Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

Dedication: Sara, just cause.

“Eight Trigrams! Sixty-four Palms!” Hinata let loose a barrage of palm strikes upon her opponent. The battle raged on, and the Hyuga heiress spun around, looking for her teammates. The mission was suppose to be simple, deliver a scroll to an ANBU Black Ops field commander and return to Konoha. The shinobi assigned to the task were Hyuga Hinata, Hyuga Neji, Yamanaka Ino and Tenten. Unfortunately the mission had gone terribly wrong on the way. The field commander and the unit he was in charge off were slaughtered by the enemy. The only thing the team could do was return to Konoha, swiftly. They were now, about half a day away from Konohagakure, and the enemy was relentless.

Hinata pivoted, slamming her chakra infused palm into the enemy’s gut, only to face him and thrust her palm into his chin. She heard the cracking of bone as he flew backwards. She stuck her hand into her pouch and drew forth a handful of shuriken, and flung the steel stars at the on coming enemy.

“You aren’t getting away that easily!” one of the enemy ninja jeered, as five enemy ninja surrounded Hinata. Hinata swiftly looked around, but her teammate had their own problems at the moment. Hinata took a stance, a smirk, indicative of Naruto on her face.

“Don’t underestimate me!” she spat. They laughed as they lunged at her. Hinata spun in a tight circle, chakra ballooning out around her, forming a protective impenetrable bubble. They hit the chakra bubble like water on rock, flying backwards. Hinata stopped the rotation and focused on Neji. He was fighting back-to-back with Tenten, and they enemy was close to overwhelming them.

Hinata ran towards her cousin, crisscrossing the body littered battlefield. Hinata was amazed that only the four of them were able to singlehandedly take down an entire legion. Then again, both she and Neji had the Byakugan and anyone with enough sense would be wary of them. Hinata sprinted before leaping the final three feet. Her foot slammed into a ninja to Neji’s right, she heard the bone crack and blood sputtered up into her face. She spat out the foreign blood and looked at Neji. Her cousin only gave a curt nod before resuming the intense battle.

“Where’s Ino?” Hinata shouted over the din of battle.

“Off getting back up!” Tenten shouted.

“But…back up won’t come in time!” Hinata pointed out, tucking a kunai swipe, she slammed her palm into her opponent’s gut, sending him reeling backwards. “Even if Ino uses the Shintenshin!” Hinata kicked her foot out, unbalancing an enemy kunoichi, before slamming her palms rapidly into the woman’s unprotected chest. She delivered a powerful blow that sent her enemy flying.

“No, back up will come!” Neji assured Hinata. “Cause I saw Sasuke’s squad coming,” he said.

“How far off are they?” Hinata asked.

“About two miles, Ino should be able to intercept them soon,” Neji thrust his palm into an opponent’s chest.

“Brace ya selves everyone!” Tenten shouted, unrolling her large scroll. Neji grabbed the fluttering end and Tenten was able to encircle them in her scroll. Kunai bombs burst forth, exploding and sending the enemy spiraling away.

When the dust cleared Hinata saw the leader; a big burly man, with cruel eyes. Ducking under the scroll, Hinata charged at the leader. Neji’s eyes widened. “Hinata-sama!” he shouted, descrying the trap Hinata was unwittingly running into her.

“Neji! No!” Tenten grabbed him before he too ran into the same trap. Hinata jumped, almost clearing the hidden mines, she landed safely on the other side, only to stagger backwards, taking one step back to steady herself. The mines exploded.

“NO! HINATA!” Neji screamed, wrenching himself free of Tenten’s grip, running towards his cousin and the smoke scream that separated him from her. HE suddenly fell, he looked at Tenten. She was holding a whip, its other end wrapped around his ankle.

“It’s too dangerous, even with your Byakugan, we need to wait for back up!” Tenten said sternly.

“Fuck you!” he struggled to free himself, but Tenten threw a handful of senbon, pinning him to the ground.

“Wait!” she spat, a fire burning brightly in her chocolate eyes. Neji gulped and for the first time since meeting her, he was scared of her.

“Very well,” he forced out, but glanced at the dust still choking the air.

Hinata coughed, only to moan in pain as she struggled to rise. There was a sharp pain in her leg and she saw a kunai deep in the meat of her thigh. She yanked it out, ignoring the oozing blood. She looked around, but couldn’t see clearly, only dark shapes, and they were slowly blurring into the on coming darkness. That’s when her brain caught up with her body. She screamed, hands going to her eyes, she felt the warm wetness of blood and tears. Shrapnel had gotten into her eyes. She tried getting the sharp jagged metal pieces out of her eyes, but it had the opposite effect of working them deeper, slicing her retinas, her sight vanishing before her. When she removed her bloody hands, her world was shrouded in darkness. Hinata sat there, quivering in fear. She closed her ruined eyes, and shook her head; blood drops splattered around her as she cried crimson tears.

“Get a hold of yourself Hinata,” she whispered to herself firmly. She clasped her hands together and opened her eyes. “Byakugan!” she shouted, feeling the familiar surge of chakra to her eyes, but the darkness didn’t ebb. “N-no!” she gasped, letting go of her dojutsu.

“Heh, a useless Hyuga bitch,” the leader sneered. “Die!”

Hinata squeaked and tired to dodge but only ended up getting kicked in the side. She tumbled to an unnaturally soft patch of earth.

No, it’s a pit trap! Hinata slowly got up, quickly trying to learn to fight blind; she settled her weight evenly across the pit trap, praying it won’t fall.

“C’mere bitch!” the leader snarled, charging at Hinata. Hinata drew a kunai and held it shakily at guard. “Die!” he shouted jumping at Hinata. She yelped taking a step back, the pit trap activated and they fell. Hinata felt a sharp pain in her side; she hugged the sharpened bamboo pole and screamed, hoping someone would hear her.

Sasuke landed besides Neji, they were roughly half a mile away from the battlefield. The Uchiha rested his Sharingan eyes on the Hyuga prodigy. “Report,” he ordered. Neji glowered at Sasuke.

“Mission failed, enemy killed our unit and our field commander. We were returning to Konoha when we were ambushed. Hinata is down,” Neji said.

“Hai,” Sasuke snapped his attention to Choji, Sai and Lee. “Lee, stay here with Neji and Tenten. Sai, Ino, Choji, we’re going to look for Hinata,” Sasuke ordered. The ninja in question nodded. “Move out!” Sasuke vanished into the trees.

Katana drawn, Sasuke moved through the stench of human blood, waste and rotting flesh. Even after three years of living with Orochimaru, Sasuke still couldn’t stand the smells of death and war. He came to skeleton of the ring where the land mines were hidden. “NEJI!” a voice shouted, weak yet fighting to stay strong. Ino dropped besides him.

“Sasuke,” she looked at him.

“I’m going in,” he replied, easily jumping over the depression in the earth. HE ran towards the large hole in the ground. HE stopped at the edge, and looked down. There, hugging a bamboo spike, bleeding and unhealthily pale was Hinata.

“N-Neji?” she sniffed.

“INO!” Sasuke shouted, his voice urgent and panicked. Ino was besides him in a minute. “I’m going to get Hinata, she’s down there, alive be ready to use your medical ninjutsu as soon as I get back!” Sasuke looked at the Yamanaka kunoichi. “Send Sai to get Neji and Tenten!” Sasuke dropped into the pit trap.

Sasuke easily picked his way through the sharp bamboo spikes, until he reached Hinata. She whimpered when he touched her gently. “Neji-nii-san?” she whispered weakly, sounding like a lost child.

“No, its Sasuke, but I’m going to get you out of here,” he wove hand seals, grabbed Hinata’s waist. “Chidori!” he thrust his hand through the bamboo, cutting it easily. Hinata fell into his arms. “Hold still this may…no, it will hurt like hell,” he told her, once she was on the ground. Hinata whimpered as she clutched Sasuke’s shirt. “Ichi,” he grabbed the spike. “Ni,” Hinata bit her lip. “San!” Sasuke yanked the spike from her body. Hinata gave a blood chilling scream and bit down onto Sasuke’s arm. HE winced as her teeth sank into his flesh. She let go, sobbing; Sasuke saw blood blossoming up from the bite. He made a mental note to get Sakura to heal it for him when he got back. “Easy Hinata,” he gently scooped her up, feeling sick as her blood coated his fingers. HE pushed the bile down his throat and hopped out of the hole.

Ino’s eyes grew wide as she saw Hinata. “This is beyond my ability Sasuke!” Ino shouted. “You should’ve taken Sakura!” Ino began healing the gaping hole in Hinata’s side.

“Sakura was busy and I didn’t have time! Tsunade said ASAP! I grabbed Sai, Lee and Choji! Then we split!” Sasuke snapped. Neji and the other came to them.

“Heal her eyes! Her eyes!” Neji shouted.

“I can’t! It’s too advance for me!” Ino snapped. “Uchiha didn’t bring Sakura! Blame him!”

Neji turned his rage filled eyes on Sasuke. Sasuke easily shifted his Sharingan into its Mangekyou state, the unspoken challenge hung heavily in the air. Tenten broke away from Lee, bandages in her hands. “Here,” she smiled weakly at Sasuke before bandaging his bleeding arm. The Uchiha allowed his Sharingan to return to normal.

Ino sat back sighing heavily. Sai, her husband, caught her. They didn’t even have a honeymoon or a chance to revel in the fact that they were newlyweds due to the mission. Hinata was bandaged, healed as best as Ino could manage. Neji gingerly scooped up his cousin. Hinata whimpered. “Let’s go,” Sasuke said. The Konoha shinobi nodded.

Hanabi blinked when she heard the news. She didn’t care if she was in the middle of training with her team. She bolted. “Hanabi!” Kurenai shouted, but Hanabi ignored her teacher, running towards the hospital.

“Just let her go,” Yukiro grumbled. Kurenai sighed but allowed the Hyuga girl to run off.

Hanabi skidded to a halt outside her sister’s hospital room. “Otou-san?” Hanabi whispered, glancing up at Hiashi. They Hyuga leader didn’t even look at Hanabi, instead he gently placed a hand on Hanabi’s shoulder. Hanabi gulped, wondering what would stricken her father into silence. Hanabi gathered her chakra.

“Don’t,” Hiashi whispered softly. Hanabi let go of her chakra and looked at her father.

“Otou-san?” Hanabi whispered, feeling scared. “Nee-san…is she…okay?” Hanabi mumbled. Hiashi didn’t answer, and Hanabi didn’t press her father for an answer. Sighing, the Hyuga genin rested her back against the cool wall.

The silence felt heavy and it was suddenly broken by the tak-tak of shoes. Hanabi looked down the hall to see Inuzuka Hana. Hanabi smiled, remembering the few times she tagged along with Hinata, when her sister visited Kiba. Hana was always nice to her. Hanabi ran up to Hana. “Hello, Hanabi-san,” Hana smiled, holding a vase of colorful tiger lilies.

“Hi, Hana-chan,” Hanabi smiled. “Are those flowers for my sister?” Hanabi asked. Hana smiled sweetly.

“No, there for…” Hana stopped, and glanced at the room to her left. Hanabi peeked inside to see Sasuke, sitting in the far corner reading a book. It was Itachi’s room.

“Oh,” Hanabi nodded. “Tell Kiba-san to give my sister flowers okay?” Hanabi smiled.

“Oh, I will,” Hana smiled before slipping into Itachi’s room.

Hanabi sighed, walking back to her father. She didn’t know what happened to Itachi, because nobody talked about it, and Hanabi hadn’t dared asked Sasuke. From what she had heard, Sasuke found his supposedly dead brother about a mile away from Konoha. Whatever the state Itachi was in it was so pitiful that Sasuke didn’t have the heart to kill Itachi a second time, so he took him back to Konoha. Apparently, whatever Itachi suffered through left his mind shattered, and he was only able to coherently recognize Sasuke.

Hanabi froze, glancing back at Itachi’s room. What if Hinata’s mind was broken like Itachi’s? What if Hanabi never got to play with her sister again! Hanabi gulped as she return to her seat besides her father.

The minutes seemed like hours in the thick heavy silence, which was broken again by footsteps. “Well?”

Hanabi looked up to see Neji.

“Hiashi-sama?” Neji asked.

“The Hokage, Shizune-san, and Haruno-san are still in there,” Hiashi said. Neji nodded, sitting down next to Hanabi.

“Here, Hanabi-san,” Neji handed her a bag of gummy bears, and gave her a smile.

“Thank you, Neji-nii-san,” Hanabi began to eat the gummy bears.

The silence didn’t break until a half-hour after Neji came, this time with the door to Hinata’s room opening. Sasuke had exited his brother’s room and stopped to wait for Sakura, who had just exited Hinata’s room. The pink-haired medic looked worn and tired and ready to cry. She ran to Sasuke, who embrace and Hanabi watched them leave. Sasuke trying to comfort Sakura the best he could.

Shizune then beckoned them in. Hanabi was on her feet and sprinted inside to be by her sister, her nose wrinkling at the sterile smell of the room. Hinata was heavily bandaged, and white clothe was wrapped around her eyes. Hanabi jumped when the door closed behind Neji.

Tsunade sighed when she saw Hiashi. “We were able to remove the shrapnel from her eyes, but the damage is beyond repair. I’m afraid your daughter is blind, there is no way to fix it,” Tsunade said. “Her Byakugan is now useless. I’m so sorry, Hiashi,” Tsunade handed Hiashi Hinata’s headband. The Hyuga head numbly took it. “She’s no longer a ninja of Konohagakure,” Tsunade muttered glumly.

“And she is no longer the Hyuga heiress,” Hiashi turned to Hanabi. “Hanabi, you are now the heiress to Clan Hyuga,” Hiashi turned to Neji.

“What’s going to happen to my sister!?” Hanabi shouted, fighting to hold back her tears. Hiashi sighed. “You aren’t going to disown her are you? Because…because Nee-san has worked hard to prove herself to the clan and to you, Otou-san!” Hanabi blurted out. Hiashi gave a sad smile.

“I’m not going to that Hanabi,” Hiashi placed his hand on Hanabi’s head. “Neji, you are now in charge of protecting Hinata, understand?” Hiashi asked.

“Hai,” Neji nodded.

“Now, everyone needs to go, Hinata needs her rest,” Tsunade said. Hanabi looked at her sister before following her family.

Naruto stretched as he passed the gates of Konoha. “Aah! That was a fun mission, ne?” he looked at Kiba and Shino.

“If you say so Naruto,” Kiba was laying on his stomach, arms and legs on either side of Akamaru.

“Hn,” Shino pushed his glasses up.

“Jeez, Shino; your vocabulary is the same as teme’s,” Naruto grumbled.

“You should talk Naruto. Your vocabulary is heavily detailed only when it comes to ramen,” Shino replied. Kiba snickered.

“Kiba-san, Shino-san!” Hanabi ran up to them.

“Hey, Hanabi-chan!” Naruto greeted cheerfully. Hanabi ignored him.

“My sister is in the hospital,” Hanabi informed her sister’s teammates.

“What?” Shino looked at Hanabi, shock written on his face. Kiba sat up.

“What’s wrong with Hinata? Why is she in the hospital?” Kiba asked.

“Hinata…she’s blind.”

So ends the first chapter of Blind.

Its NaruHina, and strictly NaruHina. This is the first time, other than oneshots, that I’ll be focusing solely on one pairing for a lengthy multichapter story. The other pairings, will be kept to a minimum, with only mentions of them here and there.

Itachi’s dealy-deal is rather unimportant to the story, and only heavily mentioned while Hinata is in the hospital and any scenes when Hinata and/or Naruto are at Kiba’s house. Later on, he’ll move back into Sasuke’s house (the Uchiha mansion) where he’ll be…uh… for lack of a better word, insane. I just didn’t have the heart to kill Itachi.

Kurenai is Hanabi’s genin sensei. Just cause I can.

Also, this will be very, very, very long! The NaruHina will take LOTS of TIME to develop, plus there will be KibaHina in the first half, when Naruto and Hinata are just friends. The NejiHina is purely platonic. So, don’t worry, even though it is historically accurate.

R’n’R or I’ll hurt you…badly.

DJ