Note: Italics = Flashbacks
Also previous chapters are being re-edited courtesy of A. E. Stover, my new beta reader. Oh and I do not own Naruto, sadly =(
Tsunade cleared her throat to quiet down the murmurs and cries that were coming from the large crowd gathered in the wide, open grounds of Training Area 7. She regarded the crowd with a somber look and motioned for everyone to sit down so that the funeral service could begin. The massive crowd shuffled to situate themselves in the tightly packed, enormous forest opening.
Tsunade began to wonder if this area was large enough to hold all the people here. They had already relocated the funeral sit three times to accommodate everyone on the extensive attendance list. It was the first time Tsunade had ever seen so many ninja gathered in one place. There were ninja from Sand, Snow and Wave, as well as two other Kage, the Fire Country's feudal lord, and a princess.
Tsunade's puffy, swollen eyes scanned through the sea of dismal faces. She searched through the crowd, stopping for a moment on familiar faces, until her eyes rested back down on the podium that she was standing behind. Her knees were already beginning to weaken and she wondered how long she could keep her façade in the face of such anguish. She had done nothing but drink and cry for the past few days, leaving Shizune in charge of running the village in her absence, and no one had objected. Not this time - not with all the death she was forced to face so suddenly.
When Jiraiya died, the elders had asked if she needed some time off and offered to put Danzo in her place for the time being. She refused. No matter what happened, she was still the Hokage. She needed to be strong for the village, so they could be strong as well. Instead, she only let his death affect her behind closed doors and while under the heavy influence of alcohol.
But when Kakashi walked into her office that day, his eyes mixed with both blood and tears, and he uttered the deaths of his two most beloved students, all she could do was cry. She cried loudly and openly and soon after the news of Naruto and Sakura's death spread, all of Konoha cried with her.
A hand lightly patted Tsunade's back, and she turned her head slightly to catch a glimpse of the messy red hair that belong to the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara.
"Have a seat, Hokage-sama. I'd like to speak first." Gaara whispered, relieving Tsunade temporarily, so she could have a seat and compose herself a bit more.
Tsunade nodded in thanks and took a seat behind Gaara, who began to speak about his experiences with Naruto and Sakura. His tone was stoic, yet his words brought fourth so much emotion that without even noticing, tears began to fall from Tsunade's face. She wiped the tears away from her cheeks, and her eyes finally fell upon the person she had been looking for - Hinata.
Hinata ran as quickly as she could, trying to avoid the muddy puddles from the thunderstorm that was hung over the village. She cursed herself for not having the common sense to bring an umbrella.
The Hyuuga compound was on the other side of the village from where Naruto lived, and rain clouds had been threatening to drench the village all morning. Thankfully, Hinata was almost to Naruto's apartment when the wind and rain began to pick up. While she hustled to the sanctuary of Naruto's home, she watched as other villagers stumbled against the wind's strength.
Upon reaching the door, she unlocked it and slipped inside, slamming the door against the stiff current. Goosebumps formed all over Hinata's body as the cold air from inside the vacant apartment chilled her skin. She shivered slightly, wishing for Naruto's warmth as she peeled the soaked articles of clothing off her body.
Naruto was still away on his mission and left the small apartment empty. Hinata's pale eyes looked over the dimly lit living room, stopping at the purple swirl that was painted on the far left wall. She smiled, reminiscing about Naruto's jubilant cry that they would start their own clan and the purple swirl would be their symbol. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly, both for comfort and warmth. The problem with dating a ninja was that you never knew if they were running late because they stopped to turn in a report, got a drink, or if they weren't making it back at all. That worry was amplified since the ninja in question was Naruto.
Hinata stripped off the rest of her rain-soaked clothes and quickly tiptoed her way towards the bathroom. She turned on the shower, letting the stream from the hot water warm her chilled skin.
Ironically, Naruto kept his bathroom clean and organized, which was in complete contrast to the rest of his apartment. Hinata remembered spending countless hours cleaning the apartment after her first night spent here. When she had asked why he didn't keep the rest of his apartment clean like he did the bathroom, he had responded, "I spend the most time there."
After pulling a towel from the closet, Hinata went to step into the steamy bathroom, but before she could close the door she heard a loud, urgent rapping at the door. Sighing, she reluctantly turned off the shower and wrapped herself in one of Naruto's bathrobes. She slowly moved through the hallway to the door, unlocking it. Hinata was surprised to see the woman currently standing at the doorway. She opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat.
Tsunade stood in the doorway, shaking violently. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were tear-stained. Hinata's heart sank down into her stomach. Her body was frozen in place. Her eyes took in the sight of the most powerful ninja in the village breaking down in tears before her. She watched as Tsunade calmed herself down and reached into her pockets to hand Hinata a hitai-ate.
"I'm so sorry, Hinata." Tsunade mumbled.
Hinata stared blankly at the forest line. Her eyes followed the leaves as they swayed against the rigid wind that prevailed over the funeral procession. Her legs were stiff from sitting in the unfolded chair using her knees to prop her chin up. Her arms wrapped around her shins, and her fingers locked her body up in tight ball. Another chill from the morning air sent a chill throughout her body. She found herself welcoming the feeling, having been numb to everything for the past few days. She sat there in the fourth row from Naruto casket, but her mind was far from the funeral.
While the other shinobi talked, cried, or mourned silently to themselves, Hinata just sat in silence, not believe that the most unpredictable ninja in all of Konoha had died. The sounds of Ino and Rock Lee crying together were all that seemed to fill the fourth row. Hinata simply drowned them out, choosing not to listen to things like "they were too young to die" or how "unfair" this was. She had had enough of those thoughts on her own. She had spent more than enough time crying, in fact, since she hadn't shed a single tear during Naruto and Sakura's funeral, she was beginning to wonder if she could cry anymore.
A sudden thunder crash snapped Hinata's mind back to reality and to the funeral. She quickly looked up to the sky, fearing that the rain would come to make an already miserable event even worse. There was overcast, but the clouds didn't look ready for a downpour just yet. The temporary lapse into realism brought on by the thunder queued her other senses in on the fact that something in the funeral had changed. The area had gone completely still, and considering the size of the training ground along with the amount of people there, that was no small task.
Hinata turned her head over to Ino, who had been crying loudly just a moment ago. Ino's eyes were locked on something that was behind them both. Actually, everyone had their heads turned, eyes fixed on something in the distance. Some looked angry, and others astonished. All the attention had dragged away from the two dead ninja at the front to something situated at the back.
Hinata quickly spun her head to see what all the commotion was about. Her eyes watched the figure that walked slowly down the aisle. The figure's eyes were locked on the two caskets in the front, never wavering to the masses of stares he was getting in return. His footsteps were soft, but in the dead silence of the area, the only sound that could be heard was the grass crunching under his feet.
Uchiha Sasuke made his way up from the back of the funeral processional. His unexpected arrival launched an assault of angry whispers and murderous stares, but the absolute distain that Sasuke held for the Leaf village fended off the deadly spikes of there killer intent like a skilled fighter. He moved down the aisle, his eye unwavering from his goal, his reason for ever stepping foot back into the village that stole his family from him.
Uchiha Sasuke moved towards Naruto and Sakura's coffins. As Sasuke passed the forth row, he turned his attention away from his former teammates to Hinata. He had stopped walking and chose to stand there, his gaze fixed upon the girl he knew as Naruto's fiancé.
His intense stare made Hinata nervous, so much so that her eyes would only meet his for a short time before adverting them to the see people behind watching the exchange. Hinata knew why Sasuke was there in front of her. This was his wordless "I'm sorry for your loss."
When Naruto had originally proposed to Hinata, the first thing he had told her was that he needed to tell his brother. When she had questioned him about it, he explained the past between he and Sasuke. Naruto told her that although Sasuke left the village, he had made a deal with Naruto -- Naruto would stop chasing him all over the five nations, he would stop running and remain close enough to keep in contact. Sasuke told Naruto about Konoha's plot to kill his clan and that he would never return to the village that killed his parents. After that, Naruto never asked him too.
Just as quickly as it began, Hinata and Sasuke's silent exchange ended when Sasuke turned from her and moved toward the two caskets. Before she knew it, Hinata found herself standing up, following Sasuke with her eyes. He solemnly walked over to his friends, stopping at each coffin and speaking a few inaudible words. He even kissed the wood of Sakura's coffin. He was paying his last respects, saying goodbye to the two people he had left in the world.
Hinata found her heart willing her to move. She could hear it screaming, saying that she should be up there too, mourning for the man she loved and the woman that had become like family to her, but her body would not follow. Instead, all she could do watch.
She watched as Sasuke approached the stage that was filled with some of the most influential people in the entire land. Even as he stood in front of the stage, with everyone watching him, he kept his eyes on Naruto and Sakura. His eyes glistened with tears that threatened to fall, but his pride kept them at bay. He ignored the hundreds of eyes that were upon him as he slowly pulled out the katana that he held on his back. Sasuke drove his sword into the podium, reducing it to splinters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hinata turned her eyes away from the photo of Naruto that was in her hand and looked out her bedroom window. She could see her tear-stained face through the reflection in the glass, and the moon's height in the night sky. It made her wonder just how long she had been sitting there, staring at Naruto's picture and crying. The digital clock by their bed said that it was 11:30, and that meant she had been sitting in that very spot for the past two hours
Hinata yawned and stretched her legs. She walked around the dark, empty apartment, not bothering to turn on any of the lights. What did she need them for? Nothing had changed since the last time she was there. No one would be coming around to dirty the place up anymore than it already was.
Her stroll through the dark room was short lived, ending in the kitchen where she painfully remembered that she had not eaten anything in at last two days. Hinata opened the cabinets to realize that Naruto had not gone shopping before his last mission. She sighed and closed them quietly. She quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt and headed to the door. She reached for doorknob and nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a soft knock against the wood.
"Otou-san?!" Hinata opened the door, surprised to see her father, Hyuuga, Hiashi, standing in front of the doorway. "W-What are you doing here?" Hinata asked as she stared at her father, amazed that he even knew where Naruto's apartment was.
Without so much as a "Hello" Hiashi raised his hands up to show the two bags full of warm food.
"I-I-" Hinata started off, unable to take her eyes off from her father's hands. Suddenly her father's presence was less confusing as it was a blessing. In truth, she had been dreading going out in public. Before Naruto's last mission, he had managed to tell everyone in the village who would listen that they were getting married. Now, whenever she was on public people, would ask her how she was doing. Having to turn down help constantly was exhausting. She would have preferred to just be left alone at this point so she could cope in peace.
"Has living here for less than a year robbed you of your manners, or were you going to invite me into your home, Hinata?" Hiashi asked. Hinata gave a soft smile.
"Oh! Please come inside, Otou-san!" Hinata quickly blurted out as she ushered the older man inside Naruto's apartment.
Her father laughed lightly at his nervous daughter. Things between the two of them had become so different after her engagement to Naruto. She remembered the day Naruto marched into the Hyuuga compound, determined to get Hiashi's blessing.
"I will not have my daughter marrying the likes of you!" Hiashi yelled, "Get out of my sight, Uzumaki!"
"B-B-But Otou-sama!" Hinata protested, tears running down her face.
"Enough, Hinata!, I said—" Hiashi was cut off by Naruto's fist hitting his jaw.
She remembered watching as Naruto and Hiashi fight a heated battle in the middle of the Hyuuga compound. Hiashi had defeated Naruto, but not before taking a Rasengan to his left side. Both men had to be rushed to the hospital.
Once Hiashi was released, he freely gave his blessing and even offered to hold the wedding in the Hyuga mansion. When Hinata questioned him about it, Hiashi told her that while in the hospital Naruto admitted to him that once he was released, he would ask Hiashi again and again, and keep fighting until Hiashi changed his mind.
"He said he would kick the ass of anyone who made you cry." Hiashi said with a slight smile.
Of course not soon after, Naruto's lineage was announced to the public, and Hiashi was more than happy to have his first born daughter marrying the Fourth Hokage's only son.
"Let me turn on the lights," Hinata said as she stumbled around the living room. Finally, after tripping over an old pair of Naruto's sandals, Hinata turned on the lights and ushered Hiashi into the kitchen.
They both ate without saying a word to each other. Although Hinata was used to eating in her father's presence quietly, this occasion was different. There was no tension between them. Their silence was mutually shared, neither feeling uncomfortable in the others presence.
After swallowing the last of his meal, Hiashi broke the silence between them, "I wanted to know what you are going to do now." he said bluntly, being straight to the point like he always was.
"Excuse me?" Hinata asked her father.
"Well now that Uzumaki … Naruto is gone what are you going to do?" Hiashi asked again, "Are you going to take some time off from being a ninja or do you think you can handle it?" Hiashi took another sip of his soup while he waited for Hinata's answer. He asked her so calmly, but she could tell what he was really looking for.
"I-I was thinking of coming back to the compound." Hinata mumbled out. She did not need to look up to see Hiashi's reaction. She could feel his indignant gaze upon the top of her head, like it had been so many times before. "It's . . . it's just that…" Her words trailed off. She didn't even know what she wanted to say anymore. She was stuttering again and she hadn't done that in months. She hadn't lost a chance to stare at her father in the eye for months. Most importantly, she hadn't lived under her father's roof since her engagement.
It was then that she could feel her self confidence draining out of body. Without Naruto's strength, she was regressing back to the stuttering, pathetic, Hinata of old.
She really didn't want to go back to the Hyuuga compound, but there was no way that staying in the apartment that she shared with her dead fiancé was healthy for her emotional state.
Nevertheless, it didn't matter, "No." Hiashi stated calmly. Hinata look up to stare at her father in disbelief. The look of aggravation melted from her father's face and was replaced with a somber look.
"When your mother died, I was so distraught from loosing her that your uncle, Hizashi, had to step up as clan head till I was over it. He told me something then that I will tell you now. Just because the ones you love die, does not mean that you should stop living as well." Hiashi said as he stood up from the small kitchen table and surveyed the small apartment.
"Like it or not, this is your home now." Hiashi walked back over to Hinata and gave her a light pat on her back before heading over to the door. "Hinata, these past few years have changed you into a daughter that a father can be proud of. I know most of what you have become is thanks to Naruto.
Now that's he's gone, do not stop being a woman that I am proud to call my daughter." Hiashi said as he opened the front door to Hinata's apartment and walked out.
The door snapped shut quietly and once again the emptiness of the apartment became prevalent to Hinata. She sighed loudly, filling the space with some sound. Her father was right. This was her place. Naruto had told her countless times that since she was soon going to be his wife everything he had was theirs. Now that he was gone, everything he once had was now hers, and those thoughts made her feel even lonelier.
She needed to get out of the apartment. Everything in the apartment reminded her of Naruto, and it was driving her crazy. Hinata jumped up from the kitchen chair and quickly put on her shoes. She grabbed the apartment key and a jacket from the closet, and she was out the door.
Hinata stared intently at the ground as she walked the dark streets of the leaf village. The streets were mostly empty except for the few ninja that were on patrol and late night shop owners that were closing up. She traveled aimlessly through the village, letting her feet Training Area 7. Her eyes rolled over the familiar clearing. Just a few hours ago she had been there along with thousand of other people, gathered in collective bereavement over Naruto and Sakura.
The encompassing darkness from the surrounding trees gave Hinata an odd sense of security that she hadn't felt all day. She bent down to take her sandals off, letting the cool, lush green grass give her mind a comfort she hadn't experienced all day. She closed her eyes, trying to find some relaxation in such a stressful time. Tsunade wanted her to come by the Hokage tower tomorrow. She presumed it was to check up her, and if it was, she could really go without another person asking how she was holding up.
Hinata's thoughts took her back to the question that had been nagging at her mind since her father left the apartment. What was she going to do now? Maybe she needed some time off from being a ninja. She could do some traveling, take a vacation, or do something that normal people do that gave them happiness. She sighed tiredly to herself. She would have to sleep on it and just see what happens tomorrow.
Hinata was taken from her thoughts when she noticed a shadowy figure move from the corner of her eye. Suddenly, the dark secluded area didn't seem so much like a blessing anymore. The figure began to advance toward her, his features remained hidden under the blanketed darkness from the forest lines overcast. Hinata's body tensed with anxiety. She wasn't afraid. Even with all that had happened, she was still a ninja and was more than capable of handling herself. She was more surprised that someone had been there in the clearing the entire time, and she had not noticed them at all.
After a few more steps in her direction, Hinata found herself once again staring blankly in the eyes of none other than Uchiha Sasuke.
He walked over to Hinata, keeping his eyes on hers. The nervousness she felt at the funeral a few hours ago came slithering back as Hinata suddenly found it hard to keep eye-to-eye contact with Naruto's self-proclaimed brother. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, occasionally looking down at the ground. Each time she looked back up to face the silent Uchiha, he would be closer and closer to her. When she lifted her eyes to meet his for the fourth time, he was right in front of her.
"Sasuke-san. I-I-" Hinata started. Inwardly she cursed her lack of control as her words stammered due to her nervousness.
"Hinata…" he began. Hinata's eyes met his, and she noticed the tear streaks that were illuminated against his pale skin. She tried to hide her surprise, but Sasuke caught the shocked look upon her face.
"Why didn't you cry for Naruto at the funeral?" Sasuke asked. He broke the gaze the two shared as he turned back towards the direction of the memorial stone. No doubt, that was where he had been crying over Naruto and Sakura. He quickly wiped his face then turn back to Hinata, his stern gaze had returned as he silently demanded the answer to his question.
"W-W-Well…I…I really don't know." Hinata stammered out. Sasuke's only response was a loud snort.
Feeling the sudden need to defend her inaction she blurted out, "I guess I've cried so much these past few days that… I just couldn't cry anymore." Hinata said, now suddenly finding it easier to look Sasuke in the eye.
Sasuke's entire body seem to relax from Hinata's confession and she mildly wondered what he would have done if he didn't like the answer she gave him.
"Yeah," Sasuke said quietly. The two shared another long moment of silence. Hinata stared out towards the direction of the memorial stone while Sasuke just let his eyes trail along the ground. Another chilling wind rushed past the two, making Hinata jump from the sudden burst of cold air.
"You should go back home." Sasuke said in a low voice. Not waiting for an answer, nor voicing his request to walk her back home, Sasuke began to walk back to the village. Hinata watched him curiously as he began to walk away from her. Her past experiences with the last surviving Uchiha were always short and usually chaperoned by Naruto. They had never spoken to each other alone before, but much to Hinata's surprise, Sasuke Uchiha was somewhat pleasant.
Hinata broke out of her contemplation of Sasuke when she noticed that he had stopped walking away and had his head turned slightly to the right. She could see him staring at her out of the corner of his eye. She briefly wondered if he sensed something dangerous behind the pitch black tree line before the translation of his actions became clear. Her eyes widen in surprise. There was no danger, he had done more than just remark that she should return home. He had invited to escort her there. She quickly turned around and shuffled over to his side. She smiled and nodded as they both continued walking in silence.
A/N: Many thanks to A. E. Stover for the incredible amount of work he has done on both my previous and current releases.
