner at the Uchiha household. That was her dream, her goal. Ino and Naruto were dating did that mean Hinata and Sasuke were getting closer? Sasuke defended Hinata so fiercely back at the tower.
The Uchiha killed Akamaru to prove how much he did not care for her or her teammates. Sasuke always spoke of how much stronger Hinata is compared to her but What could Sakura do? She failed where Hinata succeeded. The pink-haired Genin could say it was because Hinata fought Choji. Hinata won against Neji during the second phase of the exams, and Sakura's logic became weak after that.
"Good afternoon." Sakura growled when Hinata's voice reached her ears. The Haruno was going to ignore the girl but Ino opened her mouth.
"Hinata." Sakura blinked in confusion at the tone her friend used, was Ino angry with Hinata? Because that is the tone her friend uses when angry. Sakura decided to greet her as well.
"Afternoon." Sakura spoke in a tone that also spoke of displeasure to communicate with the Hyūga Genin. A second later Sakura's eyes brought her over to Hinata's ample bosom and she looked away in jealousy.
"How are you today?" Hinata continued while threading carefully.
"Agh, Fine." Ino rolled her eyes in clear annoyance and Sakura wondered what was going on with her friend and Hinata.
"Yeah, fine." The civilian Genin added after a second. Sakura like her friend Ino had her sight directly on the blind girl. Ino practically stared with a prominent frown on her beautiful face. Hinata hesitate for a second before she stared directly at Sakura and Ino as if she could see them.
'Why does she have it all!' Sakura inwardly screamed. Born to the Hyūga Clan, one of Konoha's three noble colonies and its richest, Hinata was lucky enough to be born the clan's heiress. She finished the academy top of her class and has the strength Sasuke wants in a partner.
'Even her blindness seems more like a blessing than a curse at this point, everything she does is taken into account with extra awe.' Sakura balled her fists under the warm waters to calm herself down.
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Hinata did not understand what was going on, Ino was very angry at her and so was Sakura. The question bothering her was whether Sakura knew or not, Hinata always knew Sakura did not like her much but this time the girl was exuding some strong feelings of hate towards her.
"C-can we talk in private, please Ino-Chan." Hinata asked politely and felt Sakura's emotions register annoyance at what she did or said. "It will only be for a minute Sakura." Hinata explained and Sakura stood her ground.
"Whatever you want to tell Ino you can say in front of me." Sakura stated and sent Hinata a glare she thought the blind girl was none the wiser about.
Hinata after blindly staring at Sakura for a few seconds craned her neck to stare blindly at Ino and waited for the platinum girl's confirmation. If she wanted Sakura around Hinata would have to relent and let her be. A few seconds later Hinata knew Ino's answer due to her feelings.
"Give us some time alone Sakura." Ino said sweetly and Hinata felt bad again when she felt Sakura get angry at the blonde.
"Ino… you can't be serious." Sakura exclaimed in shock at her best friend's choice. Hinata felt Ino's hurt blossom but she held on to it with an iron grip.
"Please Sakura." Ino begged and Hinata would wager she wanted to tear up, Sakura only got angrier but slowly turned around and walked away leaving the room, forgetting her towel in her absentminded state.
"I never meant for it to turn out like this." Hinata told the blonde seriously and Ino scoffed at the words.
"And yet here we are." Ino's snarky comeback hurt Hinata because of the feelings it carried that thought of her as a villain.
"You know what Hinata, I trusted you." Hinata listened as Ino spoke not saying a word. "I never once thought you capable of such an act." Ino huffs taking the time to dissect Hinata mentally.
"You always had feelings for him, did you not?" Ino asked her and she nodded in acceptance of the truth.
"For the longest time." Hinata replied slowly and softly, her voice barely reaching Ino's ears.
"Why not do something about it then!" Ino raised her voice with clear anger building up. "Y-you wait all these years until someone makes a move so you can make your own, stealing him FROM ME!" Hinata sucked in a breath at Ino's outburst.
"I didn't mean to."
"You didn't mean to!" Ino asked with that anger finally boiling over and spilling. "People who don't mean to do things don't do it!" Ino screamed smacking the warm waters with her hands and causing a splash.
Hinata flinched because of the anger that came around to smack her in the face. She took a deep breath calming the anger that wanted to blossom within her.
"I tried to fight it Ino, I really did." Hinata defended.
"Who was the first to confess?" Ino asked with her emotions already having an answer. Hinata grimaced at that question and Ino's emotions informed her she caught on to the act.
"I did…" Hinata answered softly.
"If you did not tell him straight to his face, this dummy would never figure it out on his own. Do you know where I heard that?" Ino was being mean, the platinum blonde girl felt her anger was justified and Hinata accepted the sarcastic reply, feeling she deserved it.
"It was complicated." The blind Hyūga revealed which had Ino scoff.
"Then start explaining." The platinum blonde demanded.
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"Stupid Hinata." Sakura grumbled sitting in the changing room and covering herself with another towel. She did not plan on respecting the two girls' privacy, Sakura was gonna eavesdrop but she quickly remembered Hinata was a sensory-type ninja.
"Is she more special than I am?" Sakura mumbled wondering if it was just her fate to be second best to Hinata Hyūga. The pink-haired Haruno's anger grew at the thought of Hinata trying to maybe steal her best friend.
On the first day of the academy, Naruto came to her for help but on the second day, it was all Hinata this and Hinata that from the blonde. Sakura was always first in academics but come the final exams, Hinata was top of the class with Naruto the person who wouldn't stop praising her teaching skills coming out second.
In their second academic year, Sasuke was sending Hinata glances that only got longer the further into the year they got.
In the third year, Hinata beat her, Naruto, and Sasuke in hand-to-hand combat. Sasuke fell in love. Sakura saw it in his blue swollen eyes and in the smile that blossomed in his busted lips. In the fourth year, she had another thing going for her.
'A blind swordswoman.' Sakura did not know if she should scoff or grumble, she decided to do both. Hinata is amazing, Sakura cannot deny that but Orochimaru said she was even more special, and one day they would all know it. Sakura decided when the Snake Sanin shows up again she will have him teach her a powerful jutsu and demand a permanent curse mark.
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"There are some things you are not telling me." Ino said after Hinata told her about the events to occur in wave country. Hinata nodded.
"Why?" Ino asked the blind girl.
"It is not only my story to tell." Hinata revealed and Ino frowned. All Hinata told her was how she and Naruto had a falling out before the mission to wave that got solved but another problem came up that Hinata figured she could only solve by confessing.
"You never wanted to tell him?" Ino asked and Hinata nodded. "Why?" The blonde inquired.
"I thought you would make him happy." Hinata said truthfully.
"What changed?" Ino's anger was dimming down as she listened to Hinata and she did not like that.
"I realized I could do the same." Hinata said with a small smile. "I know we hurt you Ino-Chan and I am sorry about that, I did try to keep my distance, I tried to give him time to see he had more in common with you." Hinata's smile got a little bigger as she spoke.
"But he is stubborn and instinctual. He wouldn't stop saying he loves me." Hinata stopped talking when she felt the absolute hurt to come out of Ino before realization hit her.
'He never told her he loves her.' Hinata realized with another grimace. "I am sorry for the pain we caused you, we never meant to do so but please don't hate or abandon Naruto-Kun. He considers you someone precious to him." Hinata stood up from the warm waters and bowed deeply toward Ino.
"Please." She added and waited in her position. Ino did not want to see Hinata in that position and stark naked.
"I cannot make any promises, we will just have to see." The Yamanaka said but Hinata smiled knowing that Ino's words were false.
"Thank you Ino-Chan." Hinata said straightening up from her bow and began making her way out of the water, grabbing her orange towel and wrapping it around her wet body before she walked out the door.
Ino stayed behind and sighed out her emotions.
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Hinata walked inside the changing room already having sensed Sakura inside. The blind girl could feel the pink-haired Haruno's anger and jealousy the whole time she spoke to Ino and she honestly found it unwarranted and silly.
'I wonder why Ino has not informed Sakura about Naruto.' The blind girl thought while she stared blindly at Sakura whose anger multiplied at the sight of her.
"Are you done?" Sakura asked but her tone sounded demanding and Hinata frowned.
"Yes, I am done." Hinata informed closing the door behind her and removing her towel. She proceeded to dry herself and refrained from rolling her eyes at the feeling of jealousy to smack her in the face.
"What did you and Ino talk about?" Sakura inquired. Hinata took the time to put on her black underwear before turning to face Sakura who had an unfiltered view of her well-developing chest.
"I think it best you ask Ino-Chan that question." Hinata replied and went over to where she remembered leaving her clothes. Hinata put on a black sports bra and repositioned it to sit comfortably.
"You like attention don't you?" Hinata blinked while putting on her pants.
"Why do you say that?" The Hyūga asked while securing her pants and grabbing her mesh shirt.
"Why do you still act blind when you can see with your dojutsu, you want people to feel sorry for you?" Sakura's voice was unapologetic and very serious.
"I am blind, the Byakugan takes chakra to keep active." Hinata tucked her mesh shirt under her pants and grabbed her lavender jacket. "It also strains the eyes if active for too long." She finished just as she zipped up her jacket.
Sakura frowned and looked at Hinata's ninja sandals that were placed close to her. She kicked one leg away and heard Hinata sigh audibly before staring at her like she knew what she did.
"Mmh." Sakura huffs and walks out of the changing room, closing the door with a bang though not exaggerated.
"What is her problem?" Hinata mumbled blowing out her cheeks, she decided to look for her other shoe the same way she would without her Byakugan, by getting on all four and sweeping the floor with her hands until she would knock it.
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"Why did I do that?" Sakura asked herself while she walked toward where she left Ino. Haruno wasn't a bad person but jealousy does change a person and It seemed she was going through the process.
Sakura turned around at the sound of a door opening and spotted Hinata walking out of the changing room fully dressed and unbothered. She walked out of the establishment without a single glance aimed at Sakura who knew for a fact Hinata knew she was there.
"Bitch." Sakura swore walking over to open the door and walking into the steaming room. She saw Ino's frown turn upside down at seeing her but Sakura did not reciprocate the act because she gathered Ino was hiding things from her.
An
Next Chapter Sasuke takes center stage with a silver-haired shadow. Naruto has a confrontation with Jiraiya and meets a certain Uzumaki with devious plans for the world.
The chapter to follow is back to Konoha for the finals showing us the aftermath of Orochimaru's plans, Gatō's mission to snow country Naruto's progress, and Sasuke's preview POV.