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Disclaimer: I do not in any way have rights to or own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden

I Don't Need Friends!

Her birthday is in December. Before, she had celebrated it with her family and her friends within the clan. Birthdays were special to the Hyuuga. Birthdays were private, as most things were regarding the Hyuuga. They celebrated life, not just the completion of another year. No, it was a celebration of the person's chakra network and its growing strength. After the festivities were finished, the birthday boy or girl would stand before everyone-main and branch regardless of which the person belonged to-with pride and partygoers would activate their doujutsu and gaze upon the person in their entirety-chakra pathways, organs, muscles, observe everything that gave the person life-and congratulate that person for growing in all ways that a person can. For the Hyuuga, birthdays celebrated that person's life in its entirety, literally. Seeing that was deeply personal.

And so, on her birthday, when she saw a birthday card on her family's tombstone signed, Secret Admirer, Hinata felt a great anger wash over her and set off toward a public training ground.

"Teme!" was what greeted her when she broke through the tree line and into the clearing.

"Gaichu," she returned.

"Ugh! Stop calling me that. There aren't even any bugs outside in the winter!" Naruto yelled to her red-faced.

"Hm, you're right, Gaichu," Hinata blinked. " I guess that means you should go die in a corner somewhere."

Screaming in frustration Naruto began pulling his hair.

"You teme! You've been here two seconds and you've already insulted me twice."

"Well, your mere existence is an insult to me-" feeling a surprising spark of pity for the boy at his hurt look she continued, "bug-boy. You disrupt the natural order of life. As a Hyuuga, that is unacceptable."

Proceeding to scream until red in the face, Naruto's hurt look was replaced with the frustrated anger that she was familiar with. He was just as alone as she was. For some reason all the villagers hated him. Covering their mouths with their hands she heard them call her monster and tell their children not to play with him. What were "whispers" were anything but. Gossip always tends to be especially loud when you're the subject.

"Anyway, Teme, what are you doing out here? It's your birthday isn't it?"

What the hell?

"How do you know that?" She yanked at his collar roughly bring him closer to her face and activating her young Byakugan. For a moment, Naruto thought that she looked beautiful—though also completely terrifying—and a faint dusting of pink blossomed on his cheeks. That was a brief moment however—"Gaichu!"—as her annoying personality reared its head again.

"None of your business!" Naruto said with a superior smirk. He was rewarded with a punch to the solar plexus that left him breathless. Coughing harshly, he glared up at her as he folded in on himself to ease the pain.

"Tell me!"

"No way, Teme!" The boy gasped. With a growl, Hinata slammed her fist into the blonde's whiskered face.

"Tell me!" Looking into her face, Naruto recognized an emotion he didn't think possible for the girl.

She was in pain. He could see it in between her anger and frustration. She was lonely. He could see it. He could see it so clearly now. He could hear it too, coming out between clenched teeth. She was like him.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked her quietly.

"Just tell me Gaichu-baka" She growled. Why was he looking at her like that all of a sudden?

What was that?

"Why, though?"

Why did he keep asking that?

"Didn't you like Sasuke's card?"

"How do you know it was my birthday? Why do you even want to know?"

Why do you care?

"Sakura-chan asked me—for Sasuke."

Hinata looked down at him with disgust, and with anger.

Sinking down into the firm snow fully. Naruto surprised the girl by suddenly kicking her in the back of the knees to bring her level with him. She whipped her head around to curse him but stopped at the look on his face.

"What are you going to do today?"

Was that pity on that idiot's face? She could feel her eye begin to twitch.

"I could treat you to ramen! Teuchi would totally give you a free bowl!" Naruto told her excitedly because maybe—just maybe—this angry and lonely girl could become his first friend. The poor boy thought that she might be thinking the same thing with that shocked and wondering look on her face. He smiled broadly and stood up to offer her a hand.

With a murderous glare, the girl smacked away his hand and tackled him to the ground where they brawled for the better part of an hour until Hinata landed a finishing blow that knocked Naruto out completely.

Standing over him, panting, Hinata surrendered to the urges of her developing cruel streak and stole the unconscious boy's scarf.

That's what he gets for looking at me with pity—Gaichu-baka.

And so, Hinata spent her birthday with Naruto who inadvertently given her a birthday gift—a scarf that though she would never wear around the village, would never be thrown away either.

She was an angry girl that had a cruel and violent streak. Hinata acknowledged and accepted this and was entirely fine with it as well. It was off-putting for most of the girls in her class. Especially because they all felt bad for the adorably pitiful Sasuke. For the boys however...

In their fourth year the boys in her class had started to catch the same enchantment with Hinata as Sasuke. This was because Hyuuga Hinata's body had begun to bloom. Sasuke was terribly upset of course to point of near tears when he noticed the increasing amount of yearning stares towards his crush and was often found being comforted by his only friend, Haruno Sakura, whom he'd latched onto after she had cheered him up after he had been teased and beaten up by some bullies.

To Naruto, the whole situation was ridiculous. Sure, the girl was beautiful, but her profound amount of bitchiness was even more incredible and nullified any sort of beauty for him. Yeah, there was that one time on her birthday, but she had left him unconscious in the snow and had stolen his scarf. So, yeah she was just a teme-a dumb, ugly, angry faced teme who didn't deserve any of this attention.

"Ohayo Naruto!" A pink haired girl slid into the seat next to him. Naruto sighed, knowing what was coming next. Sakura was the prettiest girl in class as far as he was concerned. She was the nicest. The funniest. The smartest—

"Uzumaki" turning to look into coal black eyes, Naruto's left eye twitched.

-she was the friend of that pansy bastard, Sasuke.

"You're friends with Hyuuga-san, right?" Sakura asked with a small leading smile.

Was she serious?

"Hell no! That asshole and me will never be friends!"

"Don't call her an asshole, Dobe!"

"Well, she is and I don't know why everyone else can't see it! She's a teme with big tits and-"

Sakura sighed as Sasuke tackled the blonde to the ground. Tumbling down the stairs with exclamations of "perfect", "beautiful", and "bitch", and "stupid pansy" the pair landed with forming bruises at the feet of Iruka-sensei. As a stern lecture was set upon the boys, Sakura giggled softly and sat down next to Hinata. Sliding hard white eyes to the intruding girl, Hinata bit the inside of her cheek in annoyance.

"Y'know, you should just give them a chance, Hyuuga-san."

Sensing that the girl wasn't going to respond she continued, " Sasuke-chan is in love with you, and I think you and Naruto could get along very well. You all could be friends."

"That kaichu and I will never be friends, and don't try to pawn that idiot friend of yours onto me either. Both of them are a waste of space-weak and useless."

"Fine, you hate Sasuke. But what about Naruto? He's the only one you really talk to."

Hinata sucked her teeth at that.

"He's the one following me, shouting that he's my rival. He's a pest. And you're becoming one too the more you stay."

"Well, being a pest seems the only way to become your friend. So, I'm glad to pester you." Giving the glaring girl a sincere smile, Sakura rose and went to sit in her usual seat, dragging the still glaring Sasuke and Naruto with her.

And so, Hinata was once again alone.