Age Of Innocence

Intro

Hinata warily eyed the small creature which was standing beside her from behind her mask. She noticed the little girl had been sparing her occasional glances while they walked through the tall fields of golden grass whose color had vanished along with the last breaths of summer.

It danced along with the wind, contrasting the still background of the landscape, consisted of black mountains that seemed far smaller than they actually were, from the distance.

Even though she could've teleported them to the Hokage's residence with absolute ease, the little one refused, claiming she enjoyed taking such long walks from the city to her home and admiring the beauty of nature.

The walks mostly ended with Hinata being forced to carry the girl on her back once her small feet start hurting, but she found some joy at those times.

It confused her why she would be so diligent in regards of something as silly as the later. Both her parents were warriors and cared for no such thing. Where could she have gotten the nock for that?

Hinata paid it no more mind once she heard her sight. Their steps were painfully slow for her own liking, as she had gotten used to being in a constant hurry.

Taking care of this child was something completely new to the tall ANBU as she was forced to get used to her simple lifestyle.

''Nabi...'', the girl addressed her. ''Yes..?'', Hinata replied. The girl blew air into her chubby cheeks which had received a faint rosy hue do to the cold wind. ''Why don't you talk, Nabi?''

The elder raised her eyebrows from behind her mask as she glanced at the younger who was aimlessly staring at the road ahead. They were nearing her home, and she was aware of that. ''I do speak.'', Hinata stated indifferently.

The girl dragged her feet along the dusty path, pouting. ''No,'', she complained, ''speaking and talking aren't the same thing.''

Hinata's lips twitched at her smart remark. ''It's true.'', the girl continued, blowing the naughty stands of her shoulder length hair from her face.

''For the four years you've been beside me, you've never spoken to me, for real.'' Hinata pressed her lips into a shaky line, not being sure what to say.

''It's almost as if Nabi doesn't love me at all.'' Finally, Hinata sighted and stopped. ''Come here.'', she bent down in front of her motioning her hands forward.

The little one seemingly understood as she climbed onto her back and wrapped her smaller hands around her neck, burying her face into her hair like many times before. In all of honesty, Hinata had been giving her best to stay indifferent towards the child ever since she'd first been assigned to become her protector.

When she was young, there'd been attempts to harm her and Hinata had been chosen as her personal guard.

Although, she did feel for the girl.. in a way. She could feel it in the way that she was lonely... just as lonely as she used to be. Hinata knew her parents very well, and had witnessed them changing over the years.

Now, each time she would encounter them in spite of the location, they would only throw vary glances at her. His wife would bitterly glare, and Naruto would tense, noticeably.

They rarely went out of the house how. As a family, that is. Naruto became tired of everything and Sakura insisted on moving to the boarders in the fields.

There, she was alone, to Naruto. While her husband was working in the town and Hinata would be with her daughter, a lover would stroll throug the halls of their mansion and into the married couple's bedroom where she would sin repeatedly, as if no one else in the world knew.

Sakura underestimated her own daughter. She did know, and she did understand how wrong her doings were. And she didn't even have to mention it. Because Hinata knew even beforehead.

Hinata felt the irony of everything which occurred to her happen to this little girl. However, there was one difference. Her mother was dead and the one cheating before her eyes was her father and there was no one to protect her like she did to Hanabi and like she was doing with this child.

That was probably why she never had the same relationship with Hiashi like Hanabi did. She simply adored her father because Hinata had been the one to keep her in the dark all the while and Hiashi was aware of that.

Hinata honestly felt like murdering the unworthy mother who left her child in the care of someone who she didn't even know, a masked stranger who'd been judged by her rank and abilities.

Most ANBU wouldn't have even paid attention to the girl unless an enemy were to appear. They would sit in the datk, unmoving, even if the child had fallen and cried.

It had gone to the extent where Hinata was the one to take their own daughter to walks and escort her to her friends' houses, read her books occasionally when she was younger as she'd been taught how to read now... she'd changed her clothes and dippers like a babysitter, as if her own mother wasn't even capable of doing that.

''Nabi.''

The smaller girl spoke in a quiet voice which had almost gone unheard besides the sounds of the wind floating by. Hinata just walked on and listened.

''Am I a burden?''