Meeting Naruto Again

Ever since Hizashi Hyuga died, Hyuga Hiashi had grown colder and colder toward little Hinata.

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

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

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

He walked up to little Hinata, his expression cold.

Seeing her father approach, Hinata began to panic.

She hurriedly stopped practicing and stood up straight.

His voice was heavy with disappointment. "Your talent is terrible, yet you won't even work hard.

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

Hinata was too young to understand any of it.

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 is a disgrace."

With those words, he left, his heart full of disappointment.

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

She remembered how gentle, kind, and good Neji had been at first.

But after only a day apart, even he had begun looking at her that way.

Hinata mistakenly thought everyone in the clan hated her.

All because she disliked fighting and lacked their talent.

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

She began to hate herself more and more.

Her confidence dwindled, and she spoke less and less.

All she wanted now was to leave home.

After leaving home, Hinata wandered through the forest in Konoha.

She walked with her head down, looking utterly lost.

So weighed down by her thoughts, she never looked at the path ahead.

Then she accidentally bumped into one of three children from Konoha.

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," Hinata blurted out anxiously.

The boy in pale blue noticed that her eyes were white.

He turned to his two friends with a nasty grin.

He looked at the timid little Hinata.

Then he raised a hand and said mockingly, "Hey, that's rude. You call that an apology? Where's your sincerity?"

Terrified of dealing with strangers, Hinata trembled all over.

She froze, unable to speak.

The boy in pale blue watched her shake.

Her fear delighted him, and he deliberately roared, "Get on your knees!"

Hinata went rigid.

When the boy saw that she still had not knelt,

his voice grew harsher. "I said get on your knees and apologize! Are you deaf?"

After so long being looked down on by her clan, and now by her father too,

Hinata had no confidence left.

Her father's hurtful words came back to her.

Unable to bear it 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 children burst out laughing at the sight of her kneeling there.

The boy in pale blue promptly gave her a nickname.

"You white-eyed monster! Louder! I can't hear you!"

Hinata's voice remained tiny.

The boy in pale blue pressed down hard on her head.

"If you're going to apologize, do it properly. Got it, you white-eyed monster?" he snarled.

Hinata could no longer hold back her tears. They spilled down her cheeks, drop by drop.

Sobbing, she repeatedly bowed her head to the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The three children laughed as she kept apologizing.

Just as they were about to demand something even worse,

a young voice rang out behind them.

"Hey! What are you three jerks doing?"

The three children turned and saw little Naruto.

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

Hinata looked up and saw Naruto again. She remembered him telling her not to cry all the time.

She hurriedly held back her tears and watched him cautiously.

Naruto ignored the three children and looked straight at Hinata, still kneeling on the ground with tears on her face.

His voice was gentle but helpless. "Why are you crying again? Don't be scared. I'll protect you."

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

"You can go," Naruto warned them. "But if I ever see you bullying her again,

"I won't let you off."

The boy in pale blue took offense at the warning.

He raised his fist and swung it hard at Naruto.

Naruto blocked the punch and was about to teach him a lesson.

But an old man Naruto had once met suddenly came to mind.

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

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

"You must never strike a civilian. Only then can you become a Ninja."

The old man who had told Naruto that was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

As Naruto's attention wavered,

the boy in pale blue finally found an opening.

He drove his fist 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 hurriedly called his two friends over to help.

All three boys punched and kicked Naruto as he lay there.

They kept at it for more than ten minutes.

Eventually, the three children grew tired.

Naruto had long since lost consciousness.

The boy in pale blue laughed and sneered, "That damned Nine-Tailed Fox isn't so tough after all!"

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

"A damned Nine-Tailed Fox and a white-eyed monster. They really belong together."

The three of them laughed.

"Hahaha!"

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

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

Their swagger vanished, and they began trembling all over.

"Get lost," the Hyuga Branch Family Ninja said, his voice thick with killing intent. "Unless you want to die here."

The three children were scared out of their wits.

They ran home crying, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

The Hyuga Branch Family Ninja took little Hinata's hand.

Hinata looked at Naruto. He had protected her, and now he was covered in wounds.

He was still unconscious, but she could not bring herself to speak.

She lowered her head helplessly and followed the Ninja away.

Only Naruto remained in the silent forest, battered and unconscious.

Once Hinata and the Hyuga Branch Family Ninja had disappeared,

several swishing sounds broke the silence.

Two figures suddenly appeared.

The two Anbu Ninja looked coldly at the wounded, unconscious Naruto.

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

"Better if he does," the Anbu Ninja with the scarred mask replied viciously.

"But if the boy's life is in danger," said the Anbu Ninja with the undamaged mask, sounding worried,

"what will we say if the Hokage asks?"

"Relax," the one with the scarred mask replied. "That Nine-Tailed Fox won't die so easily."

"Should we take him back, then?" the other Anbu Ninja asked cautiously.

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