Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. This is purely a work of fanfiction, and will not be used commercially.
Pain. Incredible pain surged through Naruto's body as Pain impaled him with his long, black rods. A dark warmth seeped in from the wounds as Pain's chakra flooded into Naruto's body. Naruto groaned in discomfort at the unpleasant sensation.
Pain's chakra's... inside me... Pain broke off the last of the rods and began to speak again.
"The wounds aren't deep and I've avoided your vital organs. But now you can't move on your own."
"Hang in there kid!" Ma Frog yelled out. "Don't listen to him no matter what he says! You're the child of prophecy! You will save the world! You can't lose! Jiraiya and Pa gave their lives because they believed in you! I'll never forgive you if you give in now!" she finished just as Pain blew her away with his Shinra Tensei.
"Noisy frog," Pain spat.
"You bastard!" Naruto screamed. His rage was intensifying to a critical point. It was taking every ounce of his being to suppress the demon that was stirring within him.
"It's time for us to go," Pain said and he reached out with his hand to take Naruto back to remove the Kyuubi. Just then, a figure appeared behind Pain. Naruto distantly heard a frantic man yell "Hinata!" She landed right where Pain had been standing, the man having jumped out of the way just in time.
"Reinforcements, eh...?" the pale man said.
"I won't let you lay a finger on Naruto!" Hinata said sternly. For years she had kept all these thoughts and feeling welled up inside, but she couldn't stay quiet any longer. It was only now, in this most crucial of moments, that she found her courage. The person she cared about most was in trouble, and she wasn't about to let anything happen to him.
"What're you doing here!?" Naruto screamed. "Get out of here! You're no match---"
"I know..." Hinata said, cutting him off. "I'm... just being selfish..."
"What're you talking about!? What're you doing here!? It's dangerous!" Naruto yelled even louder. He hadn't wanted anyone to get involved with this fight, Pain was just too powerful.
"I'm here of my own free will," Hinata spoke as she activated her Byakugan. "I used to always cry and give up... I nearly went the wrong way. But you... you showed me the right way. I was always chasing you... wanting to overtake you. I just wanted to walk with you... I wanted to be with you. You changed me! Your smile saved me! So I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because I... love you!" she exclaimed. Naruto, in his surprise and confusion, was left speechless.
Hinata rushed at Pain. She twirled and struck at him with her gentle fist style, but failed to land any hits. She prepared to attack with her Juho Soshiken, but was immediately blown back by Pain's attack. Bleeding and unconscious, Hinata lay at the base of a rubble pile, hidden from Naruto's field of vision. Pain stood over her, holding one of his black rods above, poised for attack. He stopped and looked at Naruto. Naruto yelled out frantically.
"Stop!!!"
The sound of metal piercing flesh reverberated across the large crater that had once been the Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto was too shocked to yell out any longer. He just lay there, pinned to the ground, brain unable to comprehend what had just happened.
"This is just like how my parents were killed by Konoha ninjas, right before my eyes," Pain said as he pulled the bloody rod out. "Love breeds sacrifice... which breeds hatred." That put Naruto over the edge. An agonizing scream rang out in the crater, as pillar of dark chakra exploded into the sky from where Naruto had been a second before.
"Then you can know pain," Pain finished. The dust and smoke cleared, and 4-tailed Naruto stood before Pain.
The fox's power... looks like Naruto's anger has awakened it... Pain thought to himself. A low, guttural growl came from Naruto, as a white substance began to creep over his body.
"Do you hate me?" Pain asked him. Naruto growled even louder as the white substance took the form of a skeleton that encased his body, and he sprouted two more tails.
"Do you really think people can understand each other like this?" Pain asked him. Naruto roared in response. "That's it... but my pain is greater than yours."
Naruto charged at Pain, who immediately jumped backwards to avoid the claw that shot out of the ground. Naruto reached him and attacked relentlessly. Pain found himself having a difficult time fending off Naruto's attacks. He grabbed each of Naruto's arms, in order to stop the barrage. Naruto opened his mouth and blasted Pain with condensed chakra at point-blank range. Pain flew backwards, and smashed into a pile of rubble that had once been the hospital. Not wasting a second, Naruto jumped into the air and charged another shot. Pain managed to get to his feet just as Naruto fired the second shot, forming another crater in the ground. Pain avoided the grunt of the attack, but didn't get away completely unscathed. He hid behind a bolder, as Naruto sniffed him out.
He's... faster than I anticipated. If I'm not careful, I'll lose this fight. I have to--- He was cut off as another claw burst out of the ground and grabbed him. He was pulled back underground and out where Naruto stood. Naruto threw him several yards, into another pile of rubble. Pain slowly got to his feet and stared down his opponent.
"So," he said, "this is the true power of the 9-tailed fox. Such a power is wasted on the likes of you." Naruto roared in fury again. Pain stood there unphased, and pulled out another rod. He raised his hand, and activated is power again. Naruto was violently pulled towards him. Pain raised the rod and pointed it outward, intending to impale Naruto on it. Just as Naruto was about to be pierced, he grabbed it and swatted it out of the way.
What!? Pain thought just before Naruto bit down on his head.
Somewhere a mile away from where Konoha once stood, Nagato's connection to the last of his Pain bodies was severed. Panting and wheezing, he began to cough up blood. Konan frantically began begging him again to take it easy. Nagato managed to stop coughing long enough to say one thing before he passed out from the strain.
"I... lost..."
Naruto spat out the mass of blood and bone as Pain's body fell to the ground. He roared out one last time and walked over to where Hinata lay. He stood over her body and nudged her still form with his nose. When she didn't move, he howled. He howled long and loud, and as he howled, the skeleton dissolved. The tails began to shrink and disappear one after another, and the red fur on his body began to peel away. His skin re-grew, and the cloak of red chakra began to recede. What was left was the real Naruto, crying in anguish into the air. He kneeled there, tears streaming down his face, and stared at Hinata's body. There was blood everywhere. She had been stabbed in the shoulder, right near her heart. Naruto was no medical ninja, but even he could tell that it didn't look good. He held his hand over the wound and put pressure on it, to try and stop the bleeding, but it didn't seem to be helping. The rod had gone completely through, and she was bleeding out her back as well as her chest.
He kneeled there with Hinata in his arms and one hand over her heart. She had told him that she loved him. No one had ever said that they loved him before. And now she was dying. The anguish he felt was unbearable. The only person who had ever loved him was dying in his arms, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. A few tears fell onto her cheek, and she moaned softly. Her eyes fluttered open, and a small smile crept across her face.
"N-Naruto... kun..." she whispered.
"Hinata! Hinata, don't die! Please!" Naruto begged. Hinata slowly raised a bloody hand and placed it gently on Naruto's cheek.
"I-it's okay, N-Naruto-kun... I'm not afraid... to die..." Naruto's tears were pouring out of his eyes, and Hinata was beginning to cry her own. "I'm not afraid to die... protecting... the one I love..."
"Hinata... you, love me?" Naruto asked. Hinata managed to nod her head.
"I always... have..." Naruto thought back to when they were younger. She had always acted strangely, and he could never figure out why. Looking back, he didn't understand how he hadn't noticed it. It was true he had never been very knowledgeable in matters of love, but that was no excuse. She began to cough up blood. Naruto frantically yelled out for help, in hopes that there was someone nearby who could administer medical treatment.
"Sakura!! Granny!!! Someone, please help!!" he screamed. Hinata clung to his jacket, and Naruto turned his attention back to the dying girl in his arms.
"N-Naruto...kun. Before I... I want... could you... k-kiss me? Just one... to, remember me by?" Her request threw him off. She wanted him to, kiss her? He had never kissed anyone before... well, he had never kissed a girl before. He shook his head to get rid of the unpleasant memory. He looked at Hinata. She stared up at him hopefully, her tears momentarily halted. Naruto took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. He swallowed hard, and nodded his head. Slowly, he lowered his face to hers, and gently placed his lips on hers.
It was, by far, the greatest sensation in his life. Her lips were trembling, and the taste of her blood filled his mouth, but her lips were so soft and warm. He wanted to stay like that forever. Of course, that was not meant to be. Hinata broke the kiss as she started to cough violently.
"Hinata, Hinata! Don't go!! Don't leave me!!" Naruto begged. Hinata smiled.
"I'm happy... I finally... feel like I've... caught up to you... Naru... to..." she trailed off as she closed her eyes. Naruto tried to wake her up again, but she wouldn't respond.
"Hinata!! Come back!! HINATAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"
"...nata! Hinata!! Wake up!"
A bright light blinded her as Hinata opened her eyes. She awoke to see she was lying in a hospital bed. The curtains were open to show the sun rising in the east. A bouquet of flowers sat in a vase on the nightstand. Sitting on the bed, was Sakura. She was bandaged in a few places, but otherwise showed no serious injuries.
"Wh-where am I?" Hinata asked weakly.
"Suna." Sakura answered. "They took us survivors in after... well, you know." Hinata sat up abruptly. She felt where she had been stabbed to find that it had been bandaged up. Sakura looked at her and smiled. "One of Tsunade-sama's slugs managed to get to you in time. You're going to be just fine, Hinata."
"How long, have I been asleep?" Hinata asked.
"Almost two weeks now," Sakura answered.
"I-is Naruto-kun... alright?" Hinata asked as she blushed furiously. Sakura giggled and pointed to the corner of the room. Naruto sat in a chair, fast asleep. His hair and clothes were messy and unwashed, and he was drooling. Hinata giggled.
"He never left your side, not once," Sakura mentioned. "I think that's the first time he's slept since we got here." She got up to leave and glanced between the two of them.
"What exactly happened back there?" Hinata didn't respond, but the shade of red she turned answered the question well enough. Sakura laughed again and left the room. She closed the door a little too hard behind her, and Naruto jumped awake.
"Wha? Huh? Wha's goin' on?" he mumbled, still half asleep. At the sight of Hinata, he rushed the bed and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Hinata!! You're awake!! You're okay!! I'm so happy!!" There were a few tears in his eyes. Hinata dared to put her arms around him, but when he didn't object, she tightened her grip. This was heaven for her. For years she had wanted to be like this, and now she was holding her beloved Naruto in her arms. The pulled away just enough to look at each other in the eyes. Naruto then realized the situation, and abruptly let go of her. Hinata inwardly cried out. He stood up from the bed and turned his back to her.
"H-Hinata... I'm sorry..." he said, head down.
"It's... alright, Naruto-kun. I-I'm sorry..." Hinata stuttered. She began to cry, realizing the mistake she had made.
"I... I don't know anything... about love," Naruto continued.
"I understand..." Hinata said quietly.
"Which is why... you'll have to teach me everything you know about it, right?" Naruto concluded. He turned around to show that he was smiling. His face was beet red, but the glitter in his eyes made Hinata's heart flip in her chest. In her joy, she jumped out of her bed and threw her arms around his neck. He chuckled and put his arms around her waist.
"Oh, Naruto-kun..." Hinata said as she stared into his eyes. "I love you."
And they shared another kiss, while the sun rose behind them. A new day had begun.
A/N: been a while, hasn't it? eh, i dont care LOL
anywhozits, im sure any fan of Naruto has read the latest chapter by now. i read it and, being a Hinata fanboy, bout shit myself. i mean, i KNOW she isnt dead, but im sooooo glad she finally confessed. the next day i thought up this oneshot. i wanted to get it posted before the next chapter, so its kinda rushed. it still came out good tho. i hope i did the fight against Pain justice, but this story isn't really about the fight.
i got a review mentioning that Naruto had kissed a girl before. i KNOW that... but it was in the anime, in a filler. this is manga based, so that never happened.
i AM workin on HoS but its comin along really slowely.