Hinata is the elder daughter of the Hyuga clan head, Hiashi Hyuga, and as the first-born, was the

heiress-apparent to the clan's main house. However, she apparently lost this position to her younger sister Hanabi, as Hinata was deemed a failure by their father because of her lack of self confidence. [4] When she was young she was kidnapped by a head ninja from Kumogakure, who under the guise of striking a peace treaty with Konoha, had actually been sent there to steal the Byakugan. Her father killed the would-be kidnapper to save her, but Kumo demanded compensation in the form of Hiashi's dead body due to having signed a peace treaty with the village only moments before. This ultimately resulted in the death of Hinata's uncle, Hizashi Hyuga, who sacrificed himself in order to protect his clan and village.[5] This incident was particularly significant in shaping Hinata's early relationship with her cousin, Neji Hyuga. HanabiDefeatsHinataHinata and Hanabi sparring. Because of her position as heiress, Hiashi had high expectations for Hinata and subjected her to gruelling training. However, Hinata's slow progress and frailty disheartened her father until eventually, he deemed her a lost cause. Instead, her father 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 Yuhi.[4] Hinata's strained relationship with her father caused her to lose more faith in herself and she would often spend her time alone, crying. It wasn't until she met Naruto Uzumaki that her perception changed drastically. Because Naruto was treated as an outcast by almost everyone in the village, 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. Surprised 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 Naruto later grew into love despite warnings from her elders to stay away from him.[6]