Yo guys! It's time for part 2 of the Naruto Appreciation Series and this time it's all about Hinata Hyuga! As I'm writing through this, my little brother is already ahead of me in the series and I really wanna catch up to him as I still have like 40 more episodes before I can finally reach him. The last time I watched Naruto was a few days ago on a Friday and I stopped at that, for now, and I vowed to myself that I won't watch another episode until I write this post.

Anyways, if you want to read the first part of this Naruto Appreciation series you can click this link here.

Without much more delay, it's time to talk about my love for Hinata Hyuga!

Before we can start discussing how much love I have for her, it's really important to know a few basic information about her first.

*The information that I'm gonna be posting here is a combination of some of the stuff I found on Naruto Wikia plus the stuff that I already know about her*

1. She is a part of the Konoha 11. These are basically the main characters (excluding Sasuke) and consists of others such as Naruto, Sakura, Shino, Kiba, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji.

2. She is from the strong, reputable Hyuga clan's main branch. A clan who is known for their eyes having white irises, no pupils and is where the Byakugan (their bloodline eye ability) appears.

 3. She has a cousin (whom she calls brother) from the side branch of the Hyuga clan named Neji Hyuga.

Now that I put the basic facts out there, let me tell you that these are only a PART of why I love Hinata! Now let's go delve deeper into her now.

Hinata's one of the characters that has a pretty big fanbase supporting her and at the same time, she's one of the characters who get hated on as well. I can say this as I've read a blog post a few days ago in which a person stated reasons as to why s/he hates Hinata. With that being said, I'm not a part of that, as I'm clearly here to spread the opposite of that!

Hinata is one of the characters that I instantly felt an emotional attachment too the moment I saw her. The way she moves, the way she talks and just about everything she does - it all seems familiar to me. I was like her at one point in my life. 

Hinata has this ability wherein she knows how to sympathize and connect herself to whoever she's talking to, kind of like Naruto as well. She clearly expressed it during her first encounters of seeing & meeting Naruto. This "sympathy" was one of the things I probably have that connected me to her as a person.

Hinata, as her parents' first daughter, was deemed as their clan's next heiress. Because of this, her father has high expectations on her abilities. That's why they push her so hard during her training sessions.

When I was a kid, I was also given high expectations by my parents to me and my siblings. Our parent's would always compare us to other kids if we didn't meet this certain expectation level for them. This comparison gave us a pretty hard time for us to live through life with our parents. This was exactly what Hinata also felt during that time as she was constantly being forced to excel. 

One thing I also probably had that made me emotionally attached to Hinata was her goal in life when she was a kid. She wanted to 1) Be strong like her father and at the same time, 2) Be kind like her mother. She is always having troubles trying to balance both as a kid. Like if you think about it, it is actually pretty hard! It's like trying to be liquid & solid at the same time! I've experienced that myself during certain points in my life at times when I get this feeling that I wanna get mad at someone or something. But because of my emotions, I tend to not to. It's just that I get too kind sometimes. Hinata was, too, ever since she was a kid.

Just like Hinata, I have siblings too. Hinata has a younger sister named Hanabi and I have 2 brothers with me in the middle. Living with siblings is pretty hard because in my habitat, competition is always there. Everyone's trying their best to make sure they come out as the best sibling. It has always been a daily sight to me even up until now. Because I'm such a soft person, I tend to not care actually and just go with the flow. Now with Hinata, because of the fact that she's also a kind-hearted person who literally cares, she tends to avoid competition. 

One time, when she was a kid, her father made her battle with her younger sister to see if Hinata is ready or strong-willed enough to qualify in being the clan's next heiress. They're battle was going smoothly indeed with each sibling being able to showcase that they're strong enough to not fall easily. That is, until, Hinata was about to land a pretty strong hit on her sister, Hanabi, that her kindness kicked in. Because of that, she didn't land a hit but got an opposing hit from her sister Hanabi instead so she was knocked down. Her father nodded in disappointment. That's when he realized that Hanabi is more qualified to become their clan's next heiress... That's when her father started to not care and lose focus about Hinata, thinking she's not useful anymore.

That same feeling, I've also felt that at one point in my life. At times like these, I tend to feel like a useless bag of garbage and that's what Hinata felt as well. Hinata joined the ninja academy with hopes of being able to get stronger - with hopes of being able to change.

And that's when Naruto kicks in...

Naruto's had his own fair share of bad past and history and that's what Hinata also saw in him. That's when Hinata felt her connection with Naruto. Hinata began looking up to him for her to change. Hinata would see the determination in the training Naruto self-imposed himself to do.

Hinata was still shy and weak-willed in her ninja academy days and it's because of Naruto that started that spark for her to change. But, in the anime, that wasn't proved that much until one fateful day in the Chunin Exams where she had to fight her cousin, Neji Hyuga. Now before that fight, was actually a match between Hinata's team-mate, Kiba versus Naruto. Hinata witnessed Naruto's will to win against Kiba, who put up such a strong fight against Naruto. Hinata, once again, got to see Naruto's way of the ninja in action:

"No way am I ever going to go back on my word, that's my nindo, my ninja way!" - Naruto's "Way of  the Ninja" 

When Hinata's match with Neji ensued, Neji began saying things at Hinata with words that go on the lines of: "You are a failure.", "You have a sad life.", "Once, a failure, always a failure.", "You cannot change who you are, because that's your destiny." as an attempt to make her intimidate and make her think that she won't win against him and that she won't change no matter how she wants herself too. It amplified Hinata's terrified feelings mixed with memories of what happened in her past. It wasn't until, when Naruto, from the watching area shouted these words that will change Hinata composure in an instant:

"Who gave you the right to tell her what she can or can't be! Go on Hinata show this guy he's wrong!!" - Naruto's words to Neji and Hinata.

It was at that moment when Hinata finally came upon to realize that Naruto is right. That she was here to change and that the time has finally come for her to know how much she's grown as a ninja but most importantly, as a person. It's time to finally prove herself, in front of the one she admires the most, how he has made her a stronger person and that she won't runaway. Those words Naruto gave, made her gain this surge of power. Just like me in my life, I, too, want to change who I am for the better and I could've done it without these people I have in my life that help me strive hard to become a better person. These people I have in me help me keep on going and that's how Hinata sees Naruto too - an inspiration, a chance for her to become better!

The fight then started as Hinata tried her best to make sure she wins, but Neji was more on the winning side. Hinata struggled as she fights her cousin but she wasn't able to hit him and at the same time, she was the one getting a few hits from Neji. It went on a few minutes going that way until Hinata was knocked down on the ground because of the hits she received. And oh God, that's when I started crying. Hinata wanted to get back on her feet but she was having so much trouble doing so - she was hurt so bad yet her will, alone, helped slowly stand up. It was just so emotionally painful and it wrenches my heart as she stood up slowly, again, and said...

"I never go back on my word... because, that too, is my nindo... my ninja way!" - Hinata

As soon as Naruto heard that, he was astounded to see at her determination to keep on going. 

She's come so far and she won't let herself look bad in front of Naruto - her inspiration. All those years of always watching Naruto on the sidelines. Now was her chance to show that she is full of courage and that she can keep on going - that she can succeed and that she is worth something. She's always watching him and noticing how he keeps getting better and better. She wanted to catch up with Naruto and stand by his side and to not always be on the back, just simply watching.

She wanted to prove that a "failure" can stand tall.

She literally become a different person on that one fight. She developed into a much more better person. One who won't quit, just like Naruto. I literally cried for the whole episode.

It was a long time since I last cried for a whole Naruto episode and that "whole-episode-crying" made a return on this episode when I watched it last April 29, 2016 - THAT Friday night. Of course there will be no spoilers so I won't be talking about it. But that episode literally gave me the inspiration to start writing this whole post series. I promised myself I won't move on watching another episode if I didn't finish writing this post.

Hinata is truly a person (or a character) that I'm so thankful to Kishimoto for creating. This character taught me lots of things about not giving up no matter what the circumstances are. Hinata became a role model to me - a model to change. Watching Hinata's character development throughout the whole anime series was such a delight to watch. It makes me so proud to know such a person who I admire the most, can change and grow throughout the series. 

I love Hinata to death and I always will.

I'm never gonna get tired saying this again and again. If you haven't started watching Naruto, IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START watching on this amazing series that can literally change you! It's an anime that will never fail to help you become a better person.

I'll leave you all with this quote from her.

"I used to be such a cry baby, always giving up before I even got a chance to start. I almost took the wrong path so many times that I lost count but YOU helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto. I always chased after you, wanting to catch up, wanting to walk with you together forever... You've changed who I am, Naruto. Your smiling face, saved me Naruto." - Hinata