Another Encounter with Naruto

After Hizashi Hyuga died, Hyuga Hiashi grew colder and colder toward little Hinata.

Three-year-old Hinata practiced the Gentle Fist in the courtyard of the Hyuga Clan Compound.

Watching from nearby, Hyuga Hiashi could tell his daughter was not taking her training seriously at all.

At that moment, Hyuga Hiashi could no longer suppress the guilt in his heart.

He walked up to little Hinata with a cold expression.

Seeing her father approach, little Hinata began to panic.

She hurriedly stopped what she was doing and stood up straight.

Hyuga Hiashi spoke in a voice thick with disappointment. "You have so little talent, yet you won't even work hard.

"Do you know how much I've sacrificed for you?"

Little Hinata, who understood none of it yet, was bewildered.

But her father's stern words left her at a loss.

She could only lower her head, too afraid to answer.

Seeing no response from his daughter, Hyuga Hiashi turned away in disappointment. "You're a failure. Having a daughter like you brings me shame."

With those words, Hyuga Hiashi left, filled with disappointment.

After hearing her father's words, little Hinata felt deeply hurt.

She thought of how gentle, kind, and wonderful Neji had been at first.

But after just one day apart, he started looking at me that way too.

Little Hinata mistakenly believed that everyone in the clan hated her.

All because she disliked fighting and was not as talented as they were.

The more she thought about it, the more suffocated she felt.

Little Hinata began to dislike herself more and more.

She grew less confident and spoke less and less.

All little Hinata wanted then was to leave home.

After leaving home, little Hinata walked through the forest outside Konoha.

She wandered along with her head down, lost and dejected.

But with so much on her mind, she did not watch where she was going.

She accidentally bumped into one of three civilian children from Konoha.

Little Hinata felt as though she had run into something.

She slowly raised her head and saw whom she had bumped into.

It was a boy in pale blue clothes.

"I'm sorry," little Hinata blurted out in a fluster.

The boy in pale blue noticed that Hinata's eyes were white.

He gave his two companions a leering grin.

Looking at the timid little Hinata, the boy in pale blue

raised his hand and said mockingly, "Hey, that's rude. You call that an apology?"

Shy around others, little Hinata was so frightened that she trembled all over.

She froze, unable to speak.

The boy in pale blue watched little Hinata shake with fear.

The sight delighted him, and he deliberately snarled, "Get on your knees."

Little Hinata went still.

When the boy in pale blue saw that she had not knelt,

his voice grew harsher. "I told you to kneel and apologize. Are you deaf?"

Little Hinata had been looked down on by her clan for so long, and now her father had rejected her too.

She had no confidence left.

Her father's hurtful words came back to her.

Unable to hold it in any longer, she dropped to her knees before the boy in pale blue.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she said over and over.

The three civilian children burst out laughing at the sight of little Hinata kneeling on the ground.

The boy in pale blue gave her a nickname on the spot.

"You white-eyed freak, speak up! I can't hear you!"

Little Hinata's voice was still so faint.

The boy in pale blue pressed her head down hard with his hand.

"When you apologize, act like you mean it. Got that, you white-eyed freak?" he snarled.

Little Hinata could no longer hold back her tears. They rolled down her cheeks one by one.

She cried and repeatedly bowed her head to the ground, murmuring, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The three children laughed at her as she kept apologizing.

Just as they were about to make an even more outrageous demand,

a young voice sounded behind them.

"Hey! What are you three jerks doing?"

The three civilian children turned and saw little Naruto.

The boy in pale blue swaggered up to him and spat, "You damned Nine-Tailed Fox, mind your own business."

Hinata raised her head and saw that it was Naruto again. She remembered what he had told her: not to cry all the time.

Little Hinata hurriedly wiped away her tears and watched him with cautious eyes.

Naruto ignored the three children and looked straight at little Hinata, who was still on her knees, her face wet from crying.

He spoke gently, with a note of helplessness in his voice. "Why are you crying again? Don't be afraid. I'll protect you."

The three civilian children did not dare make a move while Naruto stood there.

"Leave," Naruto warned them. "If I ever catch you bullying her again,

"I won't let you get away with it."

The boy in pale blue bristled at the warning.

He raised his fist and swung it hard at Naruto.

Naruto lifted an arm to block the punch. Just as he was about to teach the boy in pale blue a lesson,

he remembered an old man he had once met.

"Naruto, if you want to become a great Ninja,

"you must first earn the villagers' approval, no matter what.

"You must never attack civilians. Only then can you become a Ninja."

The old man who had said those words to Naruto was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

While Naruto was distracted,

the boy in pale blue finally found an opening.

He drove a heavy punch straight into Naruto's eye.

Caught off guard, Naruto fell to the ground.

Seeing that he had knocked the damned Nine-Tailed Fox down, the boy in pale blue

hurriedly called for his two friends to help.

The three boys punched and kicked Naruto as he lay on the ground.

They kept at it for more than ten minutes.

At last, the three children grew tired.

They looked down at Naruto, who had long since passed out.

"That damned Nine-Tailed Fox isn't so tough after all! Ha!" the boy in pale blue jeered.

Then he turned and pointed at little Hinata, who was still trembling. "Look how scared that white-eyed freak is! Ha!"

"A damned Nine-Tailed Fox and a white-eyed freak. They're perfect for each other."

The three of them laughed.

"Ha ha ha!"

Just then, a Ninja from the Hyuga Branch Family appeared behind Hinata.

The three civilian children saw the Hyuga clan member's Ninja headband.

The boys who had been so arrogant a moment ago instantly began trembling with fear.

The Hyuga Branch Family Ninja spoke with murderous intent. "Get lost, unless you want to die here."

The three civilian children were terrified out of their wits.

Sobbing, their noses running, they fled home.

The Hyuga Branch Family Ninja took little Hinata by the hand.

Little Hinata looked at Naruto. He had protected her, and now his body was covered in injuries.

He was still unconscious, but she could not find the courage to speak up.

Helplessly, she lowered her head and followed the Hyuga Branch Family Ninja away.

The quiet forest was left with only little Naruto, battered and unconscious.

After little Hinata and the Hyuga Branch Family Ninja had disappeared from sight,

Several swishing sounds broke the silence.

Two figures suddenly appeared.

The two Anbu Ninja looked coldly at little Naruto, unconscious and covered in injuries.

One of them asked, "He won't die, will he?"

The Anbu Ninja with a scarred mask answered viciously, "Better if he does."

The Anbu Ninja whose mask was intact said worriedly, "But what if the child's life is in danger?

"What will we tell the Hokage if he asks?"

"Don't worry. This Nine-Tailed Fox won't die that easily," the Anbu Ninja with the scarred mask replied indifferently.

The Anbu Ninja with the intact mask asked cautiously, "Should we take him back?"

"Leave him here," the Anbu Ninja with the scarred mask said, his voice full of hatred. "He won't die."

Note: Thanks to Qingfeng Meng Ceng Jihe for the little flowers.

Thanks to Shuang Jiang Luo Xue Shi for the like.

And thanks to everyone who showed their support.

Thank you so much! ^_^