Hello! Welcome to my new story, Protecting What's Yours! A few things before we get this thing rolling, and please read this, as it may have an impact on your viewing pleasure.
1. This will be NaruHina, with possible pairings later if they happen naturally to me. So don't get your hopes up for harems, or other popular pairings that are inserted into naruhina fics (I.E. ShikaTema, SasuSaku, etc.)
2. This is starting pre-academy, so the character development will start early, which may cause some differences in the konoha-12
3. This is rated M for a reason. There will be lemons later, there will be cursing, and there will be graphic scenes. If you are not prepared for this, I suggest finding another fic to read, god knows there is plenty of NaruHina out there that this little guy won't be a huge loss.
4. There will be Sakura bashing, so if you enjoy that character having an impact and not being worthless, you might want to clear out
5. I am very busy. Like, VERY busy. And I have a philosophy of not writing unless I am in the mood for it. What I mean by that is that I don't force it in order to have consistent uploads, because I believe it lowers the quality. For anyone that has read my previous works (all 1 completed of them and a few other discontinued ones) I am terribly inconsistent with uploads, and go months at a time without an update. I don't mean to, and I feel bad about it, but I'd rather have the story take a year or two to complete and remain the quality I wish it to be, than get it finished in a few months and have it be subpar. That being said, I'm going to try and write a lot in these periods that I have the fire burning in me, and I'll try to space out the uploads to make it a tad more consistent, in case I hit a writer's block and cease my writing for a bit.
6. With that monster out of the way (to those of you who are still left) this will feature a yandere Hinata. To those unfamiliar with the adjective, look it up. It's an interesting concept, and one that I think will change the course of the story quite a bit. Every change besides this one will be an effect from her behavior. Now Hinata won't be yandere to the dot, mind you, just enough of it to make her a bit more…. Protective. And maybe a bit creepy. Trust me, I have some good ideas, and putting my own spin on the concept should yield interesting results.

I try to keep these large A/N's to a minimum, as I don't like boosting the word count, but seeing as how this is chapter 1, I wanted to make sure we're all up to speed on how I like to operate things. So assuming you're still on board with me, let's get this bitch rolling.

Hyuuga Hinata was, by all definitions of the word, shy. She hated confrontation, she was afraid of contact with others, and hardly a word could ever be heard from the small girl. This very reason was why she was seen as a failure in her clan from a young age. Most of the Hyuuga were proud, strong, and in the face of adversity, spit in it and struck it down, demanding respect. Young Hinata, however, would shun conflict, and cower away from any who would do her harm. It wasn't that she was weak, it was that she was too gentle, too innocent for the shinobi world that she was thrust into. Perhaps, if her mother had lived, she could have taught her daughter how she had conformed, and developed ways to combat the endless hatred and sorrow that battered her equally gentle soul day after day, especially as wife to the clan head of one of the most feared clans in Konoha's history. However, fate could never be so kind, and had taken her mother from her, even as her sister came into being.

It was due to this reason that she was the constant target of bullying by others of her age group, and lack of friends. Being the only Hyuuga that wouldn't stare coldly at any teasing thrown their way, or strike down any attempts at poking or prodding, she was the medium for all the hate and dissent that the younger generations felt towards the haughty clan. Of course, the attacks and biting words didn't come often, as she usually had her caretaker, Ko, with her. Every so often though, she would find herself alone, feeling like a target had been placed on her back. She had learned to hide because of this, to become invisible in crowds and disappear in seemingly open places. She had to, there was no peace otherwise.

Despite this, however, she still occasionally lost focus, dealing with her clan's poor opinion of her, her sister's apparent hatred of her, and her father's constant disappointment of her entire being. This was the reason why, on this particular day, she had ran straight into a group of boys, knocking the leader's ice cream from his hand. They had looked at her in disbelief before dragging her out of the street into a wooded playground, before scowling at her.

"Hey hey!" the older boy began, glaring down at her.

Hinata lowered her stinging eyes, trying to hold her tears back. "I…I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"Hey, isn't she a Hyuuga?" one of the other boys said, moving to get a better look at her.

"Yeah, look at her eyes!" the last one muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Probably a cousin of that Neji…"

"That means they probably have the same personality." The second boy said with distaste in his voice. "People from royal families are all the same…"

Hinata clenched her eyes shut, willing the salty tears threatening to fall to stay put. "I'm….n-not like that…" she whispered weakly, taking a small step backwards. Maybe she could get away…

She turned and ran, but the leader saw and grabbed her before she could take more than 3 steps. He threw her unceremoniously on the ground, crossing his arms.

"Trying to run away before even apologizing? What, are we not good enough for your apologies, Hyuuga?" he said, smirking.

Hinata remained with her head down, feeling weaker than ever before. What could she do? She was surrounded by boys stronger than her, and who hated her by assuming things from her family. Why was the world so cruel…

"I'm s-sorry…" she whispered to the ground, the tears now flowing freely from her eyes.

"You call that an apology?" the leader said angrily, grabbing her head and shoving it to the ground. "Do it properly!"

Hinata gasped a bit from the pain of him pulling her hair, the tears coming thicker now. "I'm sorry…..I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sor-"

"Hey!" a voice rang out, and the leader straightened out to greet their newcomber. "Quit it!"

The three looked over to see a blonde haired boy staring at them angrily with large ocean-blue eyes.

Hinata looked up in shock, what was he doing? Did he bring someone with him to stop these boys? But he appeared to be alone.

"Hey, isn't he that kid?" one of the boys muttered.

"Yeah!" the other said excitedly, "The one no one likes because he's always causing trouble for everyone!"

The leader smirked at the blonde, causing his expression to become more angry. "Yeah, he's THAT kid!"

All three of them laughed boisterously at this, driving the challenger to the end of his patience.

"Shut up!" he yelled, swiping his hand aside in an angry motion, "I'm not a THAT or an IT. The name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to become Hokage!"

The three bullies exchanced an incredulous look. "Hokage?" they questioned, before laughing loudly at him again. The leader snorted loudly. "There's no way YOU could ever become Hokage!" he said, laughing at the small boy's words. He walked up and punched the boy in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Hinata gasped, looking at her only ally in fear. Had they hurt him? She couldn't bear it if the first person to show her true kindness would only receive payment in the form of pain. She watched in awe as he stood up slowly, wiping his slightly swollen cheek.

The leader's expression darkened at the sight of his defiance. "You looking to fight?" he said angrily, brandishing his fists again.

Naruto smirked at him, "As long as you promise not to cry after!" he exclaimed, before forming a seal with his hands. The boy's backed up slightly, shock in their faces.

"D-does he know jutsu?" one of the boy's asked, fear in his voice.

"Bunshin no…." Naruto began, as Hinata watched on in wonder. Was this boy hiding a hidden strength…?

"JUTSU!" Naruto finished, before a burst of smoke entered the area. After it cleared, the fearful boys laid their eyes on the most pitiful clone they had ever laid eyes on. It was a ghostly white, with a cartoonish appearance, that flopped sadly onto the ground, as the blonde watched it with disappointment in his eyes. They all immediately began laughing again, their hardest yet, as seeing this boy as a threat even momentarily.

Naruto gritted his teeth before launching himself at the leader, knocking him to the ground hard. "You let your guard down!" he yelled at him angrily, driving a fist into the boy's face. The other two looked on in shocked anger as the troublemaker punched their leader again, making him groan.

"I will definitely become Hokage one day, and show up people like you!" he spat, before punching him again. This seemed to spark anger in the other two boys, as they came back to life.

"He's underestimating us!" one yelled, before they each took an arm and slammed him back into the ground.

Hinata watched, forgotten by the trio as they all punched and kicked every part of Naruto they could reach. Blood started welling up from his split lip and cut eyebrow as they mercilessly beat him into the ground. She looked down, despair building strongly from watching her savior pummeled so badly…

"Hinata-sama!" a voice rang out, causing the trio to look up in alarm.

"Oh shit!" the leader swore, pulling the other two as they ran in the opposite direction as Ko came bursting into the park. She saw her eyes rest on her with relief. "Hinata-sama, are you alright?"

She nodded, slowly getting to her feet. Ko's eyes left her and settled on Naruto's still form, becoming cold.

"Hinata-sama, let's get you back to the compound." He said , grabbing her hand.

"B-but…that boy!" she said, panic in her voice. They had to find him help, he looked badly hurt…

"Don't concern yourself with that boy, Hinata-sama." Ko said, looking at her closely. "Now come on."

"But…." She whispered, allowing herself to be dragged along. She looked back, seeing he still wasn't moving.

'Naruto…'

She lay in bed later than night, staring at her ceiling. Why had that boy come to help her? He hadn't known her, and by the way Ko looked at him, guessed he wasn't on good terms with the Hyuuga clan. So why?

She turned to her side, her young mind making no sense of the scenario. He said he would be Hokage…yet was laughed at. Even so, he had still stood, defiance in his eyes, as he exclaimed that he would be no matter what, and show people like those boys that he could. Such strength and courage…she wished she could be like him. She had to find his secret….maybe then she could find it in herself to beat her dear sister, whom she was always afraid of harming in their spars. Maybe she could make her father proud, maybe she could bring pride to the Hyuuga name and stop being an outcast…

She had to follow him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

In the following weeks, Hinata slipped away from Ko several times once they spotted the spiky haired youth on the streets to follow him. What she saw made her sad and confused at the same time. She had watched as he was thrown from shops, driven from streets, and yelled at constantly. People shouted 'demon' and 'scum' at him, even though he always seemed so shy and scared…

She winced at his latest attempt to pay for a new shirt, since his was dirty and worn, and was tossed from the establishment onto his face.

"AND STAY OUT, YOU FILTHY DEMON!" the man spat at the boy, who was getting painfully to his feet. She watched his expression turn defiant, before turning angrily at the man.

"FINE, WHO'D WANT TO SHOP AT YOUR SMELLY OLD PLACE ANYWAY!" he shouted, "WHEN I'M HOKAGE I'LL MAKE SURE IT GETS TORN TO THE GROUND!"

He started running away, and Hinata swore she saw a few tears drop to the ground in his wake. She silently followed him, making sure to keep her head down so no one saw her eyes and question what she was doing in that particular part of town so far from her compound.

After sneaking for some time, she came to a dead end, and a pit of sadness began to form in her stomach at the absence of Naruto. 'He disappeared…' she thought, wanting to comfort him. She couldn't figure out why everyone was so terrible to him, besides maybe the pranks.

'But…' she thought idly, 'that wouldn't make everyone be THAT mean to him…'

She was about to start the journey back to her home when she heard a small sob come from the end of the alley. She turned around, and saw that there was a little crevice in the wall she looked over, and judging by the sounds she was now paying rapt attention to, was the hiding place of one Uzumaki Naruto.

She swallowed, steeling herself to go and introduce herself to him and offer some sympathy, when she heard voices behind her.

"I think he came this way!"

"Hokage-sama is busy with council affairs today I heard, would be the perfect time to finally put an end to the abomination…"

"….don't know why he's so protective of it…..senile in his old age…."

Hinata's breath stopped as her eyes darted too and fro, looking for a hiding spot. Spotting a large blanket on a clothes line, she ripped it down and threw it over herself and a section of fence, crouching down and making sure she had a small space to watch the scene evolving before her.

Naruto must have heard the noises too, because she saw him straighten out from his hiding place, wiping his eyes hurriedly, looking around for a way out. Seeing none, he darted back to his little cubby hole, curling into a ball and holding his breath. Hinata listened as the voices grew louder, eventually seeing a few villagers, including the shop owner that had recently thrown Naruto out, searching all over the alleyway for the blonde child.

"Feh, he must have ducked down a different alley…wait a minute!" one villager yelled, reaching down and coming up with a trembling Naruto. "I FOUND THE BLOODY DEMON!"

A roar of approval greeted him as the others in their group came running up, offering him congratulations while looking at the child with malice in their eyes.

Hinata watched in terror as the tears started spilling from his eyes again, forming rivers of sorrow on his shaking face.

"P-please…." He said, fear leaking into his voice. "I'm sorry…I won't e-ever come to your sh-shop again….please l-leave me alone…" Hinata could feel her small heart breaking with every word he said. "please don't h-hurt me…."

The shop owner threw the young boy to the ground before stomping on his stomach, elicting a gasp of pain from him. "You demon brat, you think that those tears will deceive us? You sicken me, trying to take the guise of a child to escape retribution….WE WON'T BE TRICKED, WILL WE MEN?"

Another roar of approval came from the crowd as they took it in turns to strike the small boy. Hinata watched on in horror as they stomped, kicked, punched, pounded, and threw the small blonde to and fro, breaking limbs and shattering cartilage. Time seemed to have no meaning once they pulled out weapons, and started cutting him, breaking his small body. She couldn't believe it. This was too much. Why…..why….why…..why…..why….

She repeated this to herself for over an hour, even after the group had left the barely recognizable form of Naruto bloody and broken on the ground. She barely registered the cries of "HINATA-SAMAAA!" as Ko attempted to find her. When he did, with the assistance of the Byakugan, he was horrified by what he found.

She was staring. Staring at the broken body of the Kyuubi. He cringed to think what Hiashi would do to him if he found out.

"Hinata-sama, we have to go back now, come, nobody is going to hurt you."

She didn't move. Her eyes were still fixed on the boy's unmoving form. "why…..why…..why….." she kept muttering to herself over and over. She couldn't think. It was too much for her to handle.

Ko placed a hand on her shoulder and she jerked violently away from him, hot tears spilling down her face. He got down on one knee and offered her his hand. "Hinata-sama, it's only me. Let's get you home, come on."

She shook her head slowly, looking back at Naruto. "Why…..why…..would th-they do this to him?" she said, breaking away from her chant.

Ko's eyes hardened as he looked at Naruto, resentment hidden in his eyes. While he approved of the actions, he didn't approve of doing so within sight or earshot of others.

"Don't you worry about him, he'll only bring trouble. Let's get ho-"

"why would anyone do this." She repeated, her small form shaking. "He didn't d-do anything….he….hasn't d-d-done anything…."

Ko sighed, knowing that this slip up would have lasting damage on the girl's psych. Maybe he should take her to a Yamanaka…

He picked up her trembling frame, holding her close to his chest, before turning his back on the boy. Her eyes snapped to his, horrified.

"No…we need to help him…" she said, a panic taking hold of her. "We need to help him! WE NEED TO HELP HIM!"

Ko looked incredulously at the girl in his arms. If only she knew…

"Hinata-sama." He said firmly, giving her a stern look. "Do not concern yourself with that boy. Please listen to my advice, it will do no good to-"

"WE HAVE TO HELP HIM!" she screamed, as she started flailing. He would die, she was sure of it. "WE HAVE TO HELP HIM KO WE HAVE TO!"

Ko adopted a stoic look before jabbing Hinata in the neck, causing her to lose consciousness. "I'm sorry Hinata-sama….but it's for your own good."

He leaped off, leaving the body to stain the ground below it in blood.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nightmares of the boy being killed in front of her plagued the young Hyuuga for weeks, causing her to become even more withdrawn than usual. She wouldn't leave her room except for sparring or meals, and refused to go outside. She had even stopped opening up to the closest person to a friend she had; her caretaker, Ko. She felt betrayed, since when did killing someone, especially a kid like herself, become ok? Why had no one helped him? Why had the one person who showed her kindness by helping her, a nobody, been chosen to die like that? And the one person she thought she could rely on, turned away from him, despite her pleas.

She turned over in her bed, a haunting look on her face. She couldn't stop seeing him…his broken form lying meters away, while she looked on and did nothing….her savior, Naruto, being cut before her eyes….

They had sliced 'DEMON' into his small chest, amongst other words like 'MONSTER' and 'MURDERER' into other various parts of his body. She listened to him beg, scream in pain, plead to be let go, scream more, pass out…reawaken and the cycle would begin again. There was no escape for either of them.

She heard footsteps outside her door, but she didn't react to them.

"Hinata-sama…" she heard the low voice of Ko outside her door. "Your father has mandated me to take you outside to get some fresh air. I'll give you some time to get ready, but please be cooperative." He said, before she heard him move away. Her father had ordered him to take her outside….

She got to her feet slowly. She couldn't go with Ko. It would just reawaken her questions and feelings of betrayal. She threw some clothes on and climbed out her window, making her way as quickly as possible along the halls of the compound before coming to the fence. She climbed it awkwardly before making her way to the center of the village, where she could hide herself among the crowds of people. Even though Ko could find her easily with his dojutsu, she wanted to make the effort of hiding first.

She wandered aimlessly through the streets, making sure to keep to the outskirts of the streets so as to not draw any attention to herself. She wandered for about 15 minutes, and had nearly made the decision to go back when she heard a familiar voice.

"Please….I just wanted to find s-something to eat…I'm sorry…."

She froze, her head whipping around towards the sound. It was coming from behind that fence….

She sprinted to the corner and peeked her head around to see the blonde boy with his head down as a villager yelled at him to get away from his restaurant.

He was….alive? But how? No one was coming….no one helped him….how….?

The man struck Naruto on the head, sending him sprawling to the ground with a yell of pain, and Hinata found herself beside herself with anger. Why did everyone treat this kind boy like garbage? Like something disgusting? She couldn't stand it….

"Hinata-sama!" She heard from behind her, and turned to see Ko approaching.

"Hinata-sama." He said reproachfully, "You know that sneaking out of the compound and walking the streets alone is unbefitting of the title of Heiress to the Hyuuga clan."

"Ko-san, Naruto-kun is ok!" she said happily, before her expression dropped. She looked distant and upset now, looking down at her feet. "…not that you'd care…."

Ko's face twisted in surprise. He had never heard Hinata address anyone like that, knowing the girl to be shy and withdrawn. But it seemed like she was almost begging him to contradict her words.

"Let's get back to the compound." He said, taking her hand. She didn't argue, but looked back to see the name of the shop that had just mistreated the gentle boy.

If no one else was going to help him, she would. As much as she could from the sidelines. He represented all that she wanted to be; selfless, courageous, kind…the list went on.

After she got scolded by her father and dismissed for wandering Konoha on her own, she went back to her room and got her training clothes together. She had never felt such a need to train before, but it wasn't to make her father proud, or gain the respect of those in her clan. She needed to train for him. She needed to train for Naruto, so that one day, she could repay him, and help him when he needed it. The next time someone threatened his life, she would be beside him instead of hiding from it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

For the next year and a half, before the academy started, Hinata trained herself with a single minded determination. Her clansmen watched her now with an approving eye, as she trained hard and long each day. Her father even gave her praise during one sparring session with her younger sister, although she fought only to a draw now. While many thought Hanabi stronger, but now on par with the heiress, the truth was that Hinata couldn't bring herself to harm her sister. While this still held true, gone were the wants to make her sister feel stronger by letting her be beaten. To do so would be an insult to the boy who put his safety on the line to help her, only for her to throw it away at the hands of her sibling, who had the cold gaze of her father.

She also snuck out of the compound regularly, following the blonde throughout the village. While she appreciated the hard work he put in during training, she resented what often came afterwords. He would wander the village, rummaging for food or clothes or old ninja equipment to train with. She remembered every place that did him wrong, however, and reported tearfully to Ko that she had gone into their shops asking for help and was thrown out harshly due to silent prejudices against their clan. She got several shops shut down this way, and was pleased to see that Naruto also took a small amount of pleasure in seeing the places that shunned him closed up soon after his mistreatment.

Before she knew it, it was finally time for her to report to the academy. She wished she had known Naruto's age; she might have been able to get into the same class as him if he was coming this year...

She felt ready as she stepped through the doors of her new classroom, immediately making a beeline for the back of the class, keeping her eyes down the whole time. There were a lot of people in here, and most of them were really loud. There was a boy with a puppy that was shouting about how cool his dog was, a chubby boy who was eating chips rather loudly, and two girls who were shouting about how cool some black haired boy was.

She took out a notebook and pencil and was looking around nervously, when she saw it. Her defender walked in, a huge grin on his face that she mirrored, albeit a little more subtle. The class quieted down upon seeing him, and she saw his smile falter, as he made his way to a desk and sat down.

"Hey, isn't he that boy that graffiti's all over town?"

"Oh I know him, my mom told me to stay away from him."

"I heard he's a real pain in the butt…better keep away…."

Hinata grit her teeth at the whispers that were none too subtle; she was sure Naruto could hear them too. But it looked like he wasn't letting it affect him. He walked up to the pink haired girl who gave him a look of disgust.

"Hey hey, what's your name?" he asked brightly, hands behind his head.

"Sakura." She said, obviously willing him to go away.

"That's a pretty name!" he said brightly, raising his hand to shake hers. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, wanna be friends?"

She scoffed at him. "Who would want to be friends with you? Especially with someone like Sasuke-kun right in front of us!" she exclaimed lovingly, before turning around and continuing to fawn over the brooding boy.

Hinata narrowed her eyes at the girl. Who was she, to talk so heartlessly to someone so good….

"Yeah?" Naruto said irritably, his smile gone. "I bet that guy isn't even that great. Sounds like a real pain to me…"

Sakura rounded on him, punching the top of his head. "How dare you speak about Sasuke-kun like that! He's better than you'll ever be you….you…."

Sakura shivered as she felt an icy glare on herself, but when she looked around the room found no one looking in her direction. 'What…was that…' she thought.

Hinata had caught herself at the last minute looking at the pinkette as if she were about to throttle her, and had turned away in time to avoid her searching gaze. 'I hate that girl….' She thought darkly.

Everyone quieted down as their teacher came into the room, a brown haired man with a scar across his nose and the Konoha headband tied tightly around his head, signifying him as a registered shinobi of the village.

"Welcome, welcome!" he said warmly, watching as the last few students, including Naruto, took their seats. "I am glad to see that you, like many others, are pursuing the path of the shinobi, in order to protect the village. Although you are young, we will be honing your skills to make you a deadly warrior of Konoha."

"Hey hey how about we get to the training then!" Naruto said loudly from his seat, earning him a few annoyed glares from the students around him. Hinata watched him ignore these looks, looking determinedly ahead. "I need to train as much as possible to become Hokage, y'know?"

Their teacher looked at him with annoyance. "If that's your goal, then I suggest you learn patience Naruto, because the Hokage must also hold himself with respect and manners."

Naruto looked away, a frown on his face. Hinata frowned as well. Wanting to get right into training wasn't a bad thing, and Naruto did everyday with a hard conviction. He was wasting Naruto's time with this lecture….

He continued with it however, introducing himself as Iruka, a chunin that would be assisting them throughout their time in the academy. He told them how lessons would play out, their general schedule for different topics, and how training would go.

"Any questions?" he said, finishing his lecture. When no one answered he smiled. "Good, then let's get to work!"

I like how this turned out, personally. Next chapter expect more academy time, and some introductions to different relationships. Hopefully it gets out soon, but we'll see. Any feedback, positive or negative, is greatly appreciated, and helps me keep things consistent. I'm not perfect after all. See you guys next time.