I slowly made my way through the trees, sticking slightly above and behind my target of interest.

Oh, there I go again with the whole 'Target' thing.

Whatever.

I watched over my target as she made her way through the trees, below me, but still out of sight. She was pretty stealthy, and I might have had trouble tracking her were it not for my abilities. Certainly, she was good enough that most Genin would never find her if she didn't want to be found.

'Most Genin', which apparently included Naruto and Sasuke. Although that may have been more because of the fact that they were currently busy with beating the shit out of each other- sparring together rather than her considerable stealth skills.

Or perhaps they did know, but simply didn't care? Probably not, that didn't sound like Naruto or Sasuke.

The whole 'watch from afar and not get noticed' thing was very Hinata-ish, however.

"If you don't mind me asking," I started, completely unsurprised when Hinata flinched. "But what are you doing here, Hinata-san?"

"Be ready."

I was next to her in an instant, throwing a slow punch. Slow, to me, but also slow to her, something that she should have absolutely no trouble blocking.

Should.

Her hands came up, but I could see the flickers of indecision and doubt.

Nevertheless, she successfully managed to block my attack, a palm strike on my wrist pushing my arm upwards, followed by another quick strike at my should, ruining any chance I would have had of redirecting my attack.

She moved back, and I sped up.

I launched another attack, moving just slightly faster. The formula followed again; a quick redirection of my arm, followed by a strike inside my guard. A small, but efficient movement.

She moved back. I sped up.

I struck again, at mid-genin level speeds, which was still far less than what she should have been capable of handling.

Her hand came up and batted away my arm, already beginning to step inside my guard. I raised my other hand, quickly blocking her own strike towards my shoulder, flicking her arm sideways.

With her guard wide open, I immediately attacked with a soft kick to her stomach.

She should have been able to stop it. Should have easily been able to block it, or turn it against me.

But she didn't.

She hesitated just a moment too long, acting just a touch too late to block, or redirect, or otherwise stop me.

She fell backwards with a strained cough when my foot hit, stumbling to catch herself, and only just managing.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question, Hinata?"

She looked up at me, before slowly shaking her head.

"Why is it that you hesitated?"

She flinched.

And damn, that just made me feel bad. She was far, far too skittish in my opinion.

"You were more than capable of deflecting that attack, yet you hesitated. Why?"

She shivered, hunching in on herself, seemingly attempting to hide inside of her jacket in a manner oddly reminiscent of a turtle retreating into its shell.

I waited, more than patient enough to stay until she answered. I didn't have any intention of forcing her too, and I'd let her go if she really didn't want to.

"I-I couldn't." She said, so silently that I barely heard her.

"Couldn't? Couldn't what?"

She looked up a little, not quite meeting my eyes, but no longer looking at the ground. "I-I couldn't bl-block. Too we-weak."

I raised an entirely non-existent eyebrow.

For a moment, I simply stood and stared at her.

Weak? Oh, she was anything but. Shy? Yes. Unconfident, definitely.

But weak?

Hardly.

I let my head fall to the side.

But... how to make her see that?

I let my eyes close as an idea ran through my head. It was stupid -very very stupid-, moronic, and could easily backfire, but...

My eyes opened.

I was going to do it anyway.

I rushed at her, moving faster than I'd ever moved in this 'spar', right on the edge of her own speed. Hinata straightened up in surprise, shifting into a stance on sheer reflex.

I was inside of her guard not even a second later, not giving her even an instant to think. She had time to only react, and I was quite happy to note that she was doing so.

Hinata, after all, was a Kunoichi. Sheer, simple instinct drove her to act and react, an instinct that was drilled into every ninja without failure, and one that that every good ninja listened too.

Her hand came up in an instant, the veins around her eyes bulging as her Byakugan activated almost without her will. She slapped away my wrist, a pulse of chakra coming in time with the hit that flung away my arm. She didn't stop there, but continued onwards to step inside my guard, her other hand coming up for a palm strike.

Her palm hit my 'sternum', and she discharged all the Chakra within. Amped up by adrenaline, I wasn't surprised at all when the odd feeling of absence told me that most of my chest had just been disintegrated.

My arm crashed into the tree next to her, startling her. She froze, her eyes instantly shifting to the side, her Byakugan fading as Chakra was no longer pumped into it.

"Evidently false."

She didn't respond, just stood there. Staring at my arm, and her own hands.

"You were lying, Hinata. You said you couldn't block, yet here you did."

I pulled my hand back, noting that I had left a crater in the tree. Hinata's eyes followed my hand after a moment, before looking back up.

I didn't need my ability to see her Heart to tell that she was surprised. Shocked.

"You successfully managed to deflect a blow that most Chunin would have had trouble with, and then proceeded to disintegrate most of my chest. That, Hinata, does not speak to me of a girl that is weak."

"I... what?"

I shifted, before sitting down. "You heard me, Hinata. You think you are weak, but you are not. You are much, much stronger than you think you are."

In an instant, I dashed up to her again, throwing another punch, just slightly stronger and just slightly faster than before.

And, just like before, she reacted without thinking, her left hand coming up to hit my wrist, knocking my punch of course, while her right stabbed fingers into my chest, coupled with a pulse of Chakra.

Were I Human, I would be very, very dead. Lucky, then, that I wasn't.

"And again." I nodded at her. "That's twice now that you've successfully managed to block me."

She almost stumbled back. Almost.

"Do you know why that is, Hinata? Why you couldn't block me before, but when I started going stronger, you could?"

She slowly, shyly, shook her head.

"It's because you doubt yourself." I said, slowly pulling my hand out of the tree. Hinata's block had left me putting a second crater into it.

Gently, I took her hand and led her over to the stump.

"Before, when I was going slowly, you had enough time to think and plan. I had done this on purpose, to give you time to adjust to fighting me." I looked at her.

She sat, almost-but-not-quite hunched in on herself, her eyes looking down at the ground.

"Eyes up, Hinata, you have nothing to be ashamed about." I stated. "But, continuing, I wished to give you time to adjust to fighting me, much like I did with my earlier spars with Naruto and Sasuke. I'd intended for you to attack when you were ready, but... well."

I straightened up as Hinata once again hunched in on herself, patting her on the shoulder. "Anyway, I noticed you were hesitating. You had time to think, and plan, but because you doubted yourself, and your ability to block my attacks, you hesitated in actually doing so. That, in turn, affected your capabilities. With a lack of confidence in yourself, things you should have easily been able to block became much more difficult, and even outright impossible for you to deflect. That was the reason you couldn't block those weaker attacks. Can you guess why you were able to block the stronger ones?"

For a moment, she stayed silent, before slowly, hesitantly asking, "Because... because I didn't have time to doubt?"

"Correct. No time to think, or plan. No time to doubt yourself, or your abilities. You acted instinctively, efficiently, and effectively. Those are some good instincts, Hinata."

"Thank you."

"Heh." I let my hand rest on her shoulder for a second.

"Now, would you like to continue this spar?"

For a moment, she sat still, before taking a deep breath, slowly inhaling, then exhaling.

"Y-yes please."

I grinned.

Her Heart was beautiful. Her Soul, equally so.

To see them be constrained under fear, and doubt, marred by a lack of confidence... was truly a shame.

Sasuke's Heart and Soul was the same; and odd beauty obscured in hatred and disgust... I much prefered it unclouded, filled with joy and hope. Sure, hatred and disgust may linger like Dark scars, but they weren't overwhelming, overpowering. He was Human, after all, a Human who suffered, and then moved on to become greater.

Hearts, Pure and Full, held a beauty that I could easily appreciate. Hearts, Corrupted and Empty... were the pictures of the greatest tragedies of existence.

To see such pictures, such lives... how could I do anything but help?

How could I not try to pull those Corrupted Hearts off such a painful path? How could I not try to defend those Hearts that were Pure?

I... wish to apologize, Hinata Hyuuga. I have seen your Heart, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that it grows into something beautiful.