As the Sun Rises
Written by BokchoiBaboy
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto
A/N: Okay. Not sure if this is going to continue on, because I know I left many things hanging at the end and I could easily make it into a full on story. Just let me know if you want a continuation, and I'll be happy to close up all the loose ends and make a story. (:
And, usually I'd just stick this in Intertwined, but why the heck not.
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It's the little things between us that make every little moment count.
Everything between that's stuck between happiness and despair.
That is our love.
Our love...
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"...Hurry..."
Dark, faded moonlight penetrated through the thick, forest canopy, providing the forest a small source of light during the middle of night. Around the forest there was only silence and the constant sound of rain hitting the leaves and the muddy floor; there were no late birds chirping or any toads croaking. A pale woman of dark, wine hair lay covered in mud from head to toe, her lavender orbs staring at her eldest daughter with utter love and despair.
"It's not that far, dear. You can make it."
The young girl before her stared at her in horror, her salty tears mixing in with the even saltier rain. Her short, purple hair glistened under the faded moonlight from the dampness, the lavender orbs that she had inherited from her mother fearfully staring at her mother's tired body and soul.
"Mom...I don't know where to go," she whispered into the forest night.
Her tired mother let off a tiny smile as she tried to stand, but fell down once more. The extravagant robes covering her body were now completely covered in mood, the expensive, silken fabrics ruined from the dirty particles. Her beautiful, pale face, too, was covered in thick mud, her wine locks plastered together by the heavy mud.
"Just follow the path, dear. Do not worry. There will be someone to pick you up when you had gone far enough. Use the strength that I have taught you if you must fight. Go. I will cover for you, please."
The short, twelve-year-old spared her mother one last glance before quickly turning away.
"I love you, Mom!"
Her tiny, fragile voice echoed through the woods as she raced as far away as she could, her lavender orbs frantically searching for the path that her mother had talked about. Her short legs continued to run in the same direction, her body becoming heavy from the constant rain and the weight of mud on her shoes.
"I love you, too!"
The girl's face became even wetter from her waterfall of tears as she heard her mother's last shout echo through the woods. After, there was a shriek, and nothing more.
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"How could you have lost her?!"
A loud, booming baritone echoed through the cold walls of the headquarters, pallid orbs coldly staring at the darkness before them. There was a swift sound of bodies hitting the floor in respectful bows, muffled voices echoing off the cold, concrete floors.
"She is a twelve-year-old child running through the forest, with no skills whatsoever!"
There was another loud boom as a heavy, masculine body jumped into a standing position, cold, pale hands formed in tight fists. Every man before this all-powerful figure shivered in dismay, hoping to be spared and given mercy.
"You good-for-nothings!"
Amidst the bowing bodies, one of them quietly got up, their dark lips formed in a playful grin.
"Forgive me, Hiashi-sama," his playful voice said, "but perhaps you are the good-for-nothing here."
The all-powerful man let off a raging roar, but before he was able to place his hands on the traitor, he was only met with a quick flash of yellow.
"Damn it! Find the traitor and bring me back his head!"
There was another rush of legs tapping against the concrete as they swiftly made their way outside into the downpour. The man carelessly sat down on his cushioned chair as he punched the wall next to him in anger, the wall nearly breaking apart into crumbles. His fist was unharmed as his cold eyes glared through the cracks in the wall.
"That damned man was on to me," he whispered through grit teeth.
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The girl collapsed on the damp forest floor, her chest heaving swiftly as she struggled to catch her breath. Her sweat had mixed in with the rain, making her soft, pale skin feel damper and more slippery beyond comfort. Her lavender eyes struggled to remain open, their vision hazy and blurry as her eyelids began to droop closed.
"Mom, I'm sorry," she managed to whisper through tired huffs of breath, "I can't make it."
"Giving up is no good, you know that?"
The girl would have jumped up in surprise and would have run deeper into the forest for cover had she any strength, but instead she was left to helplessly stare at a strange, blond boy, looking at her with deep cerulean eyes that matched the sky on the most beautiful of days. He seemed to be a head taller than her, and around her age, his skin tan and toned.
"I..."
The girl was knocked senseless by nothing more than the boy's kindness and his eyes. All her life she had only seen white, pearl, pallid, and lavender orbs around her, and, in rare times, quick flashes of chestnut or brown orbs. All her life her father had abused her when her mother was unable to protect her; all her life she was subject to misery, pain, and despair.
She was familiar with the hatred and abuse burning through her blood and through her mother's blood as her uncaring father used the both of them and cast them out like broken toys. She was familiar with every emotion except for a man's love.
But in the boy's eyes, she found warmth, kindness, love, hope. She saw dreams in the reflections of his cerulean pools, and a thin, sliver of hope and desires entangled beneath and around his blue irises. She felt everything that seemed to be a child's bedtime story in one, deep glance into pools that she had never seen before. Instead of drowning in the rain, she was drowning in his beautiful, magnificent, pools of hope, dreams, warmth, kindness, and love.
"Why don't I take you to where I live? I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind. He always likes to help people," the boy suggested.
The girl once again remained silent; the only sounds between them the drops of rain splattering across the Earth's surface. She never was one to speak, and faced in situations like this, she was doomed to be helpless. She became scared that her only chance of hope would be gone, scared that the boy would not wait for her to regain her resolve and simply give him a simple "yes" or "no". She was dangling on her last lifeline, a very thin, weak string, and she was struggling to remain on that thin line, struggling on the verge of life or death.
"I can tell you're giving in again."
Her lavender orbs widened when she felt his warm, gentle hand intertwine with hers and pull her up with all his strength. Tears began to brim at the corners of her eyes, the girl wishing that these tears went unseen by her savior. However, to her dismay, she felt his free fingers gently brush away her salty, rain-mixed tears. She was left in wonder as to how perceptive he actually was of her, and how he had gained enough skill to determine salty tears from salty rain.
"I think," the boy began, as he led her away from the spot where she had collapsed with a gentle, yet firm tug, "that the first thing I told you was that giving up was no good."
This time, the girl managed a feeble, weak reply.
"Y-yes."
The boy smiled at hearing her voice for the first time. He spared her a quick glance before averting his gaze back to the muddy road before him, gently leading her towards his unknown home.
"Maybe you should speak a lot more," he said over the downpour of rain, "because I like your voice. It reminds me of my mom."
At mention of her mother, the girl once again had tears brimming at her eyes, trying her hardest not to show the boy before her. Only in the span of ten minutes, he had won her over and made her feel even more helpless than her father had done. But the helplessness she felt, she knew, was nothing negative and something to despise like that she had felt for her father. This helplessness was something she knew that she couldn't control, and instead, it seemed a paradox, as she felt warmer and warmer as the time passed between them.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have brought up mothers."
The girl looked at him with surprise.
"I...How did you...?"
The boy's look seemed to soften, yet became cloudy and mysterious as he stopped and looked at her. His cerulean eyes drifted towards the full moon, as he gently squeezed the hand held within his tighter for comfort.
"It's easy to feel emotions, especially for me. I...well, my dad and I, we're sort of...outcasts. Well, not really my dad, but...I'm an outcast. People don't...like me, so I'm more...familiar with emotions."
The girl seemed taken aback by his confession, and for the first time since she had started the chase away from her father, the first time after her mother had been killed, a small, upward tug of her lips had taken place. The boy looked at her and smiled, his grin tempting her to burst out with laughter at its foxy fakeness.
"Is your mother...?"
"She's with the stars."
The girl nodded at the boy as her smile grew larger.
"My mother is too."
The boy returned her smile with his own, genuine tug of the lips. The two then began their trek towards the boy's home, careful not to slip or fall against the wet and slippery ground.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," the boy finally said as a cottage came into view.
The girl remained silent for a few moments before responding.
"My name is Hinata."
"Glad to meet you."
Hinata smiled.
"Likewise."
There was a comfortable silence between them before it was broken by the creak of the cottage door opening. Naruto stepped into the warmth of his home, releasing Hinata from his hold, his heavy footsteps making the dry floor damp. Hinata remained outside, scared and shy of entering and dirtying the house. Naruto seemed to sense this and let off sonorous laughter as he returned to the door and pulled his newfound friend inside.
"Don't feel shy. Make yourself at home."
Hinata respectfully bowed, as her mother had taught her to do, and began to strip of her outermost robes, placing the heavy, damp clothes outside next to the door. When she was finished, she was left only in a thick, cotton layer of kimono, her pale skin seeming to merge with the whiteness of the fabric.
She looked around the homely cottage and began to soak in the warmth, thankful that Naruto had found her and thankful that she was not dead. Her eyes wandered to the window on the right wall, the moon shimmering in the night sky. Her thoughts began to run towards her mother and her sacrifice, and in a few moments, she felt herself breaking down.
Unknowingly, she began to shed her tears and cry, cry for the life that her mother had sacrificed, and cry for the life that should have been taken instead. Naruto noticed his and stood in front of her, his cerulean pools gazing into her lavender ones. His long, slender fingers once again wiped away her waterfall of tears, and as she turned to face him, she was once again met with the gaze that had first won her over.
The sliver of hope was still there, dangling behind his irises of the beautiful sky.
"It's okay, Hinata," he gently said, taking her hand in his once more, "because as the moon disappears, the sun will always rise."
She looked at him with surprise and nodded, cherishing the warmth that he emitted into her only by his gentle touch of his fingers. He gave her a soft smile and he too, looked at the moon, thinking of the woman that had given birth to him and taught him everything he knew.
"You're not alone."
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A/N: Soo, like I said in the first author's note, this is dangling between full-time story or mysterious oneshot.
I put some of my stories on hold (Tears of the Sky, Colors of the Heart, and Pressure Points).
As this was just a random spur of the moment idea, let me know if you want it to be continued or not.
I was feeling some NaruHina, so here it is! xD
Thank you very much for reading (: