Forever Uchiha

Chapter 5

If you're gonna treat me right,
I'll take you to heaven every night.
But god forbid you leave me by myself,
I'll take you to hell, take you to hell~
~◇Ava Max, Take you to hell~◇

Dedicated to hdsoxs and Sam_the_Weaboo

As time went on, my feelings for Itachi faded away, my love for him dissipating. The boy I had once loved more than anything meant nothing to me now. In fact, I hated him--Despised him--for what he'd done. All that mattered now was for me to get strong. Strong enough to defeat him, and make him pay for what he'd done. Of course, I wasn't alone in my loathing. Sasuke too, had developed a hatred of Itachi---and everything associated with him. Including me.

Even though the scars Itachi had left on my heart had faded, they had never fully healed. I was still feeling the repercussions of his actions, as well as my own. Sasuke pushed me away as he grew older. Seeing me as nothing more than a painful reminder of his brother. This unfortunately meant that helping him and protecting him was difficult. He didn't want anything to do with me.

In my last few months at the Academy, I became a closed shell. Not speaking to anyone at all, even less so than usual. Iruka-sensei noticed this, but he said nothing. He knew perfectly well what had happened to me. I'd been betrayed by my closest and only friend, leaving me alone in this dark thing we call reality. I'd been forced to learn exactly what the world is full of. Death, pain, and betrayal. No one was really trustworthy. And I would be sure to never give my heart to anyone ever again.

After I had graduated from the academy, I was assigned to Team Eight. The other members of my team, Shino and Kiba, seemed very nice, but I had no courage to talk to them. I was still standing by the one promise I'd made to myself:

(a/n: I decided to change Kiba and Shino's ages so that they'll be the same age as Hinata, just so that I could have Team eight all together)

Never trust anyone.

Only yourself is capable of keeping promises. I had learned that the hard way.

Kiba and Shino---well, mainly Kiba, had tried hard to get me to open up and not be so timid, but I was stubborn. Kurenai-sensei as well had tried to get me to be less timid and closed up, but her efforts were also to no avail. It wasn't that I didn't like the rest of Team eight, it was just that I was too afraid to be hurt.

"Come on, Hinata!" Kiba shouted. "Quit being so closed up!"

"Kiba!" Kurenai gave him a warning look. "Leave Hinata alone. She'll come out when she's ready."

Kurenai of course, knew full well about what had happened at the Uchiha massacre, and attributed my lack of confidence to that. While it was true the massacre was part of it, I was sure that the treatment from my parents had only made it worse.

Kiba had been trying to get me to join the chunin exams with him and Shino, but I wasn't sure. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it. That all I would do was drag my team down. But it was also true that if I didn't go, neither could Kiba and Shino. I didn't want to be the cause of them not making chunin along with everyone else.

"Okay, I'll do it!" I whispered, finnaly. Kurenai looked surprised.

"Are you sure, Hinata?" Kurenai frowned. "You shouldn't participate if you don't feel ready."

"I know, but if I don't go, Kiba and Shino won't get to go either." I muttered, tapping the tips of my two pointer fingers together. "I wouldn't want to be the cause of them not being able to go."