A really random idea I had at 3 in the damn morning -_-
But I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto :(
The light was far too bright. So bright, in fact, that Naruto had to hold an arm in front of his eyes to avoid being almost blinded. There was something eerie about the atmosphere, almost as though a thick, heavy mist had settled, but he could still see ahead of him clearly. He had no idea where he was, but there was something very, very dangerous about this place.
He tried to step forwards, but his legs felt as though they were made of lead. Even when he did manage to move, his movements felt strangely restricted, as though he was trying to walk through a giant vat of syrup.
The thought of using a jutsu or even any chakra didn't occur to him, and just as he was about to call out to see if anyone else was here, he saw it.
The misty substance, which he was unsure of at first, began to change, curling and thickening to form a figure a few feet in front of him.
He watched as the figure became slender and grew curves, starting to look a lot like...
...like Hinata.
Even though she was standing with her back to him, he could easily tell it was her. But... why?
"... Hinata?"
She started to walk forwards, away from him.
"Hey, Hinata? Why are you...?"
Why was she ignoring him? She'd clearly heard him the first time, and now she was walking away?
"Hinata! Why are you ignoring me?"
The mist figure stopped in its tracks. Slowly, ever so slowly, it began to turn around. Once it was fully facing him, Naruto gasped in shock.
He hadn't been wrong in assuming that it was Hinata. It was definitely her, but something was wrong. She seemed to be made up of liquid silver, though almost completely weightless and emitting a soft, faint glow. Her hair gently moved around her shoulders, as though there was a soft breeze weaving through it, but Naruto knew there wasn't. She looked beautiful, ethereal, and although there was a gentle expression on her face, something about her was absolutely terrifying.
She smiled at him, turned back around, and began to walk away again.
"Hinata! Wait, where are you going? W-what is this place?"
But Hinata kept on walking, and Naruto realized that she couldn't hear him, because there was no way that she would ignore him, ignore anyone, when they were speaking to her.
"Wait for me! Hinata just – just hold on!" he cried, desperately trying to catch up to her, but feeling as though he was going at snail's pace.
"Don't bother," a voice suddenly said, echoing deeply around the place. Naruto froze. That voice... it wasn't Hinata's...
... it was his own.
"What happens when you catch up with her?" the voice asked. "What will you do then?"
'That's not me,' Naruto thought, shaking his head frantically in a feeble attempt to get the voice out of his mind. 'It's my voice, but it's... it's not...'
"You'll ask her where you are, what you're doing here," the voice answered for him. "And once you get your answer, you'll go home together. Then what?" it asked in an almost teasing manner.
Naruto kept shaking his head, realizing that the voice was now echoing inside his own mind. He clutched his own hair and pulled hard, trying hard to ignore it.
"Face it," the voice said suddenly, "there's nothing you can give her. A girl like her, who's strong, smart, beautiful, independent... with a guy like you? The number one, hyperactive, knucklehead ninja? That's what they all call you, isn't it? Someone as stupid as you, with someone as intelligent as her?"
The voice began to laugh.
'Shut up,' Naruto thought, 'shut the hell up!'
"She deserves someone who can give the world to her, and more. Someone whole, someone of the same class as her. Face it, you're completely out of her league – "
Naruto let out a roar of frustration. "Shut UP!" he yelled into the mist.
And it was then that he noticed it. While he'd been having this internal battle with himself, Hinata had been walking ahead of him the entire time, and was now almost completely out of his sight. He desperately tried to run after her, but it was no use, as he remembered that he couldn't move normally. Still, he tried his hardest to move forward in an attempt to run after her, calling out her name in the hope that although she couldn't hear him, the sound of him calling her name would somehow reach her and she'd stop, turn around, smile and hold out her hand for him...
But no such thing happened. He started to yell, started to scream, and almost tore his hair out, but Hinata continued to walk on and on until he couldn't see her anymore –
Naruto woke with a start.
Eyes wide open and panting heavily, his mind set into a state of panic as he blindly felt the sheets next to him, trying to find Hinata. His hands landed on her waist, and he let out a deep sigh of relief, pulling her close to his body and holding her tightly.
She's here, he thought, threading his fingers through her hair, she's still here.
Hinata, being a light sleeper, had woken up due to Naruto's display of panic, and she tilted her head up to look at him.
"...Naruto?"
He looked down at her, and the first thing she noticed was she fading expression of terror on his face.
"Hey," she whispered gently, pulling away so she could turn over and switch a lamp on, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he breathed, placing an arm over his forehead and then rubbing some of the sleep out of his eyes. "Nothing just... just come here, please."
Hinata switched the lamp back off and settled down beneath the covers again, turning to face Naruto. Something was wrong, she knew it, but he didn't want to tell her right now, and she was just fine with that. She knew her husband well enough to know that whatever was troubling him, he'd tell her in his own time, and she most definitely wasn't going to beg him to tell her when he clearly wasn't ready to.
Sighing, Naruto turned over to Hinata and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist once more, burying his face into her chest while desperately fighting the urge to cry.
Because Hinata was everything to him. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her, or of her leaving him. She completed him, made him feel happier than he ever thought he could be, and... she was like the centre of his whole universe. His whole life revolved around her, and if she were to ever just... disappear... the very thought was enough to make tears sting the corners of his eyes.
Hinata threaded her fingers through his soft blond hair and laid a kiss on top of his head. She stroked his hair slowly, gently, until she heard the familiar soft snores that told her he had fallen asleep again.
The next morning, Hinata woke up alone.
Naruto had left for work a couple of hours earlier. Apparently being Hokage meant sacrificing a lot of things, including sleeping in with your wife on a Sunday morning. She swung her legs out of bed, and after fighting a sudden wave of nausea, got herself dressed and ready for the day.
Throughout the day, Naruto remained in the back of Hinata's mind. In fact, he was always in her mind, but today she was especially concerned. If he was still like this when he got home... how would she tell him...
When she heard the key turn in the lock on their front door at 11:52pm that night, she jumped up from her spot on the couch to greet him with a big but nervous smile on her face. He kissed her on the forehead in greeting, and glanced towards the kitchen.
"Welcome home," she said happily, taking his cloak and jacket and hanging them up. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving," he groaned, slumping down onto one of the kitchen stools. Hinata smiled again.
"Well that's good, because I made you some ramen," she said, setting it down in front of him before filling up a bowl for herself.
Sitting down next to him, she glanced at his bowl as she realized that something was still wrong. Normally he'd be almost halfway through his bowl right now, but he hadn't even touched it. Instead, he was staring intently at her, wearing the same worried expression he had last night.
"Naruto," Hinata said softly, cupping his cheek in her hand, "what's wrong?"
He placed his own hand over hers, and kissed it gently before taking her hand between both of his.
"Hinata... just... just promise me something."
"Yeah?"
He suddenly pulled her into a tight, desperate hug. "Don't leave me," he said, burying his face into her shoulder, "don't... please don't leave me."
Hinata kissed the side of his face and pulled back to look at him. There were tears swimming in his eyes, and although he looked down into his lap so that she wouldn't see, the sight of him looking so distraught, so helpless, made tears form in the corners of her own eyes.
"Hey," she whispered, cupping his face in her hand again and stroking his cheek, "I'm not going to leave you! What on earth gave you that idea?"
"I just – I don't know... I had a nightmare..." he said, immediately feeling stupid and trying hard to blink the tears away.
"Naruto..." Hinata pulled him into another hug. "I love you. And I'm not going to leave you, I promise," she said, rubbing his back gently to soothe him.
He hugged her back, tighter than before, and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too. I love you so much..."
They remained in a tight embrace for a while, until Naruto decided that it would be a pity to let the ramen go cold, and so began to eat it with as much enthusiasm as he usually did. When he'd finished, Hinata looked at him with the same nervous expression she was wearing when he'd walked through the door. She took his hands in hers and bit her bottom lip nervously, and took a deep breath. "I've got a surprise for you."
Naruto grinned. All previous expressions of doubt and worry were gone from his face, and were replaced with the usual cheerful expression he always had.
"What is it?"
She placed one of his hands over her stomach. "I'm pregnant."
And the tears that had collected in both of their eyes from earlier on finally fell, this time as tears of happiness.
Not too sure how I feel about the ending, but I had a lot of fun writing this anyway. Hope you enjoyed!
Reviewww! :D