Written for 16 Candles on Livejournal (7. Fireflies of Smoke)
Rating: K+
Warnings: Un-Beta'd. Written in 2nd Person
Genre: Aaaaaaaaaaaaangst!
Timeline: Teeny-Tiny Bit into the Future
Characters: Lee, Hinata's Body, Tenten, Neji, Gai
Spoilers: YES! Up to chapter 437
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, NO ONE WOULD DIE! Except maybe Sasuke
It is dark before you get back. The sun has fallen under the horizon and you step onto a field of rubble. You stare. You are wondering, perhaps foolishly, where Konoha has gone. You're not quite surprised because Neji did warn you ahead of time.
"Konoha has collapsed!" he had shouted, that little twinge of emotion in his voice making your heart twist. The smell of blood makes the wind hard. Someone has died. Many someones have died. When you look over your shoulder, Tenten has collapsed against Neji's chest and Gai has vanished.
He's probably trying to find someone, anyone who can tell him what happened. You should do the same. You move slowly, finding your balance on each uneven bit of stone. You keep glancing up to where the tower should be, finding a heavy moon hanging in its place. Maybe it's heavy with the souls of the fallen.
You bite your lip when you come across the first body, a young man with Hyuuga eyes. You recognize him vaguely. A bodyguard for Hinata, you think. Then something draws your eye, a dark shape not ten feet away.
Suddenly, your stomach clenches as you realize. If her bodyguard is dead then…
Not quite carelessly you abandon the body and run as fast as you can. Maybe if you run she'll still be… Your steps slow as you approach. You think it's odd that you've already decided it's her.
But when you crouch down you know you were right. It is her. You brush her hair away from her face. She had always been pale, but never like this. Biting your lip doesn't work this time and you cry, because she was young and just beginning to find her way, and you wish you had been able to take her out more then that once when everyone had been busy.
She had had so many hopes, so many dreams. She wasn't broken which was more then you could say for yourself. Only half consciously, you scoop her body up and hold her so tight. You wish you knew how to revive her, the way you saw Gaara revived. But your chakra swirls in useless circles the way it always has.
Then there is a hand on your shoulder and you look up. Gai is silhouetted strangely against the moon. He shakes his head, so gently, like if he moves too much he might disturb the dead. He takes your arms, pulling them away from her body, and forces you to stand. You haven't felt like this since your leg was crushed.
You expect him to hug you, but he doesn't which is almost worse, and you can hear Neji and Tenten coming across the stone graveyard. Through your tears the stars flicker like fireflies. You are angry, but not for the reasons you expected. Your home has been destroyed. Your friends have been killed. And those two things weigh heavy on your mind.
But mostly, you wish you had been there to at least see how she died. You think it must have been a grand spectacle indeed, and maybe she got up the courage to tell Naruto how she really felt.
If she did, well, then, maybe you could forgive yourself for falling in love with her and then missing her finest hour. But you won't ever know, and that is what hurts the most.
This is to Hinata who managed to be awesome despite being the most timid character in the series. You were great, sweetheart.