• “Get up,” he started, his cold voice echoed off the beige walls. The man crossed his arms. He would not tolerate any failure. The position of his body threatened to attack the young one in front of him. “Get up!” he repeated harshly. Slowly, ever so slowly, her limbs moved. One arm, underneath her. Then another. She pushed with any strength that was thought to be left. Her back arched, and sweat ran down her face and arms. Her body, it seemed to be bowing to the one in front of her. His eyes, as cold as stone, stared disapprovingly towards his daughter. One foot made its way to the ground. Now she was kneeling, then another. She stood, while her shoulders heaved. Her lungs gasped in any kind of breath they could get. She got into position, one hand behind her, another in front, while putting all her weight on one foot.

    'Be light, be swift, be agile,' She told herself mentally. She was ready, so he came at her in the same Hyuuga style.

    His arms met hers with a sickening thud. She was holding her own against her superior. Her eyes flared with a look of determination unseen by her father. She glared at him and, the moment seemed to last. More palms went, chakra embedded in their fingers, aimed at the other's tenketsu. He glared, she returned the favor. She leaned back, and relaxed her muscles, preparing to block another strike. Being on the defensive showed weakness, it showed that there could be an opening for the enemy to take advantage of. She... she could finally show her father how strong she had become.

    His fists came, one strike almost grazed her head. Thinking fast, she pulled a matrix and was able to duck. Sensing her counter strike was coming, the elder used his legs to kick hers out from under her. While almost falling in the process, she let him do so and then used his momentum to flip into the air. She did her best to land, and grabbed at her stomach, which was now flaring from an earlier inflicted wound. She began panting.

    “Don't be a burden, Hinata,” he spat at her, expecting his words to do damage to her confidence. She bit back a few choice words that she had been saving especially for him.

    “Come at me!” She yelled instead. This infuriated Hiashi, how dare she throw his words in his face! Instead of waiting for him, she charged straight into his offense, forcing him to go into a defensive mode. This was her chance to show how much she'd improved. Her palms aimed to strike, she pushed forward, pounding into his arm with her hands. 'He shouldn't be able to manipulate any chakra with that hand now' Amazed that he had let his guard down enough to give her an opportunity to strike, he glared at her. He was not down for the count, not nearly. She was standing mere feet from him, barely outside his reach. Hiashi sidestepped, and fell into a steady rhythm of attacks. He dropped to his feet and twisted, in an attempt to kick Hinata's feet out from under her, all the while sending chakra to his injured arm. If one fought in the Hyuuga style, one should be able to beat the Hyuuga style.

    Hinata jumped just in time to get away from his feet. She paused just a little, and came at Hiashi again. She ran circles around him, and was tiring fast. She quickly drew a kunai from her pocket, and threw it with lightning fast speed and efficiency at her father, aiming directly for his pulsing temple. He caught it easily between his middle and forefinger, and threw it to the ground. Grabbing his own projectile weapons, he ran towards Hinata in a flash of speed.

    'He's sending chakra to his feet,' Hinata perceived. Her byakugan didn't miss it, she could see the chakra. Cursing herself mentally for not doing that herself, she met him and a CLANG! rang out in between the two. Hinata bounced back off of her father, and her feet slid to a stop. She let herself bend over and heave in air now, she was almost out of chakra. The beads of sweat glistened, and ran down her nimble body. Her usually pale features were extremely flushed. She was breathing heavy, while her father barely seemed affected, other than the fact that his left arm was down for the count. Hinata sent death glares towards her father, this was what she had been working towards, she wanted to prove that she was strong, and dammit, she was! Hiashi glared back, was this all his daughter could give him? Granted, she was lasting longer than usual. He was going to end this, and he was going to do it right now.

    He flashed his usable hand in a flurry of one handed seals. Now, it was Hinata's turn to be caught off guard. She had no idea he father could use one handed seals, much less do it so fast she could barely keep up. There... there it was! The water sign, she knew exactly what kind of jutsu he'd be using.

    “Water style: water wave jutsu!” His words echoed through the room, which flooded immediately. Hiashi should have been more aware of their surroundings, he just ruined one of the sparring rooms in Hyuuga manor. Hinata smirked, and quickly let herself become submerged by the water. There was no way that his attack would have an effect on her, if she was in the water to begin with. What could he do? Shoot a water canon through the water, and expect it to hit Hinata? It would just get absorbed by the water surrounding her, and throw it off course.

    Hinata focused her byakugan on he father, who remained standing on top of the water in the flooded room. She had enough room to swim freely, she could dodge whatever he decided to throw at her. ...Or could she?

    “Lightning style: Electric current jutsu!” A shock wave ran immediately through the water, seeing that she feel into Hiashi's trap with ease, she scrambled to make it to the surface. The lightning spread through the water, and caught up to Hinata. Her fingers grazed the surface, and poked out. While her limbs quickly became numb, as an effect of the shock, she sank. She was becoming heavy... and she slowly sank to the bottom of the “pool.”

    “Pathetic,” was all Hiashi said, as he let the room drain, leaving his daughter there simply because he could. “Neji, take care of it,” He called down the corridors.

    “H-hai...” He chocked out, completely shocked by the cruelty of Hiashi.

    * * *

    After a few days, Hinata woke up in the hospital, again. The beeping of the heart monitor slowly called her out of sleep. She stirred, and her pale eyes scanned the room around her. No one was there, no one cared. She was alone. All she saw was the putrid floral designs of the wallpaper in this god awful hospital. Memories flooded back to her, but boy were those few seconds of being oblivious nice. She lost to her father again, she showed how weak she really was. Sure, she had improved over the years, but even the number one failure had surpassed her. She blushed while thinking of Naruto, but it was to be expected that he surpassed her. He was Yondaime's son after all. That was beside the point however, because she had hardly improved. She was pathetic, just like her father said. She had finally come to believe him, of course he was right.

    No, that was enough of that. She was leaving, she was sick of this awful place, the one where she woke up in, screaming, only to find that the nightmares that haunted her sleep were real. It was time for her to leave. She stood, and escaped through her hospital window. Minutes later, a bob of candy pink hair walked through the door.

    “All right Hinata, it seems you've woken up,” She stopped mid-sentence. Hinata was gone, and the curtains were blowing softly with the breeze.

    * * *

    “Tsunade-sama!” yelled the pink haired med nin, as she burst through the doors to Godaime's office.

    “Sakura-chan,” Tsunade replied, remaining puzzled.

    “My patient, Hyuuga Hinata, is missing!” She exclaimed. Worry became quickly evident upon the Hokage's soft features.

    “Hinata?” Tsunade questioned again, in utter disbelief. Her fingernails rapped a steady rhythm on her leg.

    Sakura could only nod, mouth agape. Her eyes seemed to loose their usual sparkle, and she sat with her head down. Questions passed through her head at 100 mph, and all she did was stare at her lap and consider each one carefully. Hinata was one of her friends, not as good as Ino, but they were still friends. Now she was gone. But, had she really even disappeared? Did she just run off like Naruto would to go get some real food? No...That was nothing like Hinata. She would have at least left a note, and Sakura only got notice of her awakening because of a spike in her heart rate. How fast could she really get out of there in such a short amount of time? The pink haired girl sat in turmoil. Pretty much nothing had given a clue as to why Hinata had left. Although... She did have a pretty bad home life, that much Sakura knew.

    But, could this weak little girl, run away from home, and even make it for a week? Weak, pathetic little Hinata? Sakura could hardly believe it. Nothing was confirmed, however, that she did actually leave. She may have felt better and got an okay from another nurse to leave. No, it was Sakura's hospital... well, almost her hospital. Another nurse wouldn't send home one of her superior's patients without bothering to tell them, would they? Even so, Sakura felt wrong. Something wasn't like it should be, and it left her with a foreshadowing feeling. No, something was definitely up. Sakura just had to find out what. But, the only way to find out if Hinata had gone home, would be to go to the Hyuuga mansion. But if she wasn't there, and Hiashi found out about it... It would drive the whole Hyuuga clan straight to hell, if their heiress was missing, they'd go crazy! That was something Sakura wouldn't want to miss.

    Sakura actually wore a sly smile at that thought, with the way Hiashi treated Hinata he needed to sweat a little. The sadistic b*****d. Thinking on her feet, she decided to ask if Neji was in the village at the moment, he would know if she was at the mansion, and he wouldn't freak out and tell Hiashi if she really was missing. That much Sakura was sure of.

    “Hokage-sama,” Sakura questioned feigning innocence.

    “Hai,”

    “Is Hyuuga Neji in the village at the moment?”

    “No, he and the rest of Team Gai were sent on a B-rank mission to Suna yesterday,” Tsunade answered.

    Sakura cursed under her breath, he was her ticket out of confronting the Hyuuga lord. Well, she could take it, she had Tsunade on her side. Although, there was no particular “side” to be on at the moment.