Strength.
That was all that was respected in this world. The power to control others was everything. Hinata came from one of the most powerful clans and yet she had none of the power necessary to establish herself as a proper heir should.
She had the looks, the eyes, the pedigree and yet everyone in her house looked at her with scorn. From Main to Branch Houses they looked at her with eyes that judged everything about her. Lacking in nothing but the power to make them look away.
There had been a time when things had been different. When her mother was alive. When her father still looked at her with some modicum of affection. Hinata's life, the joy and happiness of it all was leached away from her in a series of small cuts. One by one, day by day, the warmth and affection that she enjoyed dried up and Hinata was tossed into the cold world of politics and disdain.
Hinata did not lack anything but the attitude to wield her power, to change the world. And she lacked the drive to enact the changes that she wanted to see in the world. And that's why she was powerless. That is why everyone in the clan house looked at her as though she was worth nothing more than the scum scraped off the bottom of their shoes.
Maybe that was why she did not put up much of a fight when the Cloud Shinobi had kidnapped her. Would life change for her if she was out of that home? Probably not. Still she would be seen as powerless and be treated as though she could do nothing in this world. But maybe they would look at her with less disdain.
Wrapped in rope as she was, there was nothing that she could do. She was so much smaller, so much weaker than these battle hardened men who had planned this. They had been trained for this. The least that she could do was not fight back. Hinata lay limp against the arm of the man, sagged against his back and just waited. For everything to reach its natural conclusion.
Bitter tears rose in her eyes and Hinata could not help but marvel at her own weakness, her own apathy at her own life. When had she become like this? Why had she become like this? Was her life worth so little that she thought that nothing good could come to her?
She looked to the moon, bright and high in the sky. It was not star. It would not grant her any wishes, but still she prayed in her heart for something, someone, anything… power. It was all she desired. She wanted power.
Hinata did not want the coldness of the power of the Hyuga clan. She did not want the brutal power of the Cloud ninja that were taking her. She wanted her own power, something soft and yet strong like her mother had been before her passing. Looking at the moon, Hinata could feel nothing but the shoulder in her stomach that jostled with every movement they made away from her home.
The moon pulsed. And Hinata's eyes widened. It moved but for a moment but she saw it. She pushed chakra to her eyes and watched as something sped toward them. It was fast. In one move, a black rod zoomed from the darkness and impaled the man holding her.
He gasped. The ninja looked down at the rod in his chest and looked up to see someone standing in the air above them. They were pale, their eyes bright and intense with the bakugan. White hair cascaded down their back. Wearing white robes that danced in the wind and shinobi sandals the man before her looked ethereal and untouchable.
Hinata stared at the man in wide eyed amazement before the Cloud shinobi fell to their knees gasping and panting. The man descended from the sky without a stand, without a word. He grabbed Hinata and placed her on her on two feet before he turned to face the Cloud shinobi again.
"How dare you touch our Byakugan princess," he said, his voice resonant and pleasing. He pulled the rod out of the back of the man. It made a sickening squelching sound. Something that Hinata cringed at the longer she thought about it. "And for this you will pay with your life."
"Kill me and you invite the wrath of the Cloud Village, Hyuga!" the shinobi spat. The man hummed deep in his chest.
"I am not bound by your earthly politics." And then he sliced off the Cloud shinobi's head. It was quick it was fast and Hinata touched the spot of blood that had splashed along her cheek. Hinata knew that this was the logical conclusion of what needed to happen. She knew this and yet… she felt sadness. Death was always sad.
The man turned to her and began to unwrap her bindings, humming as he did so. When Hinata was finally free she rubbed at her wrists and arms attempting to regain feeling. The man's eyes relaxed, the thick pulsating veins of the Byakugan retreated and just the eyes, like pearls remained. Hinata stared at him.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Byakugan princess. I am Ashigiri Otsutsuki," he said. Hinata stared at him, wide eyes but he said nothing just gathered her in his arms.
How long had it been since she was last held by someone with something nearing tenderness? Hinata folded into him without thinking. This man was not one that would harm her. Why would he save her if his intention was to hurt her? Ashigiri walked slowly through the town walking Hinata back to her home.
"I have watched you, Hinata. I have watched you for so long and I have watched as your clan has hindered your growth at every turn and I am here to make sure that they do that no longer," Ashigiri said. His voice was low as he walked Hinata back to her family house.
The Hyuga were already awake and alert. Their eyes scanned the skyline and people were jumping into trees and Ashigiri walked past them. Their Byakugans were useless as though there was nothing to be seen, as though their heiress, Hinata, was not in the arms of a man.
Her mouth was wide as she watched Ashigiri walk to the room where her father and the elders stood. Each one of them were debating on where Hinata could be and where the Cloud nin could have taken her. In a matter of moments, Ashigiri stood before them and they all turned to see Hinata gathered in his arms.
Hiashi, Hinata's father, was up first and without thought grabbed her from Ashigiri's arms. She fell into the warm embrace of her father, but his eyes were not trained on Hinata, but on the man who saved her.
"Who are you and how have you come to be here?" Hiashi's eyes bulged out, the veins of his Byakugan engorged with blood and chakra.
"Papa, he saved me," Hinata said, her voice high with anxiety. She did not wish for the man to come to harm and she knew her father could harm the man. Hinata gripped the shirt of her father and shook it in her small hands. "He helped me."
The veins and Byakugan of Ashigiri flared to life and he allowed his chakra to permeate the space. The sense was of a vast ocean sweeping over them. The power was something that Hinata had never felt before. The power of her father was nothing compared to this. Hinata shrunk back, away from the man that once saved her.
"I come bearing gifts," Ashigiri said as he drew back his power and his Byakugan was released. "I come with an offer." He settled himself down on the ground, his feet crossed a clear message that he would not be sitting in the fashion that would numb his legs. He did not trust them and they would not trust him.
Hiashi settled down and sat Hinata down at his side. The elders were fanned out around him waiting to hear this offer. Hinata was curious too. He had claimed that he was here to help her, that he wanted to make sure that the elders could no longer hinder her.
"I am Ashigiri Otsutsuki and I want to train Hinata alongside my son. As you can see I have the Byakugan so I will be able to instruct Hinata properly in its usage."
The Elders murmured behind her and she looked behind her.
"How have you come to have the Byakugan?" one of the elders asked.
"I was born with it just as you were," Ashigiri said.
More words were traded talking quick about his credentials and how he had the Byakugan. Hinata tried to follow it all, but she could hardly keep up. It had been a long day and she was tired. She had been woken from her sleep with a kidnapping and now all this…
Her eyes dressed lower and lower and Hinata could feel herself slipping into the void of sleep. With one final blink, she closed her eyes.
Author's Note: And I have finally made my return to the Naruto fandom after so long! Hello world. So much has changed since the last time that I wrote a Naruto fanfic. But this story is going to be Hinata centric. This first chapter is just to set up and the rest of this story is going to be from the first person about Hinata and the training she goes through and the relationships that she has.
I will be revamping the dojutsus because Kishimoto gave all the hacks to the Uchihas and none to anyone else and I find that to be annoying. I also want to make the show a little darker than it originally was so be ready for that.
Anyway, tell me what you think and what I should add. Happy reading.
