Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original characters.

Author Note: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favourite and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter


What happened to Naruto-chan?

Hinata could only asked this question as she placed the orange lilies into the white vase. It was the first time she visited Naruto since Tsunade finished the operation, not from the lack of trying. Give her some time to recover. That was what the Hokage told her and the moment the woman told her that she could visit Naruto, Hinata charged straight to the Yamanaka Flower shop to get her favorite flowers.

It was supposed to be a joyous day but it felt anything but a joyous day when Naruto's eyes looked so dead. This was the first time she had seen such a defeated look on the girl's eyes. She always pick herself back up. That was one of the things Hinata admired about the girl even before the two of them became the best friends.

She understood how difficult it could be for a person to pick themselves back up when so few people believed in her, but Naruto managed to do it. That was what made her strong. People would call her best friend cocky but Hinata knew the truth. That behind her friend fake confidence was someone filled with as much insecurities as her.

"Naruto-chan," her best friend did not perk up or put on that fake smile to reassure her that everything was fine. But Naruto only stared up at the ceiling with dead eyes. Hinata felt her throat tightened and she wondered whether to continue on or not. She should stop but that would be giving up. Naruto-chan taught her better than to give up. "I-I heard what happened with Sasuke…do you wanna talk about it?"

The grief in those blue eyes intensified, looking like a sea of grief and Hinata felt her heart twist with pain and anger. No, rage would be a better description. She wanted to charge straight to Orochimaru's lair and strike Sasuke at the heart for putting those wounds in Naruto. Hinata knew the blonde wouldn't want that to happen but she warned him of what she would do if he hurt Naruto.

She exhaled and tried to steady her arms as her pale lavender eyes locked onto Naruto. Her heart howled with pain, chest tightening at the grief that was not fading away. This isn't Naruto. The girl never allowed herself to sink like this, not even when Ino had been a little cruel girl for reminding her of her lack of parents.

Not when the teachers had been cruel to her and excluded her for the slightest single mistake.

I need to try even more to get her to talk.

Releasing another breath, Hinata smoothed her outfit and thought of another question to get her to talk. She didn't want her to smile. That would be so wrong. Naruto and Sasuke were each other first friends. They played together, had sleep overs and knew each other's secrets. It would have been strange if the girl smiled and bounced right back but for her to look at the world with dead eyes was even worse.

"Cry? I'm not gonna cry, Hinata-chan! You see this smile? It means that I'm happy and nothing can break me!"

Hinata clenched her jaws together as cheerful, warm blue eyes flashed right before her. She wanted those eyes again because even if it had been fake…it was filled with life. If people ever called her lifeless or boring then Naruto-chan was filled with life. Every day with the blonde was a day filled with laughter and smiles.

There wasn't even a shred of tear coming out of Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto-chan, did you eat?" Hinata questioned. She knew the answer already because the tray of food sat right next to the table, untouched and uneaten. This was bad. Her best friend might hate hospitals and their food but she would always try to eat the meal provided to her. For the blonde not to even touch her food made her stomach curled with worry.

The blonde did not even shake her head, only staring blankly at the wall. It is like she is dead to the world. Hinata could feel tears building up behind her eyes but the blue-haired girl sniffed and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't let herself cry just yet. It might be one of those days when Naruto-chan felt a cloud of despair on her.

Except Naruto-chan would still respond in some way or form.

She wasn't even attempting to lift herself up from the bed.

"Naruto-chan, did Sakura visit you?"

At first glance, it would look like Naruto didn't react but Hinata had always been observant when it came to the girl who lit up her world. Those blue eyes only intensified with grief and the blue-haired girl clenched her jaws together. Of course. It had to be the pink-haired girl who never attempted to get to know the girl properly.

Why does Naruto-chan try so hard with the girl who never appreciates her?

Naruto would tell her that Sakura did appreciate her because they ate ramen together, but Hinata always knew better. Sakura would only agree to eat ramen when Sasuke decided to eat ramen with Naruto. The pink-haired girl was probably sharp and realized the boy would do this to keep the girl happy. The girl would never eat the meal with the blonde if Sasuke wasn't there.

Between the two teammates that the girl had been assigned to, Hinata always preferred Sasuke over Sakura. Not because of the fact the three of them used to play together but because the boy did care about the girl. He tried to make up to the girl with ramen and helping her with her own training. She grimaced and eyed the bandages wrapped around Naruto.

I just never expect him to go this far with Naruto and if that fool wakes up from that cloud of hate around him, then I will stop him from pursuing Naruto.

She grabbed the girl's bandaged arms and looked out to the window. Hey Hinata-chan, do you ever think someone would ever love me like how you love Kiba? Her throat burned at the memory. The answer had always been a yes but at the time, she thought it would be Sasuke but love didn't make you try to kill someone.

Naruto-chan deserved better than this and if Hinata ever see Sasuke again then she was going to smack him hard on the head. She wished agony on the boy because no matter how important his revenge was…putting Naruto in this state made him no better than Itachi.

"Just talk to me, Naruto-chan."

It was the final plea for the day but she was a fool to think that it would be enough to wake Naruto up from the cloud of grief. I will try again tomorrow. Until the blonde snapped out of this, the blue-haired girl had no plans of abandoning her. She was going to find a way to get the girl to respond to her.

"She won't even respond to you, either."

The familiar voice of Tsunade made Hinata twist her head around to stare at the blond-haired woman. Sadness decorated Tsunade's eyes and Hinata wanted to blame the woman for sending everyone to that ungrateful boy. But she couldn't do it. She knew Naruto-chan. The girl would have gone anyway because Sasuke was her brother in everything but blood.

Because Naruto remembered Mikoto everyday and knew what the kind woman wouldn't have wanted for her youngest son.

"W-What exactly happened to Naruto-chan?" Hinata stared at the grief-stricken eyes and then swirled her head back to the woman. For the first time in her life, the blue-haired girl allowed the anger and hysteria to come out of her tone. "You told me that she was going to be fine! What part of this is fine, Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade looked at her for the longest time before allowing her eyes to drift to Naruto. The Fifth Hokage frowned but did not glare at her for her behavior. Understanding shone through her honey-brown eyes like she understood what she was going through. Did the woman know that no words were coming out of her mouth? That the girl filled with sunshine and hope felt like a former shell of herself.

"I can heal her physical wounds," Tsunade finally said. Hinata blinked and stared at the woman for the longest time, not understanding what the woman was going with this. "But the wounds to her mind and emotions are something out of my capabilities as a medical nin. This is something I don't even know how to heal. What Naruto is experiencing…the only person who could understand her condition, is dead."


"Father, my team will have a two month long recon mission to Japan."

Hinata kept her attention focused on her father, not allowing herself to tremble. Hiashi did not show any emotion or made any indication that she could stand up from her kneeling position. The man only regarded her with blank eyes as the birds chirps filled in the silence in the living room. With the lack of movement in his face, the girl had no clue of what to think was going through her stern-faced father's mind.

After a couple of seconds, her father finally replied. "You made the request to the Hokage-sama."

The blue-haired teen kept her face as blank as possible, not allowing her eyes to widened at the matter-of-fact tone coming from her father's mouth. Her heart pounded against her chest and her palms began to moisten. It would be a matter of minutes before her father would scold her for being selfish for making this demand to the Hokage.

The economy was bad. People were selling everything in a lower price with the hopes that people would buy, but the fact was that the price of food was more important to the civilians than anything else. If it wasn't for the fact that they were shinobi and were better paid than most civilians then they would be in the same boat.

To make sure that everyone was happy, they were supposed to take missions that would better their economy. The recon mission came out of Konoha own pocket as the Daimyo did not see any value of recon with Japan.

"I used to dislike your friendship with Uzumaki Naruto," her father continued on. Hinata blinked and tilted her head as Hiashi looked out to the photo of him with his uncle. He shifted his eyes to the photo of her uncle with his own genin team, his white eyes lingered the most on the red-haired girl standing right besides his Uncle. "However your friendship with Naruto yielded benefits. You are no longer a girl who lacks self-confidence…you became a worthy heir to the Hyuga Clan."

The words made her heart soar with delight, but at the same time her stomach churned with sadness of what her actions meant for herself. You may be the heiress but you still have to marry a man from our clan. That had been her grandfather's words to her when her father reinstated her as the heiress of the Hyuga Clan.

The floors creaked and Hinata twisted her head around to stare at Hanabi, who stood right behind the door. The 10-year-old girl might have hidden her body but her small head peaked through the door. Curiosity and sadness shone through her sister's eyes. Are you happy with your decision to take back your spot? That was what those sad eyes of her little sister told her.

Hinata nodded and looked back at her father. "Thank you, Father."

Her father nodded and stood up from his sitting position. Hinata frowned as the man made his way to the small table that stood right next to the couch. The floors squeaked and the drawer opened with a slight hiss like a snake. The 15-year-old girl darted her eyes to Hanabi, who only frowned at their father's actions.

"You can come in Hanabi," her father called out, not looking away from the drawer. "What I'm about to give to your sister will pertain you in the future. You may be 10 but in a couple of years, you will start to have a desire to have a family."

Hinata coughed while her little sister wrinkled her nose. The young girl scowled and slid the door wide opened before making her way to take her spot right beside her. Hanabi schooled her own expression into a blank look but the young girl slid her hand right next to her. Hinata quirked her lips into a smile and offered a reassuring squeeze to her sister's hand.

"I have a personal mission for you, Hinata," Hiashi informed her as he took a seat right in front of the table. The two daughters exchanged glances as the dark-haired man slid a scroll to her. The scroll had a yellow tint and covered with dust like it had been sitting in that drawer for years. "I want you to deliver this scroll to the Head of the Uzumaki Clan."

Silence filled the living room as Hinata gingerly picked up the scroll from the table. Her pale-lavender eyes inspected the scroll carefully, noting that there was a tiny note written on the edge of the scroll. To Kenji-san. Kenji? That name sounded unfamiliar to her but the elegent writing was not unfamiliar to her.

It was her father's writing.

"Father, what is this…"

"I know that I have not been the most loving father to either of you nor a good uncle to your cousin," her father interrupted before Hanabi could finish asking her question. Both girls frowned and exchanged glances as their father looked out to the photo of him with his brother. "I have been very strict in your training and not once I have ever vocalize my pride for the three of you. But I'm willing to correct my mistake."

The words hung in the air as Hinata processed what her father was telling them. Not once did her father ever make any comments to her or Hanabi and her stomach churned with an unfamiliar emotion at what her father had just told them. She stole a glance at Hanabi, who only blinked at the man.

"What are you trying to tell us, Father?" Hanabi finally asked. The younger girl knitted her eyebrows together and tilted her head to the side while Hinata stared at her blank-faced father. An idea came to her mind. Was it possible that the man wanted to help her accomplish her dream for the clan? Her eyes darted down to the scroll.

It felt lighter but Hinata needed to confirm her suspicion with her father.

"You plan to get rid of the seal." Hinata kept her expression blank and did not allow the hope to come out of her voice as her little sister swirled her head at the man. Her father did not smile or acknowledge whether she was right or not. He simply looked to the photo of her uncle with a quiet, thoughtful eyes before staring back at them. "But why go to the Uzumaki Clan?"

"Because they are masters when it comes to seals," Hanabi replied. "We learnt about them yesterday."

Pale lavender eyes widened as her father nodded. He looked to the photo of her uncle with his fellow genin teammates, pale eyes focusing on the smiling red-haired girl. Hinata frowned and stared at the girl in the photo frame. She looks like Naruto-chan except she has red hair and violet eyes. The photo was a rather new addition when Hinata thought about it.

Her father didn't put the photo in the shelf until Naruto was exiled from Konoha.

"I heard Uzumaki Kenji became the Head of the Uzumaki Clan," her father finally said. "He was the cousin of your Uncle's teammate. He is one of the best seal masters."

Hinata felt her heart flutter but then it crashed as she fully processed what her father had just said. A small frown played on her lips and the girl flickered her eyes to her little sister. The young girl knitted her eyebrows together into one thin line. It seemed like the both of them had the same question running through their mind but Hanabi didn't seem to have the courage to vocalize the question.

Her heart pounded against her chest and Hinata dug her nails against the palm of her hand, trying to stop the trembles that threatened to consume her. Taking a deep breath, the girl finally asked. "Why now?"

"Your grandfather is gone," her father simply replied. No emotion leaked out of his tone despite the fact it had been only a couple of weeks since the old man passed away in his sleep. Hinata didn't know what was the exact nature of her father's feelings towards the elder man, who encouraged him to disinherit her but the girl knew her own feelings.

When the old man passed away, all the girl felt was a huge weight on her shoulder being released. She, no longer, had to feel like she always had to watch over her shoulder. Naruto-chan always thought it was Father who hurt me the most. Her father had been loving when her mother had been alive but her grandfather had always been a different story for her.

There had always been a subtle warmth in her father's eyes while her grandfather lacked any emotion in his eyes.

"You tried to break the seal, didn't you Father?"

Her father did not give a reply but the heavy shadows that coated his face told her everything. Hinata nodded but chose not to say anything while Hanabi blinked at the knowledge, looking almost taken back at this knowledge. The signs has always been there. When they disinherited her as an heiress, the man refused to give her the same seal that branded Neji.

When Hanabi had been removed as heiress, her father had refused to give in to her grandfather's suggestion. Grandfather was furious with Father for refusing both times. It had been the rare times her father did not do what the old man wanted, which should have been the clue of her father's feelings towards the seal.

"Did you tell Neji-niisan of your plans?" Hinata asked, smoothing the wrinkles of her own outfit. Hanabi nodded and flickered her eyes at her before darting her eyes at their stern-faced father. A sense of doubt crawled up in her stomach. If Neji was freed of his burden then did they have to fight again over who should be the heir of the clan? Was it only for Neji-niisan? Or were the other branch members included?

Her father took a deep breath and shook his head. "I don't want to raise his or the other branch members hopes up if Uzumaki Kenji cannot finish what his cousin started. Both of you will keep this a secret from Neji and the other members of the clan. The elders cannot know this until Hinata comes back with the Uzushiokage reply."

Hinata nodded and picked up the scroll, relaxing her shoulders. If this man, who was a distant relative of Naruto-chan, could do this then the members of her clan would be grateful to the man. The clan will begin to change even more with the destruction of the seal. There could be some hope again.

There might be a day where the members of both branches could be able to play together without the fear of that horrendous seal being activated.


"So not only are the three of us going to do recon, but we are also going to be staying with Jiraiya-sama and doing a mental assessment on Naruto?"

Hinata nodded and steadied her hands. The afternoon sun blazed with all of its glory as her two teammates processed over the run down of their two month long mission. With the upturn collar alongside his dark-rounded glasses and the hoodie, it was rather difficult for the blue-haired girl to know what the older boy was feeling about the new mission.

Kiba, on the other hand, was rather easy for Hinata to read. His eyebrows knitted together into one line while a frown played on his lips. Akamaru kept flickering his eyes between them but that wiggle on his tail told the blue-haired girl that the dog was excited at the knowledge that he could see Naruto.

"It will be interesting to see Naruto," Shino finally commented. The boy slumped against the tree trunk and pushed his glasses upwards before flickering his eyes at Kiba. "It has been three years since Hokage-sama exiled her."

Kiba flinched at the reminder while Hinata closed her eyes. Only the gentle breeze of the wind whistling could be heard between them as their eyes focused on the children running about without a care in the world. Their giggles filled the air too. Their happiness made Hinata's stomach churned with sadness as dulled blue eyes filled her vision.

I am doing research on how to snap her out of it, Hinata but Naruto's case is the most severe case that I have ever seen. Not even the First Hokage ended up to her state and my grandfather went through familiar bouts of emotions like Naruto.

Hinata exhaled and looked down at her hands as concerned honey brown eyes flashed before her eyes. Her heart screamed and cried at the knowledge that not even the best medic in the world had known what was the main problem with Naruto. The pain in her heart faded as apologetic blue eyes played before her eyes.

It didn't matter anymore because Naruto was better now, but it could be the girl pretending to be fine again. She was always good at pretending things didn't bother her. Her stomach churned. It did not make sense for the girl to go to Japan but maybe the countries outside of the Elemental Countries had been able to do, what Tsunade failed to do.

She prayed to every god out there that the girl did not revert back to being a shell of her former self.

"Is it even a good idea for the three of us to come along with you?" Kiba asked. The older male propped himself against the tree, one large hand stroking Akamaru's fur as his brown eyes focused on her. Her heart fluttered but the blue-haired girl shoved the feelings into a tiny treasure chest that could never be opened again.

Akamaru barked and the birds soared away from the trees. Leaves fell down to the ground and the tree groaned as if a huge weight had been lifted. Hinata exhaled and looked at the older boy carefully again, now that the emotion had been safely locked up in a chest. So much guilt shone through his brown eyes. Shino opened his mouth to make a comment, only to close it when Kiba looked away from them.

"Do you still feel guilty for not checking up on Naruto-chan?"

The question hung in the air and the world around them dead quiet at what she asked. Kiba rubbed the back of his neck, meeting her own pale lavender eyes but never meeting the curious eyes of Shino. He knelt down and rubbed Akamaru's fur. Wrinkles formed on the top of his forehead, hinting of the deep thought running through his mind.

"I fucked things up when it came to Naruto," Kiba finally admitted. He looked at her and Hinata nodded, not bothering to correct him in his presumption. Shino nodded and took a step forward but the blue-haired girl grabbed hold of her teammate's sleeve. Even though her crush was right about his actions, it would be wrong to put a kunai against the wound.

She exhaled and knelt down till she met Kiba at eye level. "Kiba-kun, you know Naruto-chan will understand things if you explained why you never checked up on her. She will forgive you when she sees how genuinely sorry you are to her."

Naruto-chan will even forgive you if you weren't genuinely sorry. A bitter taste crept up to her mouth as Hinata focused up on the drifting clouds above them. A memory played before her eyes of bright blue eyes. Her heart screamed and her blood burned with fury like it always did whenever she recalled all the times that the girl forgave her pink-haired teammate for her insensitive words.

"Sakura-chan doesn't mean it, Hinata-chan! She just doesn't…know any better!"

She should know better because Sakura had parents. If that girl knew the way Naruto acts is because she had no parents to teach her then what the hell is her excuse? Hinata exhaled and inhaled, trying to calm down her raging heart. If Naruto-chan knew of all the insults that came to her mind then the girl would be so upset with her.

"Naruto has always been the forgiving type," Shino commented. Hinata blinked and twisted her head around at the older boy, who regarded the two of them with careful eyes. "No matter how badly Sakura-san treated her or even how Ino tried to ruin her life, Naruto always forgave them even when they hurt her. She forgave Neji even though he hurt you."

Hinata dug her fingers against the palm of her hand as Kiba grimaced. If Team Ten was close to Sakura then Team Eight was close to Naruto. All three of them had seen the way Sakura treated the blond-haired girl. Lazy, idiot and baby. That had been what the girl described the whiskered teen. The girl acted like she knew what Naruto was and that made her blood boiled.

"Uchiha, talk some sense into Sakura! She listens to you!"

She grinded her teeth together.

"I talk sense into her and it will make Naruto's problem even worse, Hyuga. Naruto doesn't need to be babied! She is stronger than you think!"

Hinata wanted to find that boy and tell him that Naruto cracked because of his ignorance of the problem. He thought because Naruto didn't allow herself to wallow up in her pain like he did, that she could handle Sakura's words. It was nice to have faith but he did not understand the meaning of cruelty in words.

"Y'know I think it is pretty funny how Naruto could attack like a monster but act like an angel in the next minute," Kiba snorted. "Remember what she did to Ami when she called her an ugly, little fox?"

Hinata nodded. "Ami cried for a whole day and tried to make herself the victim but she had it coming."

"Iruka-sensei didn't even try to make Naruto tell the truth," Shino observed. "He believed Ami's story even though you tried to tell him that Ami started the whole fight by insulting her."

The blue-haired girl grimaced and smoothed the edges of her clothes. She liked Iruka-sensei but that action of believing Ami even when Naruto had been hurt was something she would always hold against him. Ami has always been the one to bully the girls. She clicked her tongue together and exhaled.

"How the hell could Iruka-sensei believe Hinata when all those bitches lied and Naruto kept quiet? They accused Naruto of starting the fight when they were stupid enough to anger her," Kiba retorted. Shino nodded while the blue-haired girl thinned her lips at the reminder of the terrible habit that the blonde had.

Naruto would never tell a teacher that she had been provoked, not after what happened with Hiraoka-sensei.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Hinata finally said. She quirked her lips into a faint smile and the two boys exchanged glances, paling at the smile that played on her lips. Her stomach fluttered with joy as she recalled the state that Ami was in. "The merchants had to be taxed heavily to get back the money that had been taken away from Konoha."

Shino nodded. "It was billions worth of ryo."

"I heard it is because the council didn't honor the contract between Naruto's clan and them," Kiba observed. Hinata blinked at this piece of information being leaked out. "It must have been one hell of a contract for the Uzumaki Clan to take away so much money from the village. Not that I'm complaining because having more missions is more fun than us lazing around in the village."

Shino sighed. "It will be years before we can get the economy back up because we have to make our missions cheaper to get more clients."

If that money went to Naruto then Hinata didn't mind the fact that they were being pressured to do more missions.


Author Note: So Hiashi wants the Uzumaki Clan to break the seal. Hinata recalls the first time she had seen Naruto after what happened with Sasuke and Kiba feels guilty for not checking up on Naruto. Here are a couple of questions for you to think about:

Question 1: What do you think of Hinata's memory?

Question 2: What do you think of the knowledge that Hiashi tried to break the seal earlier? What do you think made him stop?

Question 3: What do you think of the glimpse of the relationship between Hinata and Naruto?

Please do tell me of your thoughts on this chapter.