We don’t know an anime fan that hasn’t heard about Naruto, it’s pretty unheard of even amongst casual watchers. The series gave so much to offer, and while the creator never expected it to get so big, it became a staple in the anime community that even outsiders knew the name of. There was a wide variety of colorful characters with heartbreaking or enduring backstories, each being given a chance to develop and bloom. The stories were fresh and new, but also something a lot of us grew up with.

However, there was one character in the series that always seemed to have it really rough and it was none other than Hinata. This poor woman has gone through so much heartache and pain, both physical and emotional, that it’s insane. We love Hinata, but perhaps it’s that tragic background that makes her so wonderful; we get to see the ways that she’s grown and moved beyond her past. As strong as she is, we should remind you all some of the worst things to have happened to her; and no, being married to Naruto isn’t one! Here are some of the worst things to have ever happened to Hinata in the Naruto series!

20 The Passing Of Neji

Neji and Hinata have a troubled past together, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t family to her. Hinata still loved her cousin deeply and his death was certainly one of the hardest things she’d ever had to endure. This happens during the attack of the Ten-Tails; while Hinata is trying to protect Naruto, Neji is also trying to protect her. When he takes the fall from wood projectiles thrown at them, it’s already too late. Though they tried to save his life, Neji already has resigned to his fate. As he passes, he lets Naruto know the significance he’s undertaken and the lives he’s now going to be responsible for, including Hinata’s.

This is perhaps one of the saddest scenes in Naruto.

In addition to being one of the worst things that Hinata has ever had to endure, it is perhaps one of the most emotional scenes in the entire series. In the photo above, everyone is attending a mass funeral for the lives lost, Neji’s included. She endured so much during the battle, trying desperately to help Naruto, but in the end was unable to protect him. There’s a lot of guilt knowing he died protecting her and Hinata already feels guilty for so much in her life.

19 Disinherited As Heiress Of The Hyuga Clan

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When Hinata was young, she was effectively removed as the heiress to the Hyuga clan by her own father. Hiashi was a really rough character in the series and if you’ve watched the show, he’s probably not one of your favorite characters out there. Hinata is a really innocent character, so when it comes to some of the tragedy she’s endured, you might feel a little protective of her. This innocence, however, is exactly why Hiashi decided she was not going to be a good fit as heiress to the clan.

From a very young age, her timid nature and struggle with his training methods made him see her as less than. As her worth plummeted, her sister Hanabi began to excel. She did not have any reservations the way her older sister did and, to their father, this was exactly what was needed to be the head of the clan. In the anime version, the sisters were placed against each other to give Hinata one last chance to prove her worth as heiress. She refused to hurt her younger sister, resolving in her defeat. She was given to Kurenai Yūhi, while Hanabi became the new heiress to the clan.

18 Family Issues

If it wasn’t enough to be later disowned by her own family, namely her father, being abused by them certainly makes it all the more tragic. While under the Hyuga clan’s care, Hiashi was extremely rude to his eldest daughter. Along with feeling that she wasn’t suited to being the heiress of the clan, he continuously voiced his disappointment in her. Were these harsh words really necessary for a kid to hear from their own father? They certainly didn’t help her or change her compassionate nature, that’s for sure.

Of course, this didn’t ever get better considering her father’s usual routine for her.

Hinata was expected to undergo a lot of training, but it was clear that she couldn’t handle it. On more than one occasion, her training sessions looked more like family beat downs than anything else. Hinata has been in some of the most brutal fights and the worst of these seem to be when she’s fighting against her own flesh and blood. We’re glad that Hinata finally found her way out of this family by being taken in by another, but the memories still seem to affect her throughout the series. She really didn’t deserve what happened to her in her very own clan.

17 Feeling Pain

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Perhaps one of the most brutal scenes in Naruto, and the most telling of Naruto’s feelings for Hinata, is when the villain Pain hurts Hinata. Pain was one of the worst villains in the series with a crazed idea of how to bring the world to peace no matter what the cost. During one of the craziest battles with him, Hinata desperately tries to protect Naruto. This is one of the many times she’s done this, only this time Pain makes it seem as though he’s slain her.

As viewers, we never actually see this happen, although the audio and cut scene give us more information than we probably asked for. For fans of Hinata, this was a tense scene where we didn’t know whether or not she was still breathing. All this after she’d finally admitted how she felt about Naruto and sacrificed everything in order to protect and save him. In return, Naruto loses control of himself, revealing his Six-Tails form. While Hinata did survive the attack from Pain, this was one of her greatest scenes that showed just how much she was willing to endure for someone she cared about. In this scene was saw a new kind of strength in her.

16 Losing To Neji In The Chunin Exams

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The Chunin Exams are known for being extremely rigorous for anyone attempting to take them. This arc was one of Hinata’s greatest strong points that proved to use some of her resilience. However, that confidence would soon be challenged when she was placed against her own cousin in a match. After passing the second stage of their exams, Hinata watches as her friends Kiba and Naruto are placed against each other. Naruto, of course, wins and Kiba is deemed the loser. He asks her to forfeit her match because she would be placed against either the Gaara or Neji. When she inevitably gets placed against her cousin, we know it’s about to be an emotional fight.

It gets a little too real in this battle.

Neji is a member of the Hyuga clan, but he hates the members of the main house which seems to include Hinata at first. He suggests that she listens to Kiba’s advice and verbally abuses her, much like her father did, by telling her that she is destined to always be a failure. She’s encouraged by Naruto to continue fighting, however Neji and Hinata’s fight eventually turns deadly and causes her to sustain severe injuries to her organs. For her, it seemed like the physical pain was nothing compared to her losing.

15 Naruto Leaving The Village

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When Naruto leaves the village, Hinata is, understandably, upset. We know that she has feelings for him, but it’s a little more than that. Naruto has been a dear friend to her and has always been kind. When Hinata has gone through so much, at the very least she had him. It’s sad and extremely discouraging, but we know he isn’t gone for good. Still, we see how disappointed she is.

Naruto leaves the village to train with Jiraiya for several years in order to improve. He vows that he will work extremely hard and she is forced to watch as he departs. It’s certainly one of the smaller things that has happened to Hinata in the overall series, but it was also very significant for her. When she sees him, two-and-a-half years later, she’s so embarrassed to see him she actually screams. In fact, she gets so worked up when he finds her that she actually collapses. Hey, it’s a lot to take in when she wasn’t expecting him to come back that day! In that moment, we probably all felt our shipping hearts beat fast because it made that separation worth it! We’re just glad that, in the end, everything worked out in the best way possible for these two.

14 Naruto Not Acknowledging Her

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The dream ship has always been there, of course. As the viewers, we know how Hinata felt about Naruto, but considering his personality, it was very likely that he wasn’t going to catch on unless she spelled it out to him. Naruto can be really smart in some instances, but romance probably isn’t his strong suit. Hinata has cared and doted over Naruto for years before she even got the courage to say anything. Even then, it took a life or death situation to really motivate her.

A girl might like you, you just have to be equally aware of it.

While it wasn’t really Naruto’s fault that he didn’t notice Hinata’s feelings towards him, that pain probably didn’t go away. It never feels good to think that your crush might not like you back or ever acknowledge you. Especially when your crush wants to become the next Hokage. That’s a big dream, will they even have time to date? Now that the original series is over, we know these two do eventually get together and the heartache was a little bit worth it, but that doesn’t change how it felt at the time. Poor Hinata had to go through more than your average person, but small issues like this also didn’t help.

13 Watching Naruto Getting Beat By Neji

Via: http://naruto.wikia.com

During the Chunin Exams, and after being brutally beaten by her cousin in combat, Hinata decides that she is going to watch the battle between Naruto and Neji. Really, this isn’t the brightest idea she’s ever had in the series, but we get the sentiment. Because Naruto cheered her and heavily empowered her when Neji and friends continued to knock her down, telling her that there was no way she was going to win, she felt she should at least do the same for him. This is after Naruto confides in her that he feels he might not be able to beat Neji in their battle. Much like he originally tells her, she comforts him in saying that it’s about him continuing to try until he overcomes it. He tells her that he thought she was weird, but was actually wrong and that he likes her.

It’s such a touching moment, but it only makes the actual battle that much worse. Hinata has only just recovered from her battle with Neji, which has taken around a month at this point. Despite all that progress, when she sees the blows Neji deals Naruto, her wounds open back up and begin to bleed. The stress and bleeding leaves Hinata unconscious and she is unable to see the end of the battle, a huge disappointment to her.

12 Going Blind

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A lot of people who haven’t watched Naruto, or perhaps have only gotten so far, often wonder if Hinata is blind because of her white eyes. Fans will know that these are actually just the looks of her nobility and being a part of the Hyuga clan. There is, however, a time where Hinata does not have her eyesight. Yet again, this comes from her troubling past as a daughter of Hiashi and his extremely rough treatment of her. While away, he leaves Neji in charge of her training. During these intense training sessions, her eyesight is strained and she loses it momentarily. Being put on bedrest, we see Hinata struggle without her sight as bandages cover her face.

This does give us one of the most tender scenes between Neji and Hinata.

While this is one of the sadder parts we see of Hinata’s previous life, we do actually get something good out of it. There is a heartbreaking scene where Neji comes to visit her and helps her make tea. He remains silent so that she feels the confidence of doing it herself. When she asks if someone is there, he stays quiet and watches over her. He even goes out with Naruto and Sakura to try and find a plant that would help her eyes recover faster. While this did not happen, she eventually found out and told them how grateful she was.

11 Being In The Shadow Of Her Sister

Via: http://naruto.wikia.com

Hanabi genuinely loves her sister, which makes this entry all the more heartbreaking. We know that Hinata was called weak by her father, continuously attacked, and eventually disinherited as the heiress of the Hyuga clan. The title was given to her younger sister, Hanabi, who was considered a stronger candidate. Despite this, Hanabi had always really admired her older sister and the kindness she had in her heart, the very kindness that made their father question her ability to lead. When the two sisters are pitted against each other, in the anime series, Hinata choose to lose rather than hurt her younger sister. Hanabi hates that she has to fight Hinata, but wins the fight anyways.

Losing to your younger sibling really has to suck, but it’s not the worst part about this fact. The two clearly care about each other and have a relatively good sibling bond, but we see that there’s a little bit of trouble considering who their family is. Hinata struggles with her confidence and it’s in part because of her family’s treatment towards her. We can only imagine how it feels to be the older sister and considered the weaker of the two, despite it really being her kindness.

10 Back To School

Via: http://naruto.wikia.com

Being on a team with both Kiba and Naruto already has its own set of issues, but Hinata faces a certain tragedy because of their team. Because of a low success rate in their ninja missions, Tsunade decides to have them team up for one last chance to make it up. Should they fail, the price is gruesome; they have to go back to the academy. The three of them simply imagine what life would be like if they had to go back to school, and it’s not a pretty sight.

Finding buried treasure or it’s back to school!

This leads them to find a missing treasure; that should be easy right? Wrong. Kiba and Naruto can’t seem to keep it together for more than five minutes as they continue to argue about how to handle the mission and, to make things worse, Hinata ends up hurting her ankle. This also results in the kidnapping of both Hinata and Naruto, while also being copied by a mysterious ninja. This sounds like the worst kind of mission ever, but luckily our heroes didn’t have to go back to the academy. Lucky them. We’re just sorry Hinata had to go through that in the first place.

9 Having Confidence Issues

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As watchers of the show, we see Hinata go through a lot of stuff and come out the other side just a little bit stronger. It doesn’t make it any less hard to watch, but it is true that we see her overcome a lot of abuse and trauma that she never really deserved. That being said, one of the biggest obstacles in Hinata’s way is often herself. We see her struggle with a lot of self-confidence issues that are really heartbreaking to viewers. Yet, we understand why she has them in the first place.

The characters in Naruto go through countless battles and being beaten as a ninja is almost expected because it’s just a part of the job. But Hinata is a part of one of the most important clans in the series’ universe, with a title her own family felt she could never live up to. From the terrible treatment she faced while she was directly involved with her family to the aftermath that continued to happen even after she was disinherited, we see her begin to question herself of feel lowly. While this is one of the hardest things we see Hinata constantly go through, we also see her gain confidence and find ways to beat the self-doubt. It’s an amazing accomplishment for character development and perhaps one of the reasons she has so many fans.

8 The Passing Of Asuma

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Asuma and Hinata had one obvious tie together that made his death simply heart breaking, Kurenai Yūhi. Kurenai was his spouse and she was also the one to take in Hinata after being disowned by the Hyuga clan. Hinata cared deeply for Kurenai and looked up to her. It only made it harder to know that she was pregnant with his daughter, revealed to us in Part II. Asuma was a great character, and while Hinata didn’t have a huge relationship with him directly, she saw how this impacted someone she cared about.

Kurenai would have to be a single mother, raising their daughter Mirai all on her own.

Hinata would watch as Kurenai became a single mother who would have to deal with a lot of different pressures to ensure that Mirai would grow up to be a decent human being, which worked well. Her entire demeanor was like a big sister and she cared for those she taught immensely. It hurts to know that Asuma is gone from us for good, and the funeral scene where Kurenai lays flowers on his grave is heartbreaking. But, we’re glad that there was still a bright future for both his spouse and child. We’re sure Hinata feels that same relief as well.

7 When Naruto “Leaves”

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No one would ever think that Naruto, the hero of our hearts, could die. Before Kinshiki and Momoshiki capture Naruto, the moment we see him begin to fight them. At this point, Hinata has evacuated with her young daughter. We see a heartbreaking scene where Boruto sees his father turning to say something. Maybe his last words perhaps? Boruto screams out to his father, but it’s too late. Naruto is gone. On several occasions, we’ve thought Naruto to be dead. This time was no different.

Each time we think Naruto is dead, Hinata’s heart pretty much breaks. Not to mention that prior to this, Boruto confronts her about his feelings towards his father. Being the Hokage is a very difficult job and sometimes you miss really important things in your own life. Hinata tries to explain this to her son, but his anger is over the moon. To see that both her son and husband are stuck in battle, while she is with her youngest daughter is purely traumatizing. She feels unable to do anything for a moment; a moment where there’s an important connection between father and son. Eventually, she does go after them, but watching this happen had to have been awful for her.

6 Expectations Of Being A Ninja

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We’re not really sure what Hinata wanted to originally do with her life, other than lead something relatively normal. The unfortunate truth is that she had an expectation placed upon her before she was even born. Whether she was going to be the heiress or not, she was certainly going to become a ninja one way or another. There’s a scene in the Boruto series, where her son asks her why she wanted to become a ninja in the first place. She responds with this answer that tells us it was an expectation, not so much a dream.

When you’ve never been allowed to choose your fate, how do you know what your dream is?

We know that Hinata has goals and dreams. When she’s been disinherited and given up on by her own family, we see her want to improve shine. She doesn’t want to always feel weak and she wants to prove to everyone, but especially herself, that she’s changed. Being a ninja became that for her, even if we’re not so sure that was really her end goal. It’s sad to think that we don’t truly know what Hinata really wanted for her life, but in Boruto, she seems pretty happy with her family life and proud of what she’s been through as a ninja.

5 Fighting Kinshiki And Momoshiki

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Kinshiki and Momoshiki appear in Boruto during one of the most family-intense scenes this franchise has seen. Before their arrival, Hinata, Naruto and their daughter Himawari are watching the final rounds of the Chunin Exams; Boruto has made it this far and is proud to stand in front of his family. However, before the battle begins, Naruto asks Hinata to watch their son with her Byakugan. She sees him using the prohibited device known as a Kote and is extremely disappointed in her son. Naruto has no other choice but to disqualify his own child. Remember how some parents would say, “I’m not mad, just disappointed?” It’s a little like that, only in an anime about ninjas.

Immediately, the stadium was attacked by these two ghoulish figures. Hinata rushes out at first until she finds out that they’ve captured her husband, leaving her to run right back into the fray. When she chases after them, desperately trying to fight them and get Naruto back, she’s gravely injured. Nothing feels worse than knowing two baddies just took your husband and have injured you to the point that you can’t do anything. Luckily, Boruto decides he’s going to go after them to save his dad, and after some hesistation, Hinata decides to believe in their son.

4 Kumogakure Kidnapping Her

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When Kumogakure and Konohagakure were at war, around nine years before the events in Naruto starts, there was an idea put into place for a chance at peace. No one wanted the fighting to continue, so it was agreed upon that they would sign a peace treaty. The date set for the signing just so happened to also be the day of Hinata’s third birthday; a little too much of a coincidence, don’t you think? The whole treaty was really a ploy to kidnap the eldest daughter and try to steal the Byakugan.

Being kidnapped as a child is terrifying. 

This would later be known as the Hyuga Affair, an incident which Hiashi seems to blame Hinata for, in a way. Being kidnapped, in general, is a really rough thing for a three-year-old kid to go through. But Hiashi is always way too hard on Hinata. There’s probably still a lot of guilt for what happened on that day, but it feels like because Hinata is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, she was always in harm’s way because of her bloodline. This may not have been the worst thing she had to endure during her childhood, but it was certainly one of the more serious moments.

3 Bullied For Her Eyes

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Sometimes, when people know little to nothing about the series, Hinata’s appearance has been confused for blindness. Because we don’t often see any kind of expression in them and they’re pure white, it’s no wonder why people might think this at first glance. However, this is purely the look that her clan holds and, as a noble of the Hyuga clan, she would have had these eyes regardless. That being said, her interesting eyes have always caused her a little bit of trouble. Certainly, she’s been bullied because of them.

In fact, on the day that she enrolls into Konoha's Academy, we see that three bullies single her out because of her unusual looks. They point out her eyes and how strange she looks, eventually noting that she’s a noble. They tell her she should show them her Byakugan and, if she fails to, she shouldn’t show her face around there again. They call her a creepy monster, teasing her for her looks. But just when we think it couldn’t get any worse, Naruto comes to her rescue. This is the first time they meet. While her looks are attached to her bloodline as a Hyuga, something that can bring painful memories for her, it’s still a part of who she is as a person and we wouldn’t want Hinata any other way.

2 Watching Gaara Take Out Team Shigure

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Whenever you’re told that you’ll be entering a place called the Forest of Death, it’s safe to assume that you’re probably not going to have a good time. Maybe you should take a raincheck on that friend who invited you. As part of the Chunin exams, Hinata has to enter the forest in order to obtain two scrolls. While Team 8 was successful in getting their second scroll, one of the most horrific things happens on their way to the center of the forest where they are supposed to be turning in their scrolls.

His eyeliner game is still strong though.

Gaara was originally an incredibly scary character. We later see him go from foe to friend, but not after dealing with a lot of his edgy issues ahead of time. While he and Naruto share a lot in common, both were very different in their outlooks on life. Gaara was meant to be a weapon and has killed dozens of people. That being said, when we encounter him in the Forest of Death, it’s a pretty traumatic scene for Hinata. Gaara attack of Team Shigure almost effortlessly. Everyone waits to see if he’ll hurt them too, but he doesn’t. While we know Gaara changes in the future, it doesn’t make this scene any less traumatic for viewers or Hinata.

1 No Mention Of Her Mother (Only Mentioned Once)

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Throughout the entire series, we almost never hear about the woman who gave birth to both Hinata and Hanabi. There is really only one mention of her and then pure silence for the rest of the time that we know the Hyuga clan. All we really ever see is a photo of her and the knowledge that she was a kind person. We’re not sure if this was a developmental error in the series’ creation or if she’s left out on purpose, but it is seriously one of the worst things about the Hyuga clan in general.

There is little to no information on this woman anywhere, so we can hardly imagine what Hinata’s knowledge of her is. Certainly, from the photographic evidence, she looks like she would be a kind person and bares a similar look to both her daughter’s. That being said, being married to Hiashi must have been a real thorn in the side. While we don’t know much about her, we do know that Hinata hoped to be like her in kindness while also being strong like her father. We can assume that her mother is no longer with us through the clues given by Hinata, and when a character grows up with the loss of a parent, it’s never easy.