I could have saved you.

Naruto watched as the shadows lazily shifted around the grave of one of his best friends, the girl...the girl with the white eyes that had saved him from both Pain and from the fear and the doubts that he had used to fear.

I can feel so much hatred welling up in my heart. After all she did, after the way she saved me...It's not fair that she had to die like this!

They had found her a few days ago: beaten and bruised nearly to death in her bed by her own father. When asked why, Hiashi had simply looked at them with the coldest expression on his face and had simply said that the beating was "clan business".

He could still remember Kurenai's panicked flight toward the hospital with the barely breathing Hyuga girl in her arms, Naruto right behind her.

Flashback

Damn Hiashi! He's gone too far this time! Kurenai Yuhi thought as she rushed through the trees toward the Konoha hospital with all the speed she could muster with a blonde haired shinobi with blue eyes in hot pursuit.

"Is she going to make it Kurenai-sensai?" He asked for what must have seemed like the thousandth time but in reality it was only the third. "Is she going to be all right?"

"I honestly don't know Naruto. The beating that she took was severe and was performed using the gentle fist style taijutsu. Her chakra pathways have been disrupted and I think her internal organs were badly damaged by the beating. Right now we're lucky she's still breathing."

Naruto jumped forward and looked down at the wounded Hyuga girl and felt the anger begin to well up in his chest but he quickly shoved it back down where it wouldn't interfere. Now was not the time for anger, now was the time for hope.

I can't believe this is happening...Naruto thought as he jumped from branch to branch. Today was supposed to be special...Today was supposed to be the day I finally talked to Hinata about what she said during her fight with Pain.

It had taken him nearly two weeks of soul searching for him to finally come to terms with his feeling regarding Hinata and what a confusing two weeks it had been. Her worlds had echoed through his head at all hours of the night, haunting him, making him think about what she had said to him.

Because...I love you!

And now she might not live to hear my response...all because one father decided it would be a wonderful night to beat his daughter. Naruto thought sadly as he watched Hinata struggle for breath.

Flashback ends

In the end they hadn't even made it to the hospital before Hinata had passed away from her injuries. Just two more minutes and they would have made it. Just two more minutes and Hinata could have possibly survived.

And now he was alone again. Sure everyone in the village was calling him a hero and he had all of his friends but none of it mattered anymore.

I could have saved you Hinata. I know I could have. If only I could have warned you about what your father was planning, what the elders of the Hyuga clan were planning. I could have told you that you weren't safe with them.

He sadly looked down at the grave once again before turning around and heading home.

I could have saved you...I know I could have...

Later

He hadn't used his bed since the day she had died. He liked to think that Hinata was somewhere above him, looking down on him and watching him.

Naruto stared up at the night sky with a heavy heart as he remembered the good times he had had with the Hyuga heiress. But the image that was constantly in his head was the memory of her confrontation with Pain, her confession to him...and her near death.

Because...I love you!

I failed you Hinata...it's my fault your dead...My fault.

He slowly turned his gaze away from the sky and then turned and headed back to his apartment, muttering to himself all the while.

"I could have saved you..."