Break Me

The Mind's Eye

Hinata sighed softly as she felt the warmth of the setting sun sink into her flesh. Closing her eyes, she allowed her muscles to relax as she leaned against a training dummy that was shot  full of shuriken and kunai.

It had been a long day. Her father, as always, began the day by scolding her nonstop about her lack of strength and how she needed to "keep up." So of course, the indigo-haired girl worked hard to prove him wrong. She'd been out in the training field for hours, her palms raw from hitting tree bark continuously.

Her stomach growled obnoxiously. She sighed again before placing a hand on her stomach. She hadn't even stopped to eat lunch.

Needless to say, Hinata was exhausted.

Although she had a rough day, the sunset seemed to make everything better. The warmth of it felt like a million hugs from the universe. It gave her the comfort that she always craved.

Just as she was beginning to drift off to sleep, she felt a poke on her forehead. Snapping her eyes open, Hinata was met with a pair of eyes that matched her own. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Hinata yelped in surprise.

"H-Hanabi!"

The matching pearly eyes blinked innocently. "Hello, sister. How was your training?"

Still recovering from shock, Hinata released a shaky breath. "Wh-what are you doing here, Hanabi? You should be at home; it's getting l-late. Father will be upset--"

Hanabi rolled her eyes before cutting her sister off, "I can't check on you? You've been gone since this morning. And who cares what father thinks? You're just as important."

Hinata's mouth dropped at her bold statement. Never had she heard her younger sister speak such words about their father. If he heard--

--wait.

Hinata closed her mouth as she realized what her sister had said. It shouldn't be such a shock, however she never knew that Hanabi felt so strongly about her.

"I'm tired of father speaking to you as if you are nothing. He doesn't see how hard you work, how hard you want to impress him." She grabbed Hinata's hand and glared at the scars angrily before continuing, "But I do. You don't have to do this, sister."

Hinata's bottom lip trembled as she listened to her sister's words. Everything she said was right. Everything Hinata did was only to please her father. She would work herself to death in hopes of being noticed by him.

Tears spilled out of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. She didn't want her sister to see her this way.

"I-I need to know if I'm strong enough. If something were to happen, I would want to be able to protect you," The older Hyuuga choked out.

She felt a warm hand engulf her own followed by a light squeeze. "Don't do it for him, do it for yourself. I believe in you, sister."

The two girls shared a smile followed by a tight hug.

"Now, enough of this crying. I brought you a bento!" Hanabi exclaimed, pulling a box out of her book bag.

Sniffling, Hinata giggled softly. "How did you know that I was hungry?"

Hanabi grinned as she answered, "I could hear your stomach growling a mile away."

-----------------------

Empty eyes stared blankly at the tombstone before them as the rain fell from above. She could no longer cry, yet her insides seemed to scream out in agony.

Hanabi Hyuuga.

Her poor sister. She didn't deserve death. She was too young. She was innocent.

Hinata's eyes traveled to surrounding tombstones, a familiar ache rising in her chest.

Her poor father, her poor cousins, her poor family.

She lightly traced the characters engraved in the cold stone. None of them deserved death, not even her father.

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and without turning her head, she already had a good idea of who it was.

"Hinata..." Neji spoke, sadness lacing his tone.

Hinata clenched her jaw. She didn't want to speak. She wasn't in the mood. She didn't know why they wouldn't leave her be. Neji, Kiba, Shino, and even Naruto.

She just wanted to be alone.

"No one has seen you in months. You're always out here...everyone is concerned--"

Hinata slapped his hand off of her shoulder before turning towards him. "Why wasn't it us? Why didn't they kill us?!"

"Hinata--"

She stepped closer to his face, ignoring the rain beating down on her face. "They didn't deserve to die. Hanabi..." Hinata bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the pain she felt.

Neji looked away from his cousin as he felt his own emotions begin to rise in his chest. She was right. Their family, their entire clan, was gone. The only thing left were ashes. No answers, no leads. Just casualties.

Of course he understood her pain, however he knew it hurt her more. Hinata and Hanabi were very close. He knew that she would brighten Hinata's entire day. And the fact that she couldn't save her tore Hinata to shreds.

It had been approximately three months since it happened. Hinata had lost contact with everyone close to her and whenever they would go looking for her, she would be in the same place. She was broken, and he wasn't sure if she could ever be fixed.

Neji was knocked out of his thoughts as he felt Hinata roughly bump into him as she walked past. It was faint, but as she walked away, he heard her whisper, "Tell them to mind their own business."

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It's been a while, and finals are coming up! Thankfully this semester is almost over 😭

Idk, I kinda forced this chapter out! It's also 5am, so don't flame me too hard 💀❤️