He Was Hurt?

By the window sat a blue-haired girl in a long-sleeved top and long pants.

Her face looked shy and introverted, giving her a gentle, fragile air.

Whenever her deskmate spoke to her, she kept her head lowered the entire time and answered in an incredibly, incredibly soft voice.

"Hey, Hinata, could you please look up when you talk to me...?" Her deskmate was somewhat at a loss for words.

"Mm..." Only then did the girl named Hinata raise her head, her pale eyes looking utterly innocent.

"Mhm ()..."

"Ah, forget it..." Seeing Hinata Hyuga like this, her deskmate completely gave up. But she had always been the chatty sort, so before long, she started chattering away to herself again.

Because only Hinata would not find her talkative nature annoying.

But in truth, Hinata Hyuga had not heard a single word her deskmate said. Right now, her mind was filled with one figure, and whenever she thought of him, her face could not help turning red.

She looked up at the classroom doorway. He had not arrived yet.

Just one second later, she quickly lowered her head again, as though afraid someone might notice. Her face only grew redder.

A few seconds later, Hinata Hyuga looked up at the doorway again, repeating this over and over.

At last, the person she had been eagerly awaiting arrived.

But—

What was wrong with his face?

How had he gotten hurt?

Hinata Hyuga was deeply worried, but she did not dare go up to him. Even when sneaking glances at him, she had to be careful not to let him notice.

She secretly watched him return to his seat.

No one greeted him on the way, nor did he greet anyone. Yet strangely, the way he looked at his classmates was as though he regarded them as friends.

Hinata Hyuga did not understand any of that.

She only knew that he was hurt now. Should she...?

Whenever she had to make a decision that seemed bold to her, Hinata Hyuga became unbearably nervous. Her heart raced as though it were about to leap out of her chest.

Class began.

Hinata Hyuga did not take in any of Iruka-sensei's lesson. Her gaze and her thoughts drifted around the boy named Naruto Uzumaki.

It was as if her memories had been awakened once more at that moment.

That had been three years ago.

Three years ago, when Hinata Hyuga was still very young, her family had placed great hopes upon her. Those adults had pinned all their ambitions of reviving the clan on a single child.

As a result, young Hinata had an extremely heavy workload and almost no time to play.

Of course, she longed to play freely like the other children, but she alone could not. Her family was very strict, and she could only study.

Practice the Gentle Fist.

To be honest, Hinata Hyuga herself wanted to master the Gentle Fist too. Then she could see a smile on her father Hyuga Hiashi's face and receive his praise.

"Hinata, you're amazing. Dad is so proud of you."

But reality was that she never seemed to grasp the knack of the Gentle Fist, leaving her father greatly disappointed.

Sometimes, he even said things that hurt her deeply.

But... but I want to master the Gentle Fist too, and then earn Father's praise.

Feeling wronged, Hinata Hyuga covered her tears and ran out of the house.

She kept running and running. She did not know how long she ran, until she was completely exhausted and fell down.

Just as she fell, she suddenly heard mocking laughter.

"Wow, she's as clumsy as a pig. She can even fall while running. Hahaha..."

"What an idiot. The way she face-planted is so funny..."

Through her tear-blurred eyes, she saw a group of children gathered around her. Every one of them was gloating, clutching their stomachs as they laughed without stopping...

Was it really that funny when someone fell down?

Hinata Hyuga felt terribly wronged. Thinking of the hurtful things her father had said made her feel even worse.

"Um... can you stand up by yourself?"

Suddenly, a childish voice rang out.

Amid all that mockery, it sounded so out of place...

Hinata Hyuga looked up. Through her tears, a small boy stood before her. He had short blond hair and a chubby baby face that looked very serious. There were also six faint marks on either side of his mouth, three on each side, like a cat's whiskers.

"Hey..." Seeing that she still had not gotten up, the boy looked a little helpless and held out one hand.

Hinata Hyuga reached out, and that hand tightly grasped hers. With a pull, he helped her up from the ground.

"Thank you..." Hinata Hyuga said softly.

"Hmm..." The boy put on a cool expression, as if to say it was nothing and she did not need to thank him. But Hinata Hyuga knew he was only putting on an act.

"..." Hinata Hyuga still wanted to say something, but the boy turned and left.

As soon as he left, Hinata Hyuga heard the people around her saying:

"Was that the Nine-Tails brat...?"

"It was him, it was him, definitely him..."

"Hmph, how could a Nine-Tails Fox demon possibly be that kindhearted? If you ask me, it's a fox paying respects to a chicken before eating it. Something even worse must be coming..."

Hinata Hyuga stood there, listening to those words, at a complete loss. She really wanted to tell them that he was not what they thought, but...

She was too timid.

Hinata Hyuga left, but she knew that there had to be a light living in that boy's heart. Otherwise, he would not have helped me up.

For a long time afterward, she never saw that little boy again. But while practicing, while eating, while sleeping, she would occasionally think of him.

Think of the boy who had reached out a hand to her.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, three years had gone by.

That year, Hinata Hyuga enrolled in the Ninja Academy. She had not expected heaven to give her such an enormous surprise at that moment.

She and him—

Met again.

And she learned his name.

Naruto Uzumaki!

What a lovely name.

Although compared to three years ago, his temperament had changed greatly, and he had grown much taller too...

Hinata Hyuga still recognized him at a glance among the crowd.

The boy who had reached out to her when she had fallen.

After three years, his temperament and build had changed tremendously, but his eyes—the eyes that concealed light—had never changed.

Because she had seen Naruto Uzumaki again, Hinata Hyuga remained absent-minded for the entire day. Even after returning home, she could not sleep. Sometimes, when she thought about it, she secretly scolded herself.

Why hadn't she gone up and talked to him?

Besides, she had not even told him her name yet.

Though she had introduced herself in class,

A name was something that had to be solemnly told to someone face-to-face to make it official.

But surprises came quickly and went quickly.

The very next day, Naruto stopped coming to school altogether, causing Hinata Hyuga to worry and imagine all sorts of things for a long time.

Until a few days ago, when Naruto finally returned to school.

Only then did Hinata Hyuga feel that life had gotten a little better, and that her heart had settled down a little.

But that day,

When she saw Naruto walk into the classroom, when she saw his bruised and swollen face...

Hinata Hyuga began worrying in secret again.