2 Chapter 2: Childhood Arc

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or I would have given Hinata a mother.

Playing the Role of the Byakugan Princess

Childhood Arc

Chapter two

Hiashi stuck to his word and over the next six months, Neji and I attended playdates together and began to form a tight bond. I don't know how he managed to arrange it without some sort of confrontation with the Elder, but he did. The only condition was that we have to have our playdates in my bedroom. Our playdates weren't nothing interesting, at least to me. We just did kiddy things such as playing with our stuffed animals, building blocks, and finger painting. With my time with Neji, I have come to realize that, despite being a toddler, he is very insightful and intelligent for his age. He seemed to have pick up the fact that something conflicting is going on between the Main and Branch House, but he doesn't seem to know exactly what. He hasn't spoke about it much, only once. Other than random moments like that catches me off guard, Neji is a pretty normal kid that is just living up to his title as a genius at a young age.

Also, like promised, Hiashi started training me for thirty minutes in the afternoon, twice a week, shortly after I turned two. I thought that I would be jumping straight into some Gentle Fist training. Nope, wrong. Instead, I get to practice stupid stances. The initial stance of the Gentle Fist is to put one leg in front of me and one leg behind me, one palm in front of me and one palm by my side. The front leg needs to be extended outwards while having the knees slightly bent and the back leg needs to be deeply bent. The Gentle Fist is a graceful yet deadly art so it requires being light and swift on my feet. Hiashi's strict nature shows through during our training sessions and firmly scolds me or whacks the back of my legs with a wooden cane whenever I don't slip into a form correctly to his standards. His scolding doesn't bother me because it helps me correct myself. What pisses me off, however, is the stupid whacks! They don't hurt. They are just annoying and I really want to shove that wooden cane up his ass whenever he uses it! But, I don't always get fussed at. Whenever I do something correctly, Hiashi gives me a nod of approval. He rarely ever compliments me so I just accept his nods as them.

Even though I am enjoying my time training and hanging around Neji, I've been growing a little restless lately from not being anywhere else except the Hyūga compound. I really want to go out and explore the rest of Konohagakure, but I know I cannot because technically I am only two years old. Actually, I believe any other toddler mine age has already been around the village multiple times. However, Hiashi and Haruna are a pair of very overprotective and hovering parents and need to know my whereabouts at all times and possibly does not want their sweet little heiress to be exposed to any negative influences. If they are not around me, I am around Kō, my caretaker, or another servant. Heck, they are even hesitate to leave me alone when I am getting put down for a nap because of my sneaking in search for Neji a few months back. So, when I found an opportunity one day to leave the compound and see the village I took advantage of it.

"My Otou-san is taking me to a festival tonight!" Neji brags to me after we just played an imaginary game of "Shinobi". Ever since his father started to teach him how to strike during their training with the Gentle Fist, Neji has insisted on playing that game during our last few playdates. This game actually helps me out a little because I am learning how to dodge and react because of Neji's barrage of attacks. Literally, the attacks are continuous and the boy is fast.

His words grabs my attention as I rose my eyebrows. This can be my chance to finally see the famous Konohagakure in person if I can just tag along with my cousin. "You are? I want to come!"

"I want you to come, too!" Neji says. "You just need to ask Hiashi-sama if you can come with us."

Crap, I forgot about having to ask permission to him. Another con about being a damn child. I can't wait until I'm older. I don't know if he will allow me to go or not. I sure as hell know that he will not allow my first trip outside of the compound with a member of the Branch House, even if it is his own brother. Maybe I can convince him to have Kō escort me. I won't be with Neji, but at least I will be free from this damn place for a few hours.

I shake my head. "I don't he will let me go with you two. I think they are still mad at each other." Neji finally came up with the conclusion that both of our fathers are angry with one another so I just decided to go along with it.

Neji's face drops. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. That's stupid!"

"It is okay," I tell him. "You can still have fun tonight!"

"Okay…" Neji replies unsurely. "I want to play Shinobi some more! I'm the good guy and you're the bad guy." I sigh. Great, being the bad guy equals punching bag and now I have to evade for my young life now again.

After our play date ended, I leave my bedroom and enter Hiashi's study. He doesn't really like when people enter his office without permission, an appointment, or knocking. However, I am his daughter so I am not obliged to do any of those things! I notice him jotting something down in a notebook as I toddle in. He glances up from his work, narrows his eyebrows, and goes back to writing.

"I am really busy, Hinata-chan," he warns me. "What is it that you need?'

I threw my hands up in the air in excitement. "I want to go to the festival tonight!"

"How did you hear about that?" he asks, not looking up.

"Neji told me he was going with Oji-san and I want to go as well," I reply.

Hiashi stops writing and glares at me. "You are not going to the festival with them," he snaps. "Do not even ask again or beg. The answer will be no."

I resist the urge to smirk. I knew he was going to react like that. Thankfully, I found a loophole. "What if Kō-san takes me?"

Hiashi raises his eyebrows, probably from the fact that his two year old daughter just thought of an alternative so quickly. "I do not know about that. I am not comfortable with allowing you to leave the compound without mine or your mother's supervision. I am sorry, but I am afraid you are still a little young."

I sigh. Time for Plan B. I run behind his desk and climb on top of his knee. Hiashi gives me a look of surprise as I widen my eyes and I give him the most innocent and sweetest expression that he has ever seen. "What's wrong? Do you not trust me to stay with Kō-san or trust Kō-san to take care of me?" I know that a two year doesn't have the capability to manipulate anyone at such a young age, but, hey, I have already proven that I am not your typical toddler and my parents know that.

Hiashi becomes flustered as his face grows slightly red. "N-no! I do, but…"

I kiss his cheek. "Then, you should let me go with him! You'll be the best Otou-san ever!"

Hiashi rubs his temples for a moment before replying. "Fine, Hinata-chan. I will allow Kō-san to take you to the festival tonight. I think otherwise, but you better not disobey him or you will not leave this compound again for a long time. Do I make myself clear?"

Score! My plan worked! See, Hiashi has a soft spot for his daughter. He just needs a little persuading. I nod my head and wrap my arms around his neck. "Thank you! I promise I will be good for him."

I jump down and exit the room. As I am leaving, I hear Hiashi mumble to himself, "I can't believe I just got outsmarted by a two year old."

Later that night, I find myself in my room as Haruna is helping me get ready for the festival. She had picked out a light pink kimono and I am currently wearing it. She pins a fake white flower to the side in my short hair and slides browns sandals on me. She take a few steps back to observe me and smiles. "You look so lovely," she tells me as I look into the mirror. She's right. I do look pretty cute.

"Why are you and Otou-san not attending the festival?" I ask. I would rather go with those two instead of Kō-san, no offense to him. I like him, but I know that an eleven year old is not going to like hanging with a toddler at a festival, no matter how much he fakes that he does, when he would rather spend it with his friends.

"He and I are too busy," she explains. For the second time that day, I resist the urge to smirk. They have not had anytime for themselves, or away from me, since I was born, so I know that "busy" is code word for bow chicka wow wow. "However, I am sure you will have a wonderful time with Kō-san. I am giving him some ryō to let you play some games with and buy food."

I clap my hands together. "Yay! I want to win some prizes!"

Haruna laughs and smoothes down my hair. "I am sure you will."

There's a knock on my door as it slides open. Kō steps in and bows. "I am sorry if I am interrupting anything, Haruna-sama," he says to her. "But, I am here to escort Hinata-sama to the festival." That is another reason why I do not like hanging around Kō. He gives me the -sama honorific and I find it ridiculous. I would be so humiliated if I was him, adding -sama to the end of my name. Like, he is nine years older than me! It is just so weird to me, but I understand why he has to say that since I am the future heiress. Neji tried that -sama crap with me and I squashed it instantly.

"You are fine," Haruna replies, giving him a kind smile. "Please take care of Hinata-chan while you are out. This is her first time outside of the compound and Hiashi-kun and I are just always worried about her."

"I understand your concerns, but I am certain Hinata-sama will be fine under my care," Kō assures her.

"I will hold you to that," Hiashi says as he walks into my room, making Kō's posture go from relaxed to stiff. Damn, he's scared shitless of my father.

"I will not allow anything happen to her or let her leave my watch," he promises.

Hiashi nods. "Good. Make sure Hinata-chan has dinner at the festival and she is only allowed to have one sweet thing to eat. I want you back with her in two hours after you leave. Do you understand?" Even when Hiashi speaks in a calm demeanor, it has a strong sense of authority behind it.

"Hai, Hiashi-sama," Kō-san says, bowing.

Kō takes my hand as we both leave the tense and awkward atmosphere that my father caused and exit the compound. Kō looks down at me and smiles. "Are you excited to be entering the village for the first time?"

"I am!" I reply, grinning.

As we enter the heart of Konohagakure, I gasp. Obviously, I have seen the village from watching the anime and reading the manga. However, seeing it in person is a different story. The buildings are all taller than I thought they would be. They aren't super tall like skyscrapers, but the average building is several stories high. The lights hanging around the roofs and lower walls of the buildings illuminated the village as they outshone the stars above, emphasizing the beauty of the village. Villagers are hustling and bustling everywhere as they visit all the different varieties of stands. Just by looking, I can easily differentiate the civilians from the Shinobi by their forehead protectors and by the way they walk if they were not wearing a forehead protector. Civilians are leisurely walking with relaxed body postures while Shinobi are walking with confidence and purpose, heads held high. Or buried in a saucy adult book if you are Kakashi. In the distance, I can just make out the faces of the past Hokage from Hokage Rock. It is crazy how whoever created those monuments did so with such precise of that current Hokage's appearance. It is so detailed! I wish I can see the other parts of Konohagakure such as the forests and Training Grounds, but I know I have to wait until I am older.

"Wow!" I whisper as I take in the scene around me.

Kō chuckles. "It is wow, isn't it? Come, on. Let's go find us something to eat before we look around."

We wandered up to a random stand and I widen my eyes as I recognize who is running it. It is Teuchi, the owner of Ramen Ichiraku. I do not see his daughter, Ayame, anywhere. Then again, she is only five years old than me so I don't think it would be wise for a seven year old to help run a restaurant. Teuchi throws a wide grin as he greets us. "Welcome! I hope you are enjoying yourselves tonight! What can I get you two?"

Kō looks down at me. "Is miso ramen okay with you, Hinata-sama?"

Only if you stop calling me Hinata-sama! I wanted to say. Instead, I nod politely. "Yes, with pork please." That is how Naruto eats his ramen and I just want to see what all the hype is about. Speaking of Naruto, I wonder how he is doing right now? Is the Third Hokage watching over him right now or is he just chilling at the orphanage until he enrolls at the Academy?

Kō gives me a strange look, distracting me from my thoughts. "Are you sure? I have never seen you eat pork before."

Well, I've never had miso ramen before and you suggested that for me. "Yes!" I reply, a little to loud in annoyance.

Teuchi laughs. "Determined to get what you want, huh?"

Kō sighs as I glance away in embarrassment. I didn't mean to speak so aggressively. After ordering our food, we sit down at the nearest table and I pull my chopsticks apart, taking my first bite of miso pork ramen with them. I swallowed and my taste buds burst with happiness. I understand now why Naruto is crazy over this stuff! I want to throw my chopsticks aside and slurp my bowl spotless, but that would be considered very unmannerly and rude of me as a Hyūga. Instead, I use very good etiquette as I properly finish off my meal.

I sit down my bowl. "That was very delicious!"

"I am glad you liked it. If you are done, let's go look around."

For the next while, I enjoyed myself as I listen to the music being played around me in beautiful melodies as I observe different stands and played some games for prizes. I realize that I suck at most of the games, but my luck turns around when I win the game where you toss a small ring and it has to land on top of the bottle. I am giving the choice to select my prize and I chose a toy version of kunai knives and shuriken. Now, I can finally kick Neji's ass the next time we play "Shinobi" and he forces me to be the bad guy. I mean, I can use these to train and better myself.

As we are browsing through a mask stand, I hear someone call my name. "Hinata-sama!" I spin around and see Neji running towards, his father trailing behind him. I do not get annoyed when he calls me Hinata-sama because he is around Kō and his father and he is expected to call me that.

"Hi, Neji-nii-san!" I squeal, hugging him.

"You said you weren't coming," Neji pouts, crossing his arms.

"Otou-san said that I could go if Kō-san brought me!" I explain. I show him my prize. "Look what I won at the Ring Toss!"

Neji widen his eyes and gasp. "Wow! That's so cool!" He glances up at Hizashi and tugs on his navy kimono. "Let's go to the Ring Toss next! I want to win what Hinata-same has."

Hizashi smiles down at his son and nods. "Sure," he replies. He flicks his eyes over towards me and briefly frowns before softening his facial features. Did I just imagine that or did he just glare at me? I know he doesn't have the best relationship with my father, but he shouldn't have any animosity towards me.

Kō suddenly grabs my hand and gently jerks me over to his side. "We need to be going now, Hinata-sama. Perhaps we look over at the clothing stand? I can get you a new outfit of your liking."

I scrunch up my face in confusion. "But, I am still looking at the masks," I lie. Why is he in such a hurry to leave?

Kō opens his mouth to say something, but Hizashi interrupts him. "We should be heading off as well. Come, on Neji. It is pleasure seeing you, Hinata-sama and Kō-san."

I can tell that last sentence isn't sincere as he rests his hand on Neji's back and guides him away from us. Neji turns his head and gives me a sad stare before paying his attention back to his father. Suddenly, it hit me. Kō does not want me to be associated with anyone from the Branch House, including Neji, outside of the compound. I stop dead in my tracks and yank my hand away from Kō. He whirls around and kneels down to get eye level with me.

"Is something a matter?" he asks, sounding slightly panicked.

"I want to walk around with Neji-nii-san!" I whined, putting on my best two year old act.

Kō is silent for a second, struggling to find the right words to say. Rarely anyone says no to the Head of the Hyūga clan's daughter and I know that Kō is very hesitant right now to go through with it. "I-I," he swallows. "I am sorry, Hinata-sama. Hiashi-sama instructed for you to be at my side at all times and no one else's."

"You don't exactly have to tell Otou-san that I spent some time with Nii-san," I tell him.

Not being used to my advanced communication skills for my age, Kō appears taken back at my statement. "Pardon?" he asks in disbelief.

"Nevermind," I mumble.

I sigh. I can't be too hard on him. He is only a kid who has high expectations giving to him to be my caretaker and I know he is too scared to even think about going against Hiashi's orders. I grab his hand again as we continued the rest of the festival. I am not enjoying it as much as I was earlier. It is just so stupid that the Main House and Branch House members cannot just get along. Why can't our clan just have normal rules and traditions like every other clan in Konohagakure? If they are so worried about the Byakugan getting stolen, why can't we all just get the dumb Curse Mark sealed on us, but not on foreheads where it is so obvious and humiliating? That way, we can just all come together as one House. Maybe I am just thinking nonsense since I do not know all the politics and background history of the Hyūga clan just yet. However, I do know that this whole system needs to change and I will make sure that happens when I become the heir.

After that night at the festival, my playdates with Neji decreased as my training sessions increased. Instead of seeing each other twice a week, I have only been seeing him once every other week the past couple of months. I instantly guessed the reason for that is because Kō ran his damn mouth to Hiashi about me back talking him and my father probably came up with the conclusion that Neji is becoming a bad influence on me and is punishing the both of us for our actions. Even though Neji never did anything wrong. During my training sessions, I have been promoted from practicing stances to actually learning simple strikes. Since I have not learned how to control my chakra just yet nor have I activated the Byakugan, Hiashi is just teaching me the major chakra points that I should always strike in my opponents unless otherwise.

"When am I going to have the Byakugan?" I ask him one day after a session.

"When you are older," he replies. "You are too young as of now."

"How old do you think I will be before I will get it?"

"It varies upon the person," Hiashi explains. "I awakened my Byakugan when I was around six." So, I should be able to awaken it within the next few years. I can't wait to be able to use the Byakugan! I want to be able to see chakra pathways, through buildings, and places that are meters away from me.

"How can I awaken it?" I ask.

"By using chakra," Hiashi replies. "By five-seven years old age, you should have enough chakra developed to send a little to your eyes and activate the Byakugan. It is within our bloodline so we are able to awakened it easily." Oh, that's easy enough. For some reason, I always thought it involved some intense training or process before one is able to enable the dōjutsu.

"Interesting," I tell him.

"Well, if that is all the questions you have then you are dismissed," he says.

"Okay," I say as I bow. Hiashi arches an eyebrow. "I mean, yes, sir." I bow again.

Hiashi nods. "Better." I turn to walk off before he stops me. "One more thing, Hinata-chan." I look at him again. "Your third birthday is coming up in a couple of months from now. We are going to have a special celebration for you involving both Main House and Branch House. This why I am increasing your training sessions lately. After you turn three, it will only get harder from there."

My heart drops at the mention of my upcoming birthday. That is the day that everything changes. Neji gets the Curse Seal branded on him, Hizashi gets his Curse Seal activated by his own brother, Neji gets traumatized from that, and the nail hits the coffin on his perspective of our clan once he finds out that his father gets killed. I have tried to push that day to the back on my mind these past couple of years, but now the day is coming and I need to do something to keep these events from happening. I know hands down that I can stop Neji from getting his Curse Seal, but perhaps I can stop the others from happening. For example, I can keep Neji from becoming traumatized and from Hizashi getting hurt if I continue strengthening my bond with Neji. In the anime/manga, it appears at Neji and Hinata met for the first time officially during her third birthday. Since I have been around him a lot, and we are very close, maybe his Hizashi won't show as much hatred towards me and Hiashi whenever they are watching us spar.

My father senses my lack of response and frowns. "Is there a problem?"

I snapped back into reality and shake my head. "No, sir. I am excited for my birthday and the hardships to come."

I exit the training room and stomp back to my bedroom. Damn fate for reincarnating me into Hinata after my death. Why couldn't have been anybody else? I've grown to attached to all these people and now I have to watch them get hurt? Hell, no. Not on my watch. I be damned if I have to watch Neji spiral down into darkness all over again. I do not want him to end of hating me and then trying to kill me at during the Chunin Exams ten years from now. Sure, they both get along after the fact. But, I want to always have a good relationship with Neji. I never want it to become negative and severed. As I walk into my bedroom, I toss myself onto my bed. I find KeKe, hold onto him tight, and swallow the lump that is forming in my throat as I try to clear my head of these terrible thoughts.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I am glad my fan-fic has gained some interest after just one chapter! OC Hinata is only going to stay child for another few more chapters before graduating the academy and becoming a Genin. We all know that's when the real fun begins when she became a Shinobi.

I've already had two people comment mentioning something about the pairing of Naruto/Hinata and Sasuke/Hinata. I have thought about both of those pairings for way later on down the road. I actually want your all's opinion about whether you would like to see a NaruHina pairing or a SasuHina pairing. My fan-fic isn't going to revolve around these pairings, but they will play a role. Depending which pairing I choose will affect how the fan-fic will go after a certain point. For example, the fan-fic with the NaruHina pairing is going to be SasuHina pairing. Now, I am not going to base what pairing I am going to choose based on everyone's answers, or will I hmm, but I just want to see what everyone thought. I haven't even chosen what the pairing is going to be yet, but I do have an idea on the path how I want the fan-fic to go if I choose a certain pairing. So, leave a review and tell me your opinion because I always like to know what my readers think.

I am sorry if this chapter came across as too short or slow. The next one is going to be longer and involve more action so I am just building up to that point. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!