A/N: First off, Merry Christmas :D Thanks to everyone for the reviews. I have no idea who Hinata will end up with yet, I'll just have to see how it goes and whose more popular. Let me know your opinion in reviews! Thanks to for her kind review! Hinata's pretty miserable, but she'll cheer up soon, or her misery will be a little more humorous :)
Disclaimer: If you've read my other story Eien no Shasai, you'll know Im annoyed with Masashi Kishimoto for killing off all the good characters. Still, he deserves credit, and credit shall be given. I don't own Naruto unfortunately :(
Hyuuga Hinata
Hinata wasn't exactly what you'd call a normal kunoichi. Instead of being obnoxious and speaking from the mind, she was quiet and soft spoken. She disliked hurting things, though would for her own or her comrades defence. She probably would have been better as a Medic-nin, but her father's scrutiny had pulled her away from the idea.
In short, Hinata didn't really have a place in the world. She was the ex-heiress, but a failure, a kunoichi, but timid, so what use was she?
She had managed to become a Chuunin, possibly her proudest achievement, yet always she had something missing.
Was it love? She had felt the twinges of a beginning of it while she watched Naruto or when she was with Kiba, yet never… Never felt truly loved.
If her father loved her it was very deep down and never rose to the surface. Hanabi, well they had a tolerance of each other and could go so far as being slight friends but with the pressure of the clan and its disgust towards Hinata, sisterly bonds never really had a chance to blossom. Neji had despised her until her first Chuunin exam, but seemed to find peace after that and treated her fairly kindly.
Now, everything had been torn with shreds of confusion. She was being shipped off to Suna to try and woo a bloodthirsty demon, that she had seen kill in the Chuunin exams and to be honest, was frightened of beyond belief.
And to top it off, she was going to have Uchiha Sasuke following her every move and sticking to her. In her younger years, back when she wasn't such a disgrace, she had guards with her at almost every moment and she hated it, so she certainly wasn't going to like it now.
With a sigh mixed of frustration and hopelessness, she pulled herself out of bed.
She saw no one about in the compound so set off for a walk, having packed a small bag the night before. She wandered around in a state of depression, looking down at a small pond to her side. She scrutinised her appearance, large, freaky white eye, sickly pale skin, thick black, blue tinted hair, and baggy clothes to hide her horrible figure.
Yes, Hinata was in a state of depression. Surprisingly, this brought out the more feminine side of her, which would mentally whine about her many imperfections. She turned away and kept walking.
"Oi Hinata." She spun around, her hair spinning round and landing neatly against her back.
"Uchiha-san?" she questioned, as he strolled towards her. He stopped a couple feet in front of her, and observed her. Her eyes were dull and she was paler than usual.
"Are you worried about Suna?" he asked, walking with her, but having to take slower strides so he didn't get ahead of her. She nodded meekly. "It's my mission to protect you, I won't let anything bad happen." He reassured.
"H-hai… Arigatou…" she replied quietly.
"You should go get your things, we're meant to be at the gate in half an hour."
"Mm…" she mumbled on autopilot, heaving back towards the Hyuuga compound for what could be the last time.
She was rather touched actually, to see her father, Hanabi and Neji waiting for her. A branch member handed her bag to her and bowed before walking off.
"Take care Oneechan." Hanabi said, with surprising compassion in her eyes. This meant more to Hinata than any words or gestures and she smiled and nodded.
"And you Hanabi" she replied softly, for once, no trace of a stutter. "Lead the clan to greatness."
"Hinata-sama" Neji said, his eyes caring and warm like Hanabi's. "I'll be coming to visit, I'll see if I can get transferred." As a Jonin, and a genius, Neji was constantly on missions and would rarely be able to see her. His words gave Hinata hope however, and she held them to her heart.
"Hinata. Don't disappoint me." Hiashi said, his harsh eyes staring down at his eldest daughter.
"I-I wont T-tou-san" she replied with a bow. Great, and she was doing so well without her stutter. Now tears are starting to form. No, she wouldn't cry, she would NOT cry!
"Ohayo!!" An orange bomb dropped down in front of Hinata. Naruto grinned in delight. "Hinataaa! Are you ready?" He asked wheeling around to look at her with a grin. "This goes down as an A-rank on my record and also says that I am good with clan and country affairs! Isn't that great?! Obaachan is sure to retire soon and then it's Hokage here I come!!" he said cheerfully, not noticing Hinata's increasing struggle against her teary eyes.
"Hai…" she croaked.
"Come on! Don't want to be late!" he cried, grasping her hand and dragging her along as Hinata lost her inner battle and let a stray tear run lose.
Not even a proper goodbye.
"Sakura-chan I got her!!" Naruto cried, arriving at the Konoha gates. Sasuke looked up and Kakashi offered a wave.
"Hey. I'm going to be going too. Hokage-sama doesn't want Naruto to mess up and I'm going to be acting as a back up guard. She said I was getting old and a vacation would do me good." Kakashi explained, turning back to his book.
They head out without another word, Naruto's hyper excitement drowning out Hinata's misery. Naruto and Sakura walked up front with the blond boy carrying his and Sakura's bags. Sakura seemed to be in a bad mood and just scowled darkly as she walked. Sasuke walked next to Hinata, sensing her depression (though saying it was because he was guarding her) and Kakashi trailed behind, looking for enemies.
Oh why couldn't Kiba and Shino be here? Hinata thought miserably. Akamaru was like a large lion and she always felt so safe with the trio. Shino always had a calming aura and Kiba would cheerfully boast and brag that he was undefeatable and wouldn't let anything hurt her.
I should be marrying Kiba-kun… Hinata thought, her eyes downcast. We were so happy together. Tou-san, why did you hate him so? Why did you break us apart? She didn't even get to say goodbye to her team-mates. That thought let her mood hit rock bottom.
I hate this…