"Uh! Stop! Please!" Hinata cries as her body gets pushed around and thrown onto the dirt path by a group of four kids her similar age.
"Hey, Tomuri look she's crying again! Haha!" A kid with dark hair and chubby features shouts while pointing his finger at the helpless girl lying on the ground. Tears had already escaped her innocent eyes trailing down her delicate cheeks.
"She can't even fight back. So weak. Are you really Hiashi Hyūga's daughter?" Another kid smirked taking a step closer and landing one foot on top of her stomach. Hinata could feel the pain sprouting out of the same spot and it became harder and harder for her to get up the heavier his weight pushed onto her.
"P-please...stop..." Hinata begged once again trembling from the pain weakening her physical state. A cough followed her words as she attempted to get up. This was the second time this week that she had been ambushed by the same group of Genin her age. Kids who had nothing better to do than to target the weak. It seems Hinata had been on their radar for quite some time now knowing full well that she was the daughter of a very powerful clan.
"If your clan is as powerful as they say they are, then why aren't you fighting back, huh?" A girl stepped forward from the group and glared at Hinata in disgust. She leaned on one leg gripping onto her sweater. Hinata's eyes widened as they traced her fingers moving towards her neck. In a blink of an eye, the girl had placed a kunai knife above her, the tip inching closer to her skin.
"Uh...hey, Katari I think we're going a bit too far...don't you think?" Another kid let out, growing anxious for his friend.
"Hmph! Fine, whatever. I wasn't going to do it anyway. I just wanted to scare her. That's all." She let go of Hinata's sweater and stood up to walk back to the crowd.
"We'll get you again next time Hyūga!" The kid who had his foot on top of her lifted himself off and then walked towards his friends. With the satisfaction that they'd brought down their target once again, the group of kids had decided to finally leave Hinata alone, walking back in the same direction they had come from.
Hinata laid on the ground, listening to the leaves rustling around her. Exhausted by the events just minutes ago, she relaxed her body letting her tears continue to fall.
She was on her way to train alone in the forest. A spot she had only recently discovered was quiet and perfect for her concentration. It was better than training under her own father and sister because with them, she almost always felt like an outsider. Observing her father praising her little sister in front of her was quite the distraction.
"You...have to get up..." Hinata opened her eyes attempting to encourage herself under her soft and trembling voice. As she finally stood up on her feet, she picked up her training backpack and proceeded to make her way into the forest that led her to the same spot she had trained herself in the previous week.
As she stood there, she could hear nothing but the slight sound of the minor tree branches swaying along with the timid wind. The clear skies had painted themselves visible and it was just how she had expected it to be. The peace that helped her concentrate.
This time she had thought to train herself even harder than before. It was going to be today and every day from now on. She wanted to be better, to be stronger so that she could finally stand up for herself.
However, somehow rather than holding on to that feeling of motivation within herself, the one she had just mustered up inside to help her through today, she instead found herself crying again.
Hinata tried to keep her tears from falling, wiping away as much as she could with her sleeves but they just kept falling. It didn't take her a second until her body was now sitting on the ground next to a tree trunk folding her legs and hiding her face inside.
"Hey, if you're just going to cry, would you mind leaving this training ground?" A cool collected voice had disrupted her vulnerable moment and as she lifted her head up to where the voice had come from, her eyes widened in surprise to see a raven-haired boy sitting calmly on a tree branch, glaring at her from above the same tree she had been crying next to.
Sasuke was just about to start his own training when he noticed another presence had made its way inside the same spot he found as his training ground. He had been visiting this same spot for weeks progressing in his own skills, making himself even more stronger than before. It was a perfect place to concentrate and he had also found it to be very peaceful.
"Uh...umm..." Hinata continued to wipe away as many tears as possible. It surprised her that someone else knew about this spot. She smiled as she looked back at the boy above, masking her despondency, then proceeded to stand up. As she took another glance, she noticed that it was Sasuke Uchiha, one of her classmates from the academy. A Genin just like herself.
"S-sorry...I-I'll be on my way..." Hinata picked up her bag and as she turned to head in the direction that would lead her out of the forest, Sasuke had landed a few feet away in front of her, hands in his pockets, his dark onyx pair gazing into her white-lavender ones.
"How did you find this place?" His calm demeanor planted on his expression as he stood ahead of her, genuinely curious to know how anyone else discovered quite the perfect spot to train. The times he'd visited this area, there had been no other signs of anyone else's presence besides himself.
"I...umm...j-just happened to stubble upon it." Hinata kept her eyes on the ground curling her palms together in front of her. His stoic expression piercing through her slightly made her grow even more nervous and uncomfortable. It urged her to continue the path and run away.
After all, it seemed like this spot was already taken and if it was someone like Sasuke, then he would most suitably kick her out. Having no energy to argue with the slight guilt of being spotted in an unwelcomed territory, Hinata picked up her feet attempting to move out of Sasuke's way.
"If you plan on using this spot, perhaps we can work something out." Sasuke stood still listening to the sound of Hinata's footsteps abruptly stopping a few feet behind him. The gust of wind blew past the both of them as silence now overtook the environment surrounding them.
He noticed the existing bruise on her neck and the dirt staining her cheeks. A tiny scratch had been marked just above her jaw to the side. He noticed it all and he couldn't help but feel a slight pity towards the girl. She appeared weakened, and victimized, an obvious hint of that when she was crying just minutes ago.
Hinata paused trying to collect the words that had traveled to her ears. Words that she hadn't expected would come out of the raven-haired boy. It surprised her, making her rethink about her sudden urge to leave. She began to wonder why someone like him was being considerate to someone like her.
But she needed this. She finally found a place where she could be at peace while practicing to become a stronger ninja. She wanted to finally have the strength and courage to stand up to those kids, to her father and her clan, to the person she deeply had a huge crush on, and most importantly she needed to build the courage to overcome any fear that might come her way.
"I-if you don't mind it...m-maybe we could work off on a schedule...s-so that we won't have to be in each other's w-way." Hinata hesitated her words as she gripped onto the straps of her bag. Her soft frail voice attempting to speak as loud as it can over the light breeze from the passing wind.
"That's fine with me." Sasuke turned his body around facing the timid girl in front of him. Her back standing still slightly trembling in place. One wrong word and he could imagine her whole body falling back down on the ground shedding the last of her tears out of her eyes.
"W-what's your schedule like...umm...so we don't run into each other w-when we train?" Hinata concentrated on the ground hoping that she could work out a schedule that would align for them not to encounter one another.
"Rather than working against mine, I think it's more appropriate I work against yours." Being the head of the clan's daughter had its limitations and Sasuke was more than aware of that.
After all, he had a clan once. A very powerful clan and he could never bring himself to forgive his older brother for that day. He was going to avenge the death of his parents and the rest of the Uchiha clan. He was going to train himself even more and become stronger so that he could one day kill his own brother.
"O-okay...u-umm...I can train on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I had planned on coming here during the weekends in the morning. M-my father would want me to be home by noon s-so you can have the afternoons." Hinata could begin to feel her heartbeat pounding louder the more she spoke. Sweat was developing in her palms as she gripped onto the straps of her bag even tighter.
"Then it's settled." Sasuke didn't have to explain his schedule because it would simply be the days Hinata wouldn't be there. And the afternoon on the weekends was what he had already planned for himself.
Sasuke took another glance at Hinata's back before picking up his feet and proceeding to walk past her in the direction out of the forest. Something within him instinctively wanted to leave the training ground so that Hinata could use it instead. He didn't think much of it. Besides he could feel that she needed it more than he did today.
"W-where are you g-going?" Hinata lifted her focus off the ground and looked over at the boy who slowly stopped his trail in front of her. Another breeze passing between them. His immediate action to leave surprised her.
Sasuke had already been in the training ground before her and she had involuntarily wanted to leave, so it didn't feel right that he would be the one leaving.
"Go ahead and use it. I won't be needing it today." Sasuke decided he had other things to do. Plus, the training ground wasn't going anywhere. As long as he was able to work out a schedule that would avoid encountering the other person, then he had no issue going a day without training.
"Umm...t-thank...thank you..." Hinata could feel the slight tears emerging out of the corner of her eyes. But it wasn't for the same reasons as when they came out moments ago. Rather, it was from the slight joy of having someone understand her. Someone who didn't judge her for being weak.
Tilting his head around, his stoic gaze meets back with the almost crying girl behind him. Her eyes closed and her delicate stand attempting to keep her posture, he thought nothing of them.
She was just another aspiring ninja just like himself and had a similar goal to reach. That burning will to become stronger.