Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Childhood Arc
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or I would be rich.
Playing the Role of the Byakugan Princess
Childhood Arc
Chapter seven
"Hinata-chan," my father greets as I walk into his study. He points at the empty chair in front of his desk. "Sit." He does not look happy.
I quickly scan through my recent memories as I walk over to the chair. I haven't done anything wrong. I have been improving in my training, I am making good marks at the Academy, I have been nice to my sister, and I have been arriving home on time since I have had my new found freedom, which was granted to me by my father to when I turned eight years of age a few months ago. So, why does he look so disappointed right now? I sit down and nervously look up at him, waiting for him to speak.
"Ever since I have entrusted you with this new freedom of yours, what have you been doing with it?"
I give him a puzzled look. Why is he asking that? "I have been training or hanging out with friends," I answer honestly.
"Would one of those friends be Uzumaki Naruto?" Hiashi asks.
I freeze on the spot. Shit. What should I do? Lie? No, he has a reason for asking me this. He must know something. I lower my eyes. "What would happen if I say yes?"
He sighs. "I told you that you were not allowed to hang around that boy."
"How did you know I am friends with him?" I ask.
"I have my ways," he replies.
He has his ways? What is he doing? Spying on me… oh wait. My heart drops. "H-have you been spying on me?" I ask, praying that he hasn't been. Hiashi doesn't speak for a moment. I widen my eyes in realization. "Wait, you're not personally spying on me. You are sending someone else to take that job. You don't trust me!"
My father narrows his eyes. "Hinata-chan. Calm down."
I clench my fists as a spark of anger ignites inside of me. "W-why? Why don't you trust me?" I ask. I swallow a lump of betrayal down my throat. "I-I have done nothing to break your trust. I try to impress you all the time. I train hard just to hear you say you're proud of me. But, you never do. I study all the time to get perfect marks just to hear you tell me I'm doing a great job. But, you never do!" I hear myself starting to get louder. "I try to be the perfect daughter, but nothing I do is ever good enough for you! You're always criticizing me and putting me down! You point out my flaws and never help me work on them! You-"
Hiashi slams his fist down on his desk. "Hinata! Be quite! That's enough! I did not call you in here to talk about this. Stop trying to change the topic at hand!"
I shut my mouth and avert my eyes. That rant just lifted a huge weight off my shoulder, even though I didn't get to complete it. But, why should I listen to him? He never listens to me! Obviously, he doesn't trust me anymore, for some reason, so why should I respect him? I have had enough of his shit. "No, I will not be quite," I growl.
Hiashi arches an eyebrow. He seems surprised by my reaction. "Excuse me?" His precious little heiress has never talked back to daddy before. Well, things are about to change.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath to compose myself. I am not one to get angry so quickly, but everyone has their breaking point and I do not want to totally erupt just yet. I open my eyes and stare intensely into my father's eyes. "If you can give me the reason why I am not allowed to hang around Naruto-kun, then I will drop the subject right now," I tell him.
Hiashi matches my stare with the same level of intensity. "I cannot disclose that with you."
I cross my arms. "Then, I'm going to continue to hang around him."
"No, you are not."
"Yes, I am."
"Hinata, I am your father and you will listen to me!" Hiashi snaps.
I continue to test my limits as I shake my head. "Otou-san," I begin, calmly. "I always listen to you. But, I will not listen to you when it comes to shunning another human being. He has done nothing to deserve the kind of treatment everyone gives him. The villagers act like he's a monster or something." I pause as I see Hiashi's eyebrow twitch at my last comment. "But, he isn't one! He's never done anything malicious or terrible before. The only thing he is guilty of is playing pranks and acting like a nuisance just to get other people's attention. But, that's because he is lonely. He has nobody to come home to. Nobody to love. Nothing. Sasuke-kun and I are his only friends."
Hiashi appears to be deep in thought before sighing again. "You truly have inherited your mother's kindness," he says. I ignore the minor feeling of hurt at her mentioning. "You are wise beyond your years. I understand where you are coming from Hinata-chan. I really do. But, I cannot have you hang around this boy for the sake of our clan."
You know, I really did get my hopes up for a moment. I thought I had changed his mind and he will finally put his children's needs before the clan's. However, I was wrong, yet again. Controlling the rage that is about to unleash, I try to convince him once more. "But, it will be good for the clan if I keep good ties with Naruto-kun."
"And why is that?"
I smile. "Because he is going to be Hokage one day. When the day comes, I will be one of the first people there to bow down to him."
Hiashi narrows his eyebrows. "Do not say such foolish things. That dream will never become a reality for a person like that."
"Yes it will." God, I've been in the body of a child for too long. I am even arguing like one now. Always trying to get the last word in.
"Stop thinking and speaking such nonsense!" Hiashi suddenly yells, making me jump. "You are not allowed to hang around that boy! I mean it! I already get hell from the Elders in our clan's council because a child of the Branch House is more talented than the heiress! They keep saying my brother should've been born first since Neji-san apparently deserves the title as Head of the Hyūga clan over you! Do you know how much of a fool I feel when I hear that? Now, I'm getting hell because you want to hang out with a troubled, obnoxious, and mannerless boy who has no talent at all in becoming a Shinobi!"
Wow. Here I thought I was at my breaking point this whole time. My father has just proven me wrong. I've never seen him so upset. He's always so calm and collected. Rage overwhelmed me as my vision is blinded by red. I shake myself out of my daze as I scoot forcefully out of my chair and take a few steps back. "I don't care what the Elders think!" I yell back. "Neither should you! You are the Head, not them! Act like one! However, you are my father! Act like one also!" With that, I ran out of the room, not bothering to listen for my father's response. Probably some more self pity yelling.
I burst through the courtyard and out the compound's gates. Without activating my Byakugan, I can sense that nobody is following me. I think my father is wise enough not to send anyone to retrieve me at the moment. His daughter has never acted like this before. It is best for him to let me calm down before coming back home. Still, why does he act like that? Why does he put his clan's needs over his family's? I ask myself that question all the time, but I can't just straight ask him! I mean, he totally ignored my rant of how shitty of a father he is. He will never answer that question if I ask him. I suppose I already know the answer anyways, sort of. The Hyūga's council plays a huge role in the Head's life, but why are they so influential. I guess I can compare our council to our village's council in a way.. We need to have other voices of reason in case a leader does something bad. But, my clan's council have never been reasonable. I swear, I will get to the bottom of this whole mess one day.
My body suddenly ricochets to the ground as I smack into something. I hear something fall to the ground followed by three gasps. I rub my head in pain as I felt a bruise forming. Great. A bruise and a headache. Just the cherry on top of this wonderful day. I open my eyes and see three boys, perhaps around ten or eleven years of age, staring back at me. They do not look happy. I look on the object on the ground that had fell. It is an ice cream cone. Why does this feel like déjà vu to me?
"I'm sorry," I mumble as I get up and brush myself off.
The boy with a beige bandanna wrapped around his head speaks first, "You don't sound sorry! You made me drop my ice cream cone!"
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "I really am sorry," I tell him. "I'm just not in the best of moods right now. I can buy you another one to make it up to you."
Bandanna Boy crosses his arms. "I don't believe you!"
I shrug. "Well, believe what you want. If you don't accept my apology and offer then I do not know what else to tell you. Now, I will be on my way."
I try to go around the brat, but the other tall boy wearing a red cap with the missing front tooth grabs my arm. "You're not going anymore," Toothless tells me as he jerks me back to wear I was.
I pull away from him. "What's your problem?" I snap.
The other boy with the large eyes widens them to become even larger. "Wait, I think she's the Hyūga kid!" Wonky Eyes says.
"Yeah! She has those eyes!" Toothless chimes in. I feel like Sai with all these nicknames.
I roll my eyes. "How specific. There's a lot kids in my clan."
All three boys glare at me. "She must be Neji's cousin," Bandanna Boy suggests. "She's a smartass like he is. I bet she's cocky like him, too!"
"I bet she thinks she's better than us because of her family and talent," Wonky Eyes growls, scowling.
I sigh. "Don't you boys have anything better to do than pick on a little girl?" I ask. "I ran into you. It is my mistake. I apologized. Let's all move on with our lives."
The three boys look at each other, nod, and come closer as they surround me. Shit. "You're not calling the shots. We are!" Toothless tells me as he smirks.
Before I can respond, the boys all lung towards me and pin me to the ground. I struggle to move, but I fail after a few minutes. I remain still as Bandanna Boy lifts me over his shoulder and carries me off. After a few moments of silence, I find myself in a small section of woods right near the Academy. That's when it hits me. This is the season where original Hinata gets bullied. Except, this time they are probably actually going to hurt me since I somehow rubbed them the wrong way. How annoying.
"Oomph!" I grunt as the boy tosses me to the ground. I quickly jump up as the three boys surrounds me again in a tight circle.
"I don't believe you were truly sorry before for running into me!" Bandanna Boy announces. "We are going to teach you to not be a jerk to us and to apologize like you mean it!"
He reaches down to pull my hair when I smack his arm out of the way. I glare at him and awakened my Byakugan. "I would like to see you try," I tell them through gritted teeth.
I whirl around and slam a sidekick into his stomach that sends him flying. I turn to Wonky Eyes and quickly shove a palm into his chest followed by a strike upwards to his chin. He stumbles backwards a few times while Toothless yells a battle call and charges towards me. He throws his fist at me, but I easily dodge it and hit him in multiple spots on his arm. It is now useless. I am about to end him with a roundhouse kick when I see from behind that the other two boys were getting up and running after me. Shit. Even though my technique is better than theirs, and I can most likely outsmart them, they are stronger. There is only one of me and three of them. I can only fight so long before I grow tired.
I am about to attempt their impact when a voice distracts of all. "Cut it out!" I heard Naruto yell as he runs up to us.
I sigh in relief. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" I tell him.
Naruto gives me a fretful look. "Are you alright, Hinata-chan?" he asks.
I wave my hand. "I was totally holding my own before you got here," I say in a teasing manner.
"Hey! He's that kid!" Toothless Boy exclaims. "The one that is always getting into trouble! The only everyone hates!
"Oh, he's that guy, huh?" Wonky eyes replies as they all cackle together.
Naruto narrows his eyes. "I'm not just 'that guy!' My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to become Hokage one day! Remember that!"
The boys widen their eyes. "Hokage?!" they speech in mock unison before laughing at him again.
"That's crazy!"
"What a bunch of baloney!"
"That's so stupid!"
Toothless takes a step towards Naruto. "There's no way an idiot like you will ever become Hokage!" he taunts.
I gasp as he raises his fist and punches Naruto twice in the face. The force of the punch knocks Naruto to the ground. I breakaway from the gang surrounding as I make my way to him and lift him up. He gets up, wipes the blood off his mouth, and smirks. Toothless and his minions tense up as they glare at him.
"Wanna fight?!" he asks.
Naruto smirk deepens. "Better not regret it, guys!"
He holds up a single hand sign as the boys take a step back. "W-what signs is he weaving?" Bandanna Boy ask.
"Clone-"
"No way!"
"Jutsu!" Naruto hollers out.
The boys gasp as a smoke appears and I smack my forehead. Naruto's clone appears out of nowhere and is a total flop. The poor thing has large blank eyes and he wobbles around before finally falling to the ground. I shift my eyes over towards Naruto and sigh as my bullies give him an odd look. They look at each other and burst into laughter again. I rub my temple. Their cackling is making my headache stronger.
"That was terrible! Don't make us laugh!" Toothless cries as he smacks his legs.
"Aghhhh!" Naruto yells. He tackles Toothless to the ground and grabs his shirt. "I caught you off guard! How is that?! I will! I'm absolutely gonna become Hokage and prove you all wrong!"
"Stop talking and punch the boy already!" I tell him. As his friend, I will not allow for Naruto to learn Talking-no-Jutsu! That's how he gets his ass kicked sometimes.
Naruto begins punching the kid as the two others lungs towards him. Time to put my chakra controlling practice into action. I flow a surge of chakra into my feet as I leap between the two bullies and extend my palms out, striking them both in the chest. I dance around and hit them a few more times. I twirl around and give them both a sidekick that sends them flying to the trees. Taking the opportunity, I go over to each boy and strike a few main chakra points to close them. By doing this, they are able to move but cannot attack us anymore. I glance over at Naruto and notice he's having a field day from beating the shit out of Toothless. I guess the boy is truly going to earn his nickname now after Naruto is done with him.
Still, I think the kid has learned his lesson by now. I deactivate my Byakugan. "I handled the other two guys now, Naruto-kun," I inform him. "You can stop now."
Naruto leans up and scratches the back of his neck. "Sorry! I got carried away."
He grabs the boy by his shirt again and tosses him aside. I gaze over at the three boy's wrecked up bodies. "I guess you should've just believed my apology in the first place," I tell them. They all groan in pain as a response.
Naruto walks over to my side and shoots me a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?" he asks. "Why were they bothering you in the first place?"
"I accidently ran into them. I apologized afterwards, but they didn't believe me. So, they presume to drag me in the middle of the forest to teach me a lesson," I explain.
Naruto frowns. "That's a stupid reason."
I throw my hands up in the air. "Tell me about it!"
"It seems to be more of a cowardly reason to me instead of a stupid one," I hear a voice behind me say to us. Naruto and I spin around to see Neji standing their with his arms crossed and his Byakugan on high alert. "You three better be glad I wasn't here with Hinata-sama. You all would have been in terrible conditions. You all need to be thankful that she has a kind heart."
At the sight of Neji, all three boys literally jump up and hobble away as fast as possible. "Wow, I did not realize you were so scary, Neji-nii-san," I say to my cousin.
He scowls and ignores my comment. "Are you alright?" he asks.
I nod. "I feel great! Naruto-kun and I just totally showed those boys what we are made of! Never felt better!"
Neji rolls his eyes. "I can tell you're lying. You always put on a fake persona and act silly when you are attempting to cover up negative feelings."
I bite my lip as I give him a half smile. "You know me so well."
"Wouldn't make sense for him to if he's your older brother?" Naruto ask. "And, what does he mean by negative feelings? Are you upset, Hinata-chan?"
"If you want to get technical, Neji and I are biologically half-siblings yet cousins at the same time," I explain. "The reason being is because our fathers are not only brothers, but identical twins. We-"
I hear Neji sigh. "I think you lost him," he tells me as I notice Naruto giving me a duh look.
"Wait, say that again?" he asks, cocking his head to the side.
I giggle. "Nevermind," I say. "Long story short, I call him that because, even though he's my cousin, I view him as an elder brother. He treats and protects me like a young sister. He has this weird older brother complex over me and-"
"I do not!" Neji's snaps, turning slightly red.
I huff. "Stop interrupting me!" I playfully whine.
Naruto looks at the both of us. "You're not the only weird one anymore, Hinata-chan. He's weird, too!"
Neji flickers his eyes over towards Naruto. "What? Why?!" he exclaims as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "You know what? Nevermind! Nevermind."
I cough to cover up a potential laugh. "Anyways, to answer your other question, yes I am upset."
"Why are you upset?" Naruto asks, frowning.
"Basically, I got into a heated argument with my father and ran off," I explain, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly.
"I do not know why you are acting like it is not a big deal that you disobeyed Hiashi-sama and ran off like you did," Neji scolded.
"Maybe because it isn't," I snapped back bitterly. "And, why are you here for anyways? Did my father send you our to spy on me? He's been doing that a lot lately it seems."
Neji narrows his eyes. "He sent me out here to calm you down and take you back to the compound. He told me I'm the only person that you might listen to over anyone else."
"Well, I'm not going back until I feel like it," I tell him.
"I did not expect you to," Neji replies.
I arch an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" I wasn't not expecting that response from him.
"Why I do think it was a little extreme of you to run off, I understand why you did," Neji admits, his face softening up. "I do not know what you two argued about, but I just want to let you know that I'm on your side."
I give my cousin a genuine smile as I grow all warm and fuzzy inside. "Thank you," I tell him. "I really do appreciate that."
He smiles back and is about to say something else, but Naruto loudly interrupts him. "I'm on your side, too!" He sticks his thumb out. "Believe it!"
"I would believe it if you knew what was going on," I tease.
Naruto pulls at his hair in frustration. "Ugh, I'm just so confused as to what is going on!" he complains.
I laugh as I walk over to him and give him a hug. He calms down as he hugs me back. "Just… Thank you as well, Naruto-kun. You came by my side just now and took some punches for me. I would have been in some deep trouble if you haven't arrived."
We both pull away and Naruto rubs his nose with his finger. "No problem! That's what friends are for!"
I arch an eyebrow. "How did you know I was here anyways?" I ask. "I can understand how Neji-nii-san did because of the Byakugan."
Naruto simply shrugs. "I was just wondering around the village when I saw the whole thing occur across the street," he tells me. "When I saw them jerks take you away, I knew I had to follow you."
I nod. "That makes sense."
Neji butts in. "Not meaning to be rude and disrupt the two of you, but what are you wanting to do now since you do not want to go back to the compound just yet."
I instantly grin as I already had this figured out. I look over at Naruto. "I just want to help improve Naruto's performance," I say.
Naruto give me a blank stare. "What do you mean?"
"I am just going to teach you how to not create a clone that isn't a failure." I do not like how no instructor at the Academy will help Naruto out. He's obviously struggling, but they still will not do their jobs and properly teach him. If they won't, I will.
Neji arches an eyebrow as Naruto widened his eyes. "How can you possibly do that?" Neji asks.
"Yeah, you're not an instructor or anything," Naruto adds.
"I know that," I say. "I have been doing my own studying outside of school on chakra control." Wow, it feels weird for me to admit this. "And, I believe that you are using way too much chakra when you are trying to perform the jutsu."
Naruto scratches his cheek. "Really? I swear I always use just a little bit of chakra."
I cannot wait for the day he learns how to use Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and sees how much chakra reserves he has stored inside of him when a thousand clones surrounds him. I activated my Byakugan. "Neji-san, use your Byakugan to see if you know what I'm talking about."
"Sure," Neji replies as veins begin to bulge around his eyes.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. Create a clone," I order.
"You got it!" Naruto cheerily says as he weaves some
hand signs. I can see a large amount of chakra surging around in the center of his body as he concentrates. He's going to be a difficult person to teach when it comes to chakra control since his sucks. "Clone Jutsu!" As before, another failed clone pops out of a cloud of smoke, slowly falls to the ground, and disappears.
I nod. "As I suspected, you are using way too much chakra."
"I can see that, too," Neji says.
"Ugh! I don't understand how!" Naruto complains.
"Hey, it's nothing to worry about," I tell him. "You just have a lot of chakra running through your body. More than the average person. Since you are still a child, it is going to be hard to control all of that."
"How comes no one has ever told you that before?" Neji asks. "Surely an instructor would have picked up on that fact and teach him how to control it."
Naruto sighs. "Nobody there wants to even help me. They are barely passing me right now." He looks over at me and wraps his arm around my neck. "Hinata-chan is the one that has been tutoring me when I get stuck. Even though I don't understand most of the time, it is better than nothing!"
Neji looks surprised. "Is that true, Hinata?" Finally, he's dropping the -sama act. As he gotten older, Neji has not been the type of person to use honorifics regularly unless he's at the compound.
"Yes," I reply. "I'm a very wise person who likes to share their knowledge to other people as a gift."
Neji rolls his eyes. "Shut up."
I turn back to Naruto. "Like tutoring, how about we set up a schedule and I will help you learn how to control your chakra?"
Naruto jumps up and down. "That would be great! I want to actually impress everyone in our class for once!" Naruto has been one of the first people to actually create a clone, but not a very good one. I mean, he impressed me when he achieved that but I know that doesn't matter to him.
I nod. "Awesome! We can talk more about it in class tomorrow during lunch."
Naruto gives me a huge grin. "That sounds good to me!"
I look over at Neji. "I think I am calm enough to head back to the compound now," I tell him. Even though I do not want to go back, I know I have to sometime. It is better to face the wrath of my father sooner than later.
"Alright," he replies. "I will walk you home."
I wave towards Naruto. "Thanks again for helping me out earlier! I will see you tomorrow!"
Naruto waves back. "Bye, Hinata-chan and Neji! I hope things work out between you and your father."
I sigh. "Me, too."
We head our separate ways as Neji and I head back to the Hyūga compound. "How mad was my father when he told you to come look for me?" I ask.
Neji gives me a sympathetic look. "Very."
I cringe and nervously laugh at the same times "Great."
"If I may ask, what were you two arguing about?" he asks.
"He found out that I was hanging around Naruto-kun, when I am forbidden to, and he tried to ban me from doing so ever again," I explain.
Neji raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
I raised mine back. "Yes, why?"
"From the way he's acting, it sounded more extreme than that," he tells me. "With you running off, I just thought it would be something terrible."
"I also found out that he doesn't trust me enough to let me go out on my own. He has been sending someone to spy on me. I haven't given him any reason to distrust me, so why should I listen to him and not hang around Naruto-kun? He's never done anything to anyone so he has no reason to order such things."
"I do not understand," Neji tells me. "Why would Hiashi-sama forbid you from hanging out with that boy. From my time with him, he seems fine to me. I heard he can be an annoying troublemaker, but he seems harmless."
I huff. "It is because it would look bad on our clan if the heiress is caught being around the likes of him. My father acts like he is some sort of King and our clan is a monarchy. I'm the princess who is kept locked away in her room so she won't come in contact with any peasants."
Neji gives me a strange look. "I do not know what you're rambling about, but I do agree he's taking things too far."
"And, there's nothing I can say to change his mind," I admit. "That's why I hope rebelling will."
Neji narrows his eyes. "I'm glad you have the freewill to do such things," he tells me bitterly.
I tense up as I give him a sharp look. "Seriously?" I snap.
Neji takes a deep breathe. "I'm sorry," he tells. "Your father just gets underneath my skin sometimes."
"Join the club," I say.
"What made you decide to start studying chakra theory?" Neji asks, trying to change the subject.
"I actually started three years ago in secret," I admit. "No one knows about it except you and Naruto-kun. I started because I was trying to get my father to become proud of me. I haven't shown him what I can do yet, but I still think he won't be impressed."
"What all can you do?" he asks, catching his interest.
"I can send small amounts of chakra to my feet to increase my speed and walk halfway up a tree before falling," I tell him with a smirk. I can tell he's a little jealous that I'm better than him at something for once.
"That's nice," he forces himself to say.
"I can teach you along with Naruto," I offer.
Neji sticks his nose up in the air. "No, thank you! I can figure it out myself." I giggle. God, he's so prideful!
When we arrive at the compound, we immediately head towards my father's office. As we pass people on our way there, they were giving me sympathetic glances as they whisper to one another. I gulp. I expect him to be angry, but is he really that angry? Does everyone know by now what happened? Were we really that loud or can someone not keep their mouth shut? I knock on the office door and slid it open without waiting for a response. He is jotting something down on paper with a serious expression plastered on his face. He averts his eyes up, nods, and looks back down to continue writing. Neji and I awkwardly walk in as I sit down in the chair while he stands beside of me. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Neji finally breaks it.
"I brought Hinata-sama back," he says.
Hiashi flicks his hand without glancing up. "Good. You're dismissed." Dang, that's a little harsh. He didn't thank him or look at him or nothing. I notice Neji glare at my father as he bites his tongue and walks away.
As soon as Neji leaves, I decide it is my turn to speak. "I'm back."
"I see that," Hiashi replies as he continues to write.
"How can you see without looking up?" I ask. Okay, I know I'm being a smartass right now.
Hiashi lifts his head up and I notice that he has his Byakugan activated. "This is how."
"... Oh." I kick myself. He can also see that I just made myself look stupid.
"You really need to stop jumping to conclusions," Hiashi says to me.
"What are you talking about?" I ask. Having a serious conversation with someone who has their Byakugan on makes everything more intense.
"You were right earlier. I have had sent someone out to watch over you while you were out," he admits. Ha! I knew it! "But, it isn't because I do not trust you." Wait, what? "I done it for your safety. I want to make sure you were not getting stalked, hurt, or into any trouble."
"Why would that happen to me?" I ask.
"Because you are a Hyūga and heiress to our clan. Hyūga children are known to get bullied at times because of their eyes and the stigma that is already placed on them because of their clan. Ever since the night of your third birthday, I have taken any extra measures to make sure my daughters are safe. That is why I am so strict and harsh on you. I like to know where you are at all times and I want your technique to be flawless so you can learn to protect yourself."
So, he's been acting this way this whole time to protect me? Is that why my mother told me to stay strong before she died? I mean, I was just ganged up on today because they assumed I acted like the stereotypical Hyūga. I did pretty well, but I could not have taken all of those guys if Naruto had not time. That is why my father pushes me all the time so, not only to become a strong leader, but to protect myself. He actually does care about his own family. Well, I feel like an asshole.
"I didn't realize you were doing all of that," I tell him, looking away.
"Well, you do now," Hiashi replies, sighing. "Though, I understand how you would think otherwise since my actions didn't match my true intentions."
"Yes, why have you been so distant towards me and Hanabi-chan?" I ask. "You can still act strict and harsh, but not hide yourself in this room all the time."
"Why I do admit that I have been in here more than usual ever since your mother's death," my father admits. "I have always spent the majority of my day in here. Being the Head is not an easy job. You've just never noticed until now because you were always around your mouth growing up and saw me in the evenings. Since your mother has passed away, you are just more lonely now."
Now that I think about it, that does make sense. "But, if you knew I was feeling alone, why continue to not show any love and affection towards me?" I ask. Heck, even a good morning and a good night once a day would have been better than nothing. "I have been showing all of that to Hanabi-chan plus taught her how to read, walk, and talk just so she will not grow up emotionless or feeling neglect since you hardly shown any positive emotions towards her." Hanabi is three years old now and looks up to me like I'm her own damn parent.
Hiashi breaks his cold mask and gives me a melancholy look. "My intentions to you two were never meant to make you feel this way," he sadly tells me. "I thought I was doing what was best for you two to grow up to be strong and independent, but I guess I was wrong. I truly am sorry, Hinata-chan."
Three years of resent towards this mess instantly washed down the drain as happiness and relief overwhelms me. He still does care for us. That's all that I needed to hear. "You are not in the wrong," I tell him. "Continue doing the things you have been doing. It is working on me. I promise. You've seen my progress. Just… act more fatherly towards us from time to time. Especially towards Hanabi-chan."
Hiashi breaks into a smile and nods. "Deal." I frown. Alright, now to deal with the Naruto situation. Hiashi drops his smile. "What's wrong?"
"I would like to still hang out with Naruto-kun," I tell him. At least it sounds like I'm asking for permission this time around so he doesn't grow angry again. "Even if you say no, what's going to happen in a few years from now when we all become Genin? I might end up on a team with him or fighting along his side one day. You say he's not talented, but we both don't know what potential he truly has. I mean, nobody at the Academy is even trying to teach him."
Hiashi slowly rubs his temples. "Hinata-chan…"
I press on. "I know you are just trying to maintain the reputation of this clan, but he's not going to ruin that. In fact, I can hang out with him in secret so the other villagers won't find out!" I mean, everyone in my class knows I'm friends with Naruto-kun and probably some of their families do as well. But, he doesn't have to know that.
Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "And, how would you do that?"
I shrug. "Train with him in the forest or something. If you've had someone watching me, then you must know about my chakra controlling training." Obviously he knows about it now so he why hide it?
Hiashi seems proud for a moment and smirks. "I was wondering when you were going to mention that."
So, I have been impressing him! "Since I have good scores and Naruto-kun doesn't, I have also been training her these past few years occasionally during lunch to improve them. By hanging out with him, I can help him unlock his potential and keep him out of trouble!" I have a prepared a pretty good case to back me up. I should be a lawyer in my next life.
I grow hopeful as Hiashi ponders in silence. That feelings grows less and less the longer he stays silent. After ten long minutes, he finally speaks. "Alright."
My heart flutters. "Alright, what?"
"I will grant you permission to hang out with the boy as long as you use time with him for training only in private areas," he declares. "I will also stop sending someone to watch over you since it seems like you are capable of handling yourself."
I ran around the desk and give him a hug. "Thank you so much, Otou-san!" I squeal.
Hiashi pulls me away and looks at me dead in the eye. "I mean it. If the council finds out that I am allowing you to hang out with that boy, that can be detrimental towards your future."
Suddenly, I feel scared. Was the whole ordeal really that serious? "W-why?" I ask. My father doesn't say anything as he pulls me into a hug again. I am beginning to realize how truly difficult it is to put your family before the clan's needs. Or should I say our council's needs. What the hell is up with them? Ugh, every time something good happens to me, two more bad things replaces the good. Why couldn't I have just been born into the Nara clan and live a laid back life?
Author's Note: This has been a very fun chapter for me to write! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did! I have read everyone's ideas so far and some of them were very interesting and caught my eye. We only have more one chapter to go before Hinata becomes a Genin so yay cheers! I'm ready for missions and kicking people's asses? Oh, and what's up with the Hyūga council? They all sound like a bunch of scary Danzo's lol.
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