Perhaps because of her position as heiress, Hiashi had high expectations for Hinata and subjected her to grueling training. However, Hinata's slow progress and frailty disheartened her father until eventually, he deemed her a lost cause. Instead Hiashi chose to focus and develop Hinata's younger sister, who proved much more promising than Hinata, making her the new heiress. By the time Hinata joined Team 8, Hiashi had completely lost interest in Hinata, leaving her care and protection to Kurenai Yūhi.

Hinata's relationship with her father caused her to lose more faith in herself and she would often spend her time crying alone. It wasn't until she met Naruto Uzumaki that her perception changed drastically. Like the rest of Konoha's youth, she did not know why Naruto was treated as an outcast. However, Hinata found herself able to relate with his desire to be acknowledged and praised. She was amazed that despite Naruto having nothing and no one to rely on, he never gave up in believing he could become something great like Hokage. In the anime, Naruto was at one point shown protecting Hinata from bullies. Despite Naruto not knowing her, he refused to let the kids insult and degrade her. Since they outnumbered him, they beat him up and knocked him out. Shocked by how much Naruto wanted to help and believing that she too deserved to be acknowledged, Hinata was inspired. Like Naruto, she ultimately decided to try her best to become strong and never give up, so she could become acknowledged as well. This admiration of him later grew into affection despite warnings from her elders to stay away from Naruto.[4]As a member of the Hyūga clan, Hinata specializes in close-range, taijutsu combat. Her fighting style is the signature style of her clan, the Gentle Fist, which takes advantage of the Byakugan's ability to see opponent's Chakra Pathway System. It also allows her to cause severe internal trauma with minimal external force as it relies on surgical injection of chakra into an opponent's chakra network to cause damage. However, when Hinata is first introduced, she is considered weak by Hiashi Hyūga's standards, beingSasuke and Sai Arc Edit

In Part II, she had attained the rank of chūnin, and was still part of Team 8, renamed Team Kurenai. When Naruto greeted her, she passed out, overcome by the prospect of seeing him for the first time in two and a half years. When she came to, just as she began to focus, Naruto came to her and asked, very vaguely, to come with him on his mission, telling her "shut up and come with me". Hinata misinterpreted the words and promptly passed out again. After this, Hinata asked Kiba if she seemed more grown-up, in the hopes of impressing Naruto. Kiba jokingly teased her, by saying she was still as silly as ever, and then told her that Naruto was behind her, surprising and upsetting her when she discovered it was a lie.
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc Edit

In the anime, she can be seen at Asuma's funeral. Later, she can be seen by a river with her team-mates, she's overjoyed to hear that Naruto is working so hard to hone his new jutsu. She is then reprimanded by Kiba who teases her about why she's blushing, causing her to back away with embarrassment.
Three-Tails Arc Edit