During those three weeks of Hinata's arrest, Neji has been visiting her almost every day. Of course she cried here and there; the women were scary, the food was disgusting, the cell was tight and damp, and she had a bipolar roommate that made death threats towards her everyday. Not to mention the weekly checkups; where they stripped the women of their clothing to check if they carried any weapons or items.

She prayed every night, swearing that she would never do a criminal act again if she was able to leave this hell hole one way or another. Every passing day felt longer, and the nights felt as if they dragged on forever.

But today was the day. Today she would have to go to court, today would be the day they prove her guilty or not guilty.

°·°·°·°·°·°·°·°·°

"Hinata Hyuga." A prison guard called for her as he approached her jail cell.

She quickly raised her head, waiting for this moment since the day she was emitted into this place.

"Lets go."

He opened the gate to her cell, and waited for her to get out, but putting handcuffs on her right after.

"HA! Lucky bitch!" one of the prisoners snarled at her.

"Don't worry, you'll be back." another one said; wicked snickering was heard straight after. "Yeah, don't think you're safe yet tramp!" A third woman's voiced echoed through the female facility as the door closed behind her, and she was finally out, exiting the prison.

"I would rather die than go back to you bitches." Hinata mumbled under her breath.

The car ride was pretty short, much to Hinata's disappointment and relief. This day has a bitter-sweet feeling to it, but there's more bitterness than there is sweet. She knowns she's guilty, but she can't help but feel that she might be able to go home free.

She was led out of the car to be met by her lawyer, Shikaku, and they walked into the large storied building. They went down many halls, go up a fairly amount of stairs, round corners, and walked past a few rooms.

The duo approached a large wooden door and entered it; there, they released her of her handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists once she was freed of the metaled contraption.

Hinata looked around, noticing a table and chairs seated for two; the plain brown walls held one small window on the far back of the room.

Shikaku sat comfortably in one of the chairs, but stared intently at Hinata; his hands were clasped together while he buried his face into them, staring deep in thought.

"What is it?" she asked confused.

"..."

The silence in the room only deepening her nerves as cold sweat ran from her brow.

"Did you kill that man, Hinata?"

The questioned made her heart race, her mouth suddenly felt dry, and she gulped at nothing.

"Hinata, it is important that I know the answer to this question."

She shook her head violently.

"Y-you're supposed to be on my side." she quivered.

"I am, but I need to know if you are innocent."

She shook her head again, fearing that he might go against her, but that wouldn't make sense..he is her lawyer after all.

She stared teary-eyed at him, her mouth opened and closed for a good minute, thinking if she should lie.. again.

"I..."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, silently waiting for her to finally speak.

"I did. I killed him." she whispered.

"...Okay."

'Okay?' she thought. Did he not hear her. She practically murdered a man and he says "okay" like it was just another casual conversation.

"But!-" she tried to protest, but was cut off by his hand.

"I'm your lawyer, even if you did or didn't, it's my job to prove that you are innocent." he looked at his watched then back at her. "Now I heard that the lawyer for the Nagatomi's family is an old friend of mine. He's good, almost as good as me, so you need to be prepared. We have about ten minutes before you are taken to the stand, do you have your story laid out in your head?"

The sudden realization that her life was on the line in less than ten minutes frightened her.

"I.. I was headed t-o the libr-"

"No!" he shouted, which scared her greatly, if her sudden jump was anything to go by.

"You need to sound sure of yourself, you can't choke under pressure, you need to let them feed into your lie, but at the same time, being too confident is also a little suspicious. Sound like you are talking to someone you know, and make it so that it is believable. Your facial expression, the way you sit, make it convincing; that is what you call the perfect lie."

She felt weird that she was oddly motivated to create the "perfect lie" she was to perform.

"Say it again."

She took a deep breath, and stared hard into his eyes, determined for her new-found lie. She stiffened in her seat and sat up straight.

"I was headed to the library-"

"No. Again, you were trying way too hard, relax Hinata."

She took another deep breath and slightly slouched a little to let her muscles relax. She shifted in her seat so that she would sit more comfortably.

"I was headed towards the library-"

"Again."

"What did I do wrong this time?" she asked agitated.

"You sounded as if you were being too persuasive. Hinata trust me on this, try again." he said the last part slowly to reassure her.

She relaxed once again in her seat, she let her arms lay on the table neatly and stated her story again, only to be cut off once more and be told to restate her side of the story.

>>>

Ten minutes later, Hinata was finally finishing up her story without being interrupted for the first time.

"-and that's when I heard the gunshots. I quickly shoved the book in my pocket and-"

There, in came two guards to tell them that it was time. Hinata's heart pounded in her chest once again and she could feel her legs turn to jelly as she tried to stand. She quickly turned to Shikaku and quietly whispered to him.

"I didn't finish. I-"

"Don't worry.. You're ready." he smiled softly towards the quivering girl.

They walked out the door, each guard holding onto her arm in case she tried to do anything. They walked down the large hall, the sounds of each of their shoes squeaked along the slick clean floor and bounced off the walls, creating an annoying echo.

They were met with two big wooden doors. Hinata's steps stopped as she felt dizzy, but one of the guards slightly jerked her arm forward indicating for her to continue walking.

Soon enough, they had made it through the doors and into the large room. All eyes were on her. They stared and judged her with their eyes, silently intimidating her. She saw the eyes of her friends; all sitting in the front row.

And then...the eyes of her father, Hanabi and Neji sitting right next to him.

He stared hard into her soul. His eyes were long gone of the disappointed gaze; he was pissed. She could see the regret he held within them. It was as if she knew exactly what he was saying through the eye-contact; he told her with his eyes how much he regretted having a child like her.

She knew for sure that was what he was thinking, and although she never truly liked her father, his gaze stung her already guilty heart.

She looked forward, as she was lead to her table; her and Shikaku sat down.

She couldn't possibly count the various times she had cried since she had gotten here; and now is another moment where her tears would wash over her face and coat her slightly redden cheeks.

"Hinata!" Shikaku whispered/shouted. Her head snapped towards his direction, her tear-stained eyes watched him with curiosity.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but please wipe your eyes and stop crying."

She gave him an angry expression and was close to opening her mouth until he had cut her off.

"It makes you look guilty, and the trial didn't even start yet." her face held some understanding to his words, so she quickly wiped her eyes, and sat quietly.

Moments later the quiet mumbles and whispering turned into audible conversations which made Hinata anxious as the topic of most where aimed at her. She slightly flinched in her seat when she heard a voice say, "She must be an embarrassment to her family." She could say that she felt a sudden twitch in her heart, but that would be an understatement. She felt the ache and burning sensation of her heart falling into pieces as they shattered and fallen to the pit of her stomach.

The courtroom went quiet after the erupted sounds of the judge's gabble echoed for silence.

The man coughed and he sat down in his seat.

"Trial case number 273, Hinata Hyuga suspected as the murderer of Yurio Nagatomi, now in session."

"Hyuga..? Why is it always something with this family?" the judge stated. "Anyways.. I'm judge James, and I see that you, Hinata Hyuga, is the prime suspect to killing Mr.Nagatomi. It says here in your statement that you were at the scene, but once you heard the gunshots, you bolted and ran away. Okay let's get this started."

The Nagatomi lawyer went first. He walked towards Hinata's face and stared coldly at her, as if knowing that she was responsible- although she was, but still.

The man was tall, and blonde. His hair was in a thick, long ponytail that reach past his shoulders. His features were well defined, and he looked threatening. Hinata scrunched up her face confusedly.

'He looks familiar..like someone I know..' she contemplated.

'Ino!' she then widen her eyes in shock.

Yes; that man was Ino's father.

Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Do not let her looks deceive you. She may look like just another innocent teen that was frighten and scared, but I will have you know that statistics show that the percentage of teens who commit homicides are over 80%. This is nothing new people, and she's just another one of those teens who have been corrupted with violence-"

"Objection!" Shikaku called out. "We all don't know for sure if she was the one that even killed that man. That is why we are all here."

"Well.. Not yet anyways." the blonde man stated.

Hinata looked towards the jury, all nodding their heads of agreement as if they knew as well. Hinata shrunk in her seat, hoping to melt into it and disappear from it all.

"Continue Inoichi." the judge said.

"Like as I was saying before, this is a common act, almost too common and just because she is a teen, doesn't mean we can't take this lightly. There is a family here that wants something to be done about this."

"Well how can something be done if we don't truly know who has done it. Trust me, I agree with you, but we can't go on a bunch of assumptions; and just because she is the only suspect doesn't mean she is the one that had did anything."

"Objection- she is the only suspect because she was the only one that was caught. Your honor, I ask Hinata Hyuga herself to the stand."

Her heart raced for the hundredth time that day, and now she was finally going to take the stand.

"So, we all want to know your full statement on the matter..so what happen?"

She never broke eye contact with the older male, her facial expression was soft and relaxing as if everyone in the room was her friend, her posture was relaxed, but not too comfortable, and she had placed her hands neatly in her lap.

Yes, she was ready.

"You see, I was headed directly towards the library. It was around nine or so in the evening, and I was returning a book. While headed there, I was about to cross the street when I heard three gunshots." her face turned frighted, tricking her audience into thinking she wasn't the source of the action. She then quicken her voice in a hasty manner making it seem like she was a victim. "That's when I shoved the book in my pocket and ran away. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible."

Inoichi eyed her for a good second before asking her another question.

"So, you say that you were returning a book..but you see I went to that same library and they told me that you haven't been there for a whole year; care to explain that?"

A few quiet gasps echoed the room.

Hinata stiffened in her seat. She haven't once thought about checking with the library to see when was actually her last visit.

"Objection! She could have been returning a book from a long time ago. You could return an overdue book at anytime, but you will be charged for fines for that said book. Most library policies say that if a book is overdue for over forty days, then the book itself is considered missing and the person could not borrow another one until that one is found, so technically she could not go to the library for a whole year, but still return the book once found.."

"Overruled.." the judge said towards the Yamanaka.

Hinata was very grateful to have Shikaku as a lawyer right now...

But it's not over yet.

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°°~°~°~°~°~°~°

Finally,another chapter finished although it took me almost a whole month... Sorry guysss 😭😭😭😭

Anyways till next time
~Naru-Hina4life