Hinata woke up in the bed she had become accustomed to in the past few days located in Konaha's hospital. Her rushing into battle to help Naruto fight against Pain had had disastrous affects on Hinata. She frowned slightly thinking back to the fight.

FLASH BACK

[for the beginning of this chapter, for some part I'm just going to quote directly from the manga the speech parts.]

The battle ragging on in the city had hushed to a loll. Most of the fighting and damage had ended, but with her Byakugan activated, Hinata knew better. She could see Naruto fighting Pain, and sadly, it appeared as if he was losing. Because Hinata loved Naruto it pained her to do nothing but watch.

"Naruto" Hinata whispered.

She couldn't take it anymore. Naruto was in trouble, and she had to do something. Without a second thought, after getting into position to use gentle fist, Hinata charged at Pain. She could hear someone desperately calling out to her, but that wouldn't stop her. As expected, Pain quickly dodged Hinata's attack. Hinata gracefully stopped in front of Naruto.

"Reinforcements, eh?" Pain same with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I won't let you lay another finger on Naruto!" Hinata said with fierceness that she did not believe she had in her.

"What are you doing here? Get out of here! You're no match!" Naruto yelled.

Sadly, Hinata knew that was the truth, but that wouldn't stop her. She loved Naruto, and would do anything to protect him. If she died while trying, at least it would be for a noble cause. Besides, if Naruto was killed, Hinata wasn't sure how she would survive.

"I know." Hinata said. "I'm just being selfish."

"What are you talking about? What are you doing here? It's dangerous!" Naruto shouted.

"I'm here on my own free will." Hinata explained. "I used to always cry and give up. I nearly went the wrong way. But you showed me the right way."

She remembered when she took the Chunin exams. In the preliminary round, Hinata had to face off against Neji, her cousin who was infinitely stronger. Hinata didn't think she could do it, but when she heard Naruto's encouraging shouts, Hinata gained more confidence in herself. Although she lost, he still gave her the courage to fight.

END OF FLASH BACK

The next part was almost too painful to remember. Hinata had straight out told Naruto that she wanted to be with him, and that she wasn't afraid to die protecting him because she loved him. After that, Hinata fought Pain, or at least attempted to. She couldn't even land a hit on him. Pain had just blasted her back with a Shinra Tensei.

Rushing into the fight like that had had two disastrous consciences. The first was from her injuries, Hinata was in critical conditioned. Only with the help of Konaha's outstanding medical ninjas had she managed to survive. She was surprised to have even recovered this quickly. Even worse so was Naruto's reaction to her pledge. When she had confessed her love to Naruto, she had hoped he would love her back, but it seemed that would not be so. From gossip Hinata had heard during her duration in the Hospital, it sounded as if Naruto was now with Sakura.

It pained Hinata very much to know that. For years, Naruto had chased after Sakura, never to receive any feelings in return. Sakura always felt he was immature and stupid. Despite that, Hinata still loved him. Hinata was always to afraid to admit her feelings and it seemed now for a good reason. She had been completely rejected. Upon seeing how cool Naruto really was, Sakura professed her love to Naruto and now they were together. Oh, it made Hinata's blood boil.

There was nothing left for her here in Konaha. With Naruto out of the picture, she felt as if there was nothing tying her down anymore. Her family didn't care for her. Being first born, Hinata should have become leader of the Hyuga clan when her father passed on, but her clan found her weak, and unsuitable to rule. Everyone knew that Neji would be in charge seeing as he was the strongest.

All these thoughts swirling around in Hinata's head couldn't help but make her feel upset.

"No." Hinata said to herself shaking her head.

She coudln't let all this bother her. Hinata just had to think positively. Naruto may be out of the picture, but there were other people out there. Her family may not want her, but Hinata didn't need them.

All this time Hinata had been training for others and not herself. She trained hard in hopes that Naruto would notice her and like her. Additionally, Hinata trained in hopes that her father would recognize her power and be proud of her. It appeared that would never be so. Hinata now realized that it was her family and Naruto who had been holding her back. All this time, she was been training to please them, but no matter how hard she tried, Hinata couldn't.

"From now on, I'll train for myself, and only myself. I will be the best that I can be." Hinata vowed to herself.

She would work harder than ever before, but this time for her sake. After all these years, Hinata owed it to herself to become stronger like she wanted to be, meaning no more doubts, no more stuttering, and definitely no more acting shy. It was time to grow up and become the strong women Hinata wanted and knew she could eventually become.

But how to do that? The answer was clear. Just being in this village reminded Hinata of her failures. Here, she was only being held back.

"It's decided then." Hinata said to herself. "I must leave the village."

Konaha was her past. It was bleak and dreary. The present wasn't much better, but Hinata was sure the future would be brighter. Change was coming, and Hinata could feel it.

New thought were planted into Hinata's mind. Plans would have to be made before she left, provisions gather, and goodbyes said. Scratch the last one. Hinata knew if she said goodbye to her friends, she would only be pressured into staying and possibly cave in. She would have to leave at night when no one could see and stop her. Of course, she would have to wait some time. In this weakened state Hinata was in no conditioned to travel.